No. 1 USC Goes Up Against No. 4 UCLA Saturday
April 14, 2010 | Women's Water Polo
April 14, 2010
Complete Release in PDF Format 
THIS WEEK
Top-ranked USC upped the ante in its heated rivalry with crosstown foe UCLA when the Women of Troy pinned up a 10-goal win over the Bruins in the teams' previous meeting this year. Now, the Trojans put their 16-game winning streak and undefeated home record on the line as No. 1 USC (18-1, 4-0 MPSF) plays host to No. 4 UCLA (17-6, 4-2) on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. at McDonald's Swim Stadium. The USC-UCLA clash not only represents a rematch of last season's NCAA title game won by the Bruins, it offers up a chance for USC to post its first back-to-back wins over UCLA since 2006 as well as post a key MPSF victory in the race to the postseason. Above all, Saturday's game will be the final home game for USC's five seniors: Tumua Anae, Kami Craig, Forel Davies, Alexandra Kiss and Kally Lucas.
IN THE RANKINGS
USC took over as the nation's No. 1 team on March 3, and the Trojans remain on top once again this week. USC stood at No. 2 in the rankings for the first five weeks of the year. UCLA currently is ranked No. 4.
BY THE NUMBERS
USC enters the week with Joelle Bekhazi as its scoring leader with 39 goals to date. Kally Lucas -- who hit the century mark in career scoring on April 3 -- is next with 30. Freshman Patricia Jancso has 27 goals to date, with seniors Kami Craig and Forel Davies at 25 each. Craig recently moved into the No. 9 all-time scoring slot in the Trojan history books, passing up fellow Cutino Award winner and Olympian Lauren Wenger and most recently fellow U.S. National Teamer Erika Figge. Craig now holds 141 career goals to sit one away from moving up to No. 8 all-time. In the cage, goalie Tumua Anae leads the MPSF in saves per game with 9.74 spg. As a team, USC is No. 1 among MPSF teams in defense, allowing just 4.84 goals per game. Offensively, USC also stands at No. 1 in the conference with 12.84 goals per game.
GRAB THE GAUNTLET
This Saturday's USC-UCLA clash puts another 2.5 points up for grabs in the race to the Crosstown Gauntlet, a trophy awarded annually to the school with the most successful athletic year against the other. Points are awarded to the winner of each Trojan-Bruin head-to-head contest (57.5 points is the magic number). USC captured the inaugural trophy in 2001-02 and the award continued to trade hands each year until USC won it back-to-back in 2007-08 and 2008-09. Now aiming for its third straight Crosstown Gauntlet, USC enters the week currently leading this season's competition 42.5-35.
SWIM WITH MIKE
USC's water polo clash with UCLA is just part of a full day of events at McDonald's Swim Stadium this Saturday. The annual Swim With Mike fundraiser -- an annual swim-a-thon held to raise money for the USC Physically Challenged Athletes Scholarship Fund -- opens the day at 8 a.m. to celebrate its 30th anniversary. For more information on the day's events, visit www.swimwithmike.org.
SENIOR DAY SALUTE
Capping up for the final home game of their careers this weekend are seniors Tumua Anae, Kami Craig, Forel Davies, Alexandra Kiss and Kally Lucas. Each have put in three full seasons for the Trojans, and the group is making their fourth season at Troy a special one so far. Craig, Kiss and Lucas all hold at least 100 career goals apiece on the offensive end, and Anae currently stands as the MPSF saves leader while Davies has packed all-around punch as a dangerous scorer as well as dominating defender helping USC hold strong as the conference's top defensive team. This group of seniors has helped lead USC to the NCAA Tournament every year of their careers.
LAST WEEK
USC got a career-high four goals from Kally Lucas to help generate a 14-5 MPSF victory over host No. 9 Arizona State last week. The Women of Troy piled up an 11-2 lead against the Sun Devils to tack up USC's 16th straight win. USC pitched a first-period shutout of their hosts with Lucas knocking in a pair of USC goals in the frame. ASU would get on the board in the second period, but the Trojans answered the strike by rattling off six straight goals to take an 8-1 lead during the third period. Joelle Bekhazi had two goals in the USC surge - securing yet another multiple-goal game for the junior, who would finish with a hat trick on the day.
GOING STREAKY
• Joelle Bekhazi has scored at least two goals in the past NINE games.
• USC defense hasn't allowed more than six goals in the past ELEVEN games.
• USC's overall win streak is 16 games.
• USC has won 17 straight games at McDonald's Swim Stadium.
• Forel Davies has won 30 consecutive opening sprints (March 6-present).
HOME POOL ADVANTAGE
With one game left to play at McDonald's Swim Stadium, the Trojans carry a 17-game home winning streak into this Saturday's clash against UCLA. A USC win would round out another undefeated home season for the Women of Troy, marking the program's eighth season overall with a flawless stand in USC's home waters. So far, USC has completed undefeated runs at home in 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2009.
