Traveling Bears roll past No. 9 Arizona State, No. 15 Indiana
Following an impressive defensive performance last week against San Jose State, Cal women’s water polo came alive at Arizona and Indiana with 30 goals in just two games. Bears veteran players Kitty Lynn Joustra, Emma Wright and Isabel Williams continue to contribute heavily to the team’s success.
On March 18, the blue and gold arrived in Tempe to face the Sun Devils, led by Vanda Baksa. The freshman phenom became the owner of the ASU single season freshman goal record at 64 but was limited by the Bears’ defense and reigning MPSF Player of the Week Williams’ 15 saves.
Baksa’s hat trick and the rest of the Sun Devils’ offense fell short in keeping pace with Cal, who had four goal stretches in the second and fourth quarter to put the game out of reach. With the 15-7 loss to Cal, Arizona State now stands at 13-9 (1-2 MPSF).
On March 21, just three days later, the Bears picked up right where they left off in Bloomington, outscoring the Hoosiers 8-3 by halftime. Williams accounted for eight saves in three quarters as the Bears were able to cruise to the finish line to the tune of a 15-5 victory. Cal improved to 14-2 (3-2 MPSF) while Indiana fell to 10-12 (0-3 MPSF).
Wright and Lynn Joustra also dazzled for the Bears as the cornerstone of their offense. The senior duo have tallied five goals since the road trip started, setting the example for the rest of the traveling Bears in their first trip to the Midwest since the 2017 season.
The blue and gold are building off of the momentum and improvement that marked their bounce-back win against SJSU. And while the Bears had struggles with exclusions and turnovers in recent weeks, many of those numbers have started to fall against the Sun Devils and Hoosiers.
With one game left away from Berkeley, No. 4 Cal seems to be hitting its stride at the right time. Its next three matchups are against other top-10 talents, including the final leg of its road trip in Ann Arbor against a No. 7 Michigan team who has rattled off seven straight wins. The Bears will take on the Wolverines at Canham Natatorium on March 25.
Ryan Sheehan covers women’s water polo. Contact him at rsheehan@dailycal.org.