USC
UCLA*
No. 3 USC Comes Up Short Of Upset
March 14, 2008 | Women's Water Polo
March 14, 2008
LOS ANGELES, CALIF. - The No. 3 USC women's water polo team rallied from a deep hole against top-ranked UCLA on Friday afternoon, but fell shy of an upset after the Bruins got the last goal of the match in an 8-7 UCLA win at USC's McDonald's Swim Stadium. Undefeated for 42 straight games at their home pool, the Trojans suffered their first home loss since 2002. The Women of Troy had trailed the Bruins by four until making a 4-0 run against the MPSF's top defense to tie it up in the fourth period. UCLA got the winner with 2:31 left to play, scored by Courtney Mathewson as UCLA kept its undefeated record on the year intact with the 8-7 decision. USC moves to 12-5 overall and 5-1 in MPSF play, while UCLA's record goes to 21-0, 7-0.
The Bruins pulled out to an early lead after converting on their first two 6-on-5 advantages, first from Courtney Mathewson and then from Brittany Rowe. After a USC power play went awry, UCLA came back and got a second goal from Mathewson for a 3-0 lead with 3:28 on the clock. USC's first goal of the match came on a 6-on-5 strike from Veronika Bartunkova, who sliced in a sliding shot to make it 3-1 with under a minute to go. The Bruins earned a 6-on-5 of their own next, however, and Katie Rulon punched in the score for a 4-1 UCLA lead entering the second period.
Defenses stiffened in the second. UCLA's only score of the frame came on a slider from Mathewson - her third of the day - early in the period for a 5-1 UCLA advantage. After almost seven minutes of scoring silence, USC broke through on a smooth bar-down score from Alexandra Kiss just 38 seconds away from halftime for a 5-2 score.
After Forel Davies captured the sprint for the Trojans, USC went down, earned a 6-on-5 and converted with a two-meter strike from Kristen Dronberger to get USC within two at 5-3. But another UCLA 6-on-5 score - a nearside goal from Priscilla Orozco - got USC down three once again. Yet another UCLA player advantage pushed the Bruins up by four for the second time in the game, leading 7-3 with 3:18 to go in the third period.
The Women of Troy were undeterred. After the Bruins failed on their next power play opportunity, USC earned one of its own with just nine seconds remaining in the frame. Michelle Stein rifled in the goal for the Trojans, helping to spark what would grow to be a four-goal scoring run for USC.
Trailing 7-4 entering the final period, USC followed up a takeaway at two meters by Bartunkova with a counter. Bartunkova ended up finding Forel Davies two meters out, and Davies ripped in the score to make it 7-5 with 5:50 remaining. Tumua Anae would make the save on UCLA's next 6-on-5 chance, and the Trojans were back on the attack. Kiss poured in her second with a nice crosscage lob to cut things to a one-goal affair at 4:49. Again, the USC defense would come up with the takeaway, as Miranda Nichols got a steal at set. A wide shot at the other end found its way to Bartunkova on the left side, and she snaked in a lob for the Trojans to equalize the game at 7-7 with 3:47 to go. But just over a minute later, Mathewson struck again for the Bruins, punching in a goal with 2:31 on the clock for an 8-7 UCLA edge and breaking up USC's scoring spurt. Defense won out on both ends in the remaining time, and Bartunkova's last-second shot attempt under pressure went just wide as UCLA emerged with the 8-7 win.
USC's next competition comes in two weeks with a home matchup against UC Santa Barbara at 5 p.m. on March 28.
#1 UCLA 8, #3 USC 7
UCLA 4 - 1 - 2 - 1 = 8
USC 1 - 1 - 2 - 3 = 7
SCORING:
USC - Veronika Bartunkova 2, Alexandra Kiss 2, Kristen Dronberger, Michelle Stein, Forel Davies.
UCLA - Courtney Mathewson 4, Brittany Rowe, Katie Rulon, Priscilla Orozco, Jillian Kraus.
SAVES: Tumua Anae (USC) 7, Brittany Fullen (UCLA) 3.