SCOUTING UCLA
The No. 4 Bruins are 17-6 overall and 4-2 in MPSF play after beating LMU 8-4 and San Diego State 7-5 last week. Priscilla Orozco leads UCLA in scoring with 32 goals, and Grace Reynolds has 29. Goalie Caitlin Dement is averaging 9.1 saves and 6.2 goals-against per game. USC is 15-37 all-time against UCLA after the Trojans' 13-3 win over the Bruins earlier this season. Last year, USC beat UCLA twice in one-goal wins during the regular season before the Bruins beat USC 5-4 in the 2009 NCAA Championship game.
NOT A TYPO
It's been over a decade since the Trojans so decisively dominated their crosstown rival UCLA as they did at the Stanford Invitational on February 7. After streaking ahead of the Bruins 8-0 in the game, USC pinned up a 13-3 victory over UCLA in the third-place game at the tourney. The Trojans and Bruins played out one-goal games last season in three meetings, and UCLA had won 10 straight games until USC snapped the streak with an 8-7 win in their first clash last year. In 1999, USC beat UCLA 11-1. The last time USC beat UCLA back-to-back was in 2006.
TAKING OVER THE TOP
USC recaptured the top slot in the national rankings after a powerful championship run at the UC Irvine Invitational. The Trojans entered the tournament as the second-seeded team, beating Long Beach State 12-1 and then San Jose State 15-5 to earn a place in the semifinals, with 13 different Trojans scoring on the first day of play in Irvine. In the semifinals, Kally Lucas scored four for the Trojans as they powered past Cal with a 10-5 win for a spot in the title match against top-seeded Stanford. There, USC avenged its only previous loss of the season and captured a key tournament championship along the way as the Women of Troy slammed No. 1 Stanford with a 10-6 win. The Trojans piled up an 8-2 lead by halftime, and Patricia Jancso finished with a hat trick en route to USC's big title win over the Cardinal. In handing the Cardinal their first loss of the year, USC extended its win streak to nine after taking a 10-7 loss to Stanford in the Stanford Invitational semifinals earlier in the month.
FORCE TO RECKON WITH
When senior Forel Davies isn't speeding through opening sprints or clamping down with her defensive prowess, she's been doing some equally serious damage at the other end of the pool. Davies has proven herself a true offensive threat for the Trojans, hitting a new season high for herself with 25 goals to date -- with plenty of water polo left to play. Davies' scoring ability is no big surprise, but the senior did turn some heads when she doubled up her previous career high scoring mark, nailing six goals to the back of the cage in a win over Long Beach weeks ago.
SWEEPS WEEK
After a winning week of MPSF and tournament competition, USC placed two players at the top of the list for MPSF weekly honors. Senior Kami Craig earned her third career MPSF Player of the Week award, and freshman Patricia Jancso was selected the MPSF Newcomer of the Week -- a new award bestowed on the top first-year player among MPSF teams each week. The pair combined for five goals in USC's 10-6 upset of Stanford in the championship game at the UC Irvine Invitational. Craig opened the week with a four-goal game in USC's MPSF opener against Hawai'i, and she added four more goals during the UCI Invite. Jancso scored nine goals in five games during the week, scoring in all five games. She topped out with a hat trick in the title match against Stanford. Jancso has since picked up another MPSF Newcomer of the Week award with her selection a week later on March 8.
WORLDLY ALL-AMERICANS
USC returns a fistful of All-Americans to the roster for 2009, and the group also hauls in added experience from international action during the offseason. 2008 U.S. Olympic silver-medalist and 2009 Cutino Award winner Kami Craig was joined by fellow Trojan All-Americans Tumua Anae, Forel Davies and Kristen Dronberger for U.S. National Team training. Anae, Davies and Dronberger all competed for Team USA at the Canada Cup in December, paying a visit to another USC All-American, Joelle Bekhazi, who is a member of the Canadian National Team. It was a Trojan All-American reunion again at the 2009 Holiday Cup as well, with Bekhazi again on the Canada roster and Craig and Davies capping up for the USA.
LAST SEASON
USC had a powerful 2009 season, racking up a 26-2 overall record that included a regular-season overtime loss to Stanford and a 5-4 loss to UCLA in the NCAA championship game. The Trojans made their third appearance in the national title match in four years and had beaten UCLA twice in one-goal games prior to the championship bout. The Women of Troy had beaten Stanford 5-4 in the MPSF tournament title match to clinch the automatic seed to the NCAA Tournament with USC's first MPSF Championship since 2004 and second all-time. Kami Craig went on to win the Peter J. Cutino Award, and was one of six Trojans to be named a 2009 All-American.
