UCLA Makes Water Polo Final

Josh Hewko scored with 2:40 left in the second overtime to lead the UCLA men’s water polo team to a 7-5 victory over Princeton in an NCAA semifinal match at Palo Alto on Saturday.

Peter Belden and Albert Garcia each scored two goals to lead the second-seeded Bruins into today’s 2 p.m. final against top-ranked Stanford, a 14-6 winner over Loyola Marymount in the other semifinal.

Garcia’s second goal came with 1:26 left in the second overtime for UCLA (24-3).

UCLA and Stanford (23-4) have split their four previous meetings this season. UCLA will be seeking its eighth national title and Stanford its 11th.

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Brynn Murphy and Becky Green each had 15 kills to lead the UCLA women’s volleyball team to a 31-29, 30-24, 30-27 over visiting Long Beach State in an NCAA tournament second-round match.

The Bruins (20-10) will face Penn State on Friday in a regional semifinal at Seattle.

In another second-round match, Lauren Sauer had 16 kills to lead Georgia Tech to a 30-24, 30-28, 30-21 victory over UC Santa Barbara at Atlanta.

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The UCLA women’s soccer team has been perfect in the postseason, but it will need another such effort in today’s NCAA College Cup championship match at Cary, N.C.

Notre Dame stands in the way of history for the Bruins, who are attempting to win their first title in the sport. Match time is 10 a.m. PST.

UCLA (18-6-0) put itself into the final with a 2-0 victory over Princeton on Friday. The Bruins, who lost to North Carolina in the 2000 title match, have not given up a goal in five playoff matches and continued a season-long theme of dominating the second half as they scored both of their goals after intermission.

Overall, UCLA has outscored its opponents, 33-4, in the second half. Freshman sensation Danesha Adams, who had the eventual game-winner against Princeton, has scored four of her 12 goals in the playoffs.

Notre Dame (24-1-1) is in its first final since 1999 and looking to be only the second team to win multiple titles. The Fighting Irish advanced with a 1-0 victory over Santa Clara, which knocked out 17-time champion North Carolina earlier in the tournament. The Irish are led by Katie Thorlakson, who has 22 goals.

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Andy Iro scored two goals and Drew McAthy had two assists to lead the UC Santa Barbara men’s soccer team to a 4-1 victory over visiting Virginia Commonwealth in an NCAA quarterfinal match.

The Gauchos (20-2-1) advanced to the College Cup against Duke at the Home Depot Center on Friday. Maryland will play today’s Indiana-Tulsa winner in the other semifinal.

Times staff writer Eric Stephens contributed to this report.