USC
Long Beach State
No. 2 USC Drops Long Beach State 9-5
April 19, 2009 | Women's Water Polo
April 19, 2009
LONG BEACH, CALIF. - The No. 2 USC women's water polo team followed up yesterday's big win over No. 1 Stanford with a 9-5 win over host Long Beach State in the teams' final game of the regular season. Behind a four-goal day from senior Michelle Stein, USC upped its overall record to 21-1 with Sunday's win over the 49ers. Next up for the Women of Troy is a trip to Hawai'i for the MPSF Tournament, where USC will be the tourney's top seed after an undefeated run through conference play. Competition in Hawai'i will run April 23-26.
On Sunday afternoon at Long Beach State, the Trojans moved out of a tight start with the 49ers by manufacturing a four-goal run to pad USC's lead to 6-2 in the second half. The game opened up with Michelle Stein blasting her first of four, scoring as the teams pulled even on a USC 6-on-5 chance early in the first period. Over a minute later, USC went up 2-0 when Joelle Bekhazi hit Kristen Dronberger for a booming score out of two-meters. Long Beach State would respond, however, plugging in back-to-back goals across the periods as a 49er 6-on-5 went through in the first and Cecilia Canetti got the equalizer on a nearside score in the second period.
USC rallied out of the 2-2 tie-up soon after. A four-goal run by the Trojans was sparked by a 6-on-5 finish from Sarah Van Norman at 5:52 in the second. Three minutes later, USC went up 4-2 as Bekhazi went big and blasted a 6-on-5 score from two-meters, and Stein's second of the day carried USC ahead 5-2 before halftime.
Bekhazi served up a field block for the USC defense, and Kami Craig earned the Trojans a 5-meter penalty shot that Stein promptly deposited in the back of the net for USC's fourth straight goal and a 6-2 USC advantage. Long Beach State stopped the run at 3:10 in the third off a counterattack score, only to see USC go back up by four on a Kally Lucas strike off a foul, as she laced the ball bar-in for a 7-3 USC lead that would last into the fourth period.
In the fourth, USC barreled ahead 9-3 on two goals in the just over a minute, as Nadia Dan fired one in early and Forel Davies found Stein for a counterattack finish. Long Beach State would manage back-to-back goals to round out the scoring on the day, but USC held tight to its control of the game and the win to close out the regular season with a 9-5 victory
#2 USC 9, #16 Long Beach State 5
USC 2 - 3 - 2 - 2 = 9
LBSU 1 - 1 - 1 - 2 = 5
SCORING:
USC - Michelle Stein 4, Kristen Dronberger, Sarah Van Norman, Joelle Bekhazi, Kally Lucas, Nadia Dan.
LBSU - Meaghan Leonard 2, Cecilia Canetti 2, Krizia Cerda.
SAVES: Ilse van der Meijden 8, Kristen Stragier 9.
