USC
San Diego State (MPSF Quarterfinals)
No. 1 USC Blasts Into Semifinals Of MPSF Tournament
April 28, 2006 | Women's Water Polo
April 28, 2006
IRVINE, CALIF. -- Senior Moriah Van Norman made no mistake about taking over the No. 4 spot on the USC women's water polo all-time career scoring charts. Van Norman pumped in three blazing backhand goals for the top-ranked Trojans in the quarterfinals of the MPSF Championships on Friday in Irvine, Calif., sparking the Women of Troy to an 11-4 win over San Diego State. USC held the Aztecs scoreless throughout the second half of play, scoring six unanswered goals on the way to the win. The victory also balloons USC's undefeated record to 25 straight wins and puts the Trojans up against Hawai'i in the semifinals at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday (April 29).
Van Norman tied up USC alum Katrin Dierolf with her 204th career goal to open the scoring for the Trojans just after San Diego State had taken an early 1-0 lead. The Aztecs were successful in keeping the pressure on the Women of Troy throughout the first quarter, scoring three goals in the first four minutes before Erika Figge tied it up 3-3 with a scalding backhand from two meters. Van Norman pumped up her career tally to 205 to open the second with a ripping score from set for the 4-3 USC lead. The Trojans finally put some distance between themselves and the Aztecs after Van Norman earned an exclusion and Patty Cardenas put away a sharp 6-on-5 score for a 5-3 USC edge. San Diego State came back again on a bar-in goal from Stacy Werner at the 3:50 mark to make it 5-4, but that would be the last time the Aztecs would break through the Trojan defense in the game. Two minutes later Cardenas took a pass from Lauren Wenger and iced her second goal of the game with another 6-on-5 strike to get USC up 6-4 for halftime.
From there, the Women of Troy remained fully in control. Van Norman drilled her third goal of the game and 206th of her career to open the half on one more brilliant backhand attack for a 7-4 lead that put USC on its run to victory. Anna Pardo laced in two more goals in the third period for USC as the Trojans took a 9-4 lead into the final frame. Midway through the fourth, Wenger intercepted a San Diego State pass and Kami Craig recovered it to send the Trojans off on a counterattack. Figge sliced in a skip shot from the top for a 10-4 USC advantage, and then Veronika Bartunkova finished off the scoring run for the Women of Troy at the 1-minute mark.
The Trojans gained numerous 6-on-5 chances in the game, thanks primarily to the hard work at two-meters by Van Norman and Craig. Craig earned four ejections, and Van Norman earned a pair to get USC the upper hand. USC finished off four of their 12 player advantages, while San Diego State was 2-for-8.
SDSU 3 - 1 - 0 - 0 -- 4
USC 3 - 3 - 3 - 2 -- 11
SCORING:
USC -- Moriah Van Norman 3, Patty Cardenas 2, Erika Figge 2, Anna Pardo 2, Brittany Hayes, Veronika Bartunkova.
SDSU -- Savanah Kelley, Elana Cervantes, Rachel Serna, Stacy Werner.
SAVES: Whitney Morgan (USC) 4, Sarah Kilgore (SDSU) 7.
6-on-5 ADVANTAGES:
USC -- 4 of 12
SDSU -- 2 of 7
