No. 1 USC Streaks Into MPSF Match Vs. Sun Devils
April 07, 2010 | Women's Water Polo
April 7, 2010
Complete Release in PDF Format 
THIS WEEK
Top-ranked USC digs back into MPSF action this week, carrying a 15-game win streak into a quick road trip across state lines as the Women of Troy (17-1, 3-0 MPSF) pay a visit to No. 9 Arizona State (15-10, 0-5) for a 12 p.m. matchup on Saturday (April 10) in Tempe, Ariz.
IN THE RANKINGS
USC took over as the nation's No. 1 team on March 3 after standing at No. 2 in the rankings for five weeks, and the Trojans remain on top once again this week. Arizona State is ranked No. 9.
BY THE NUMBERS
USC enters the week with Joelle Bekhazi as its scoring leader with 36 goals to date. Patricia Jancso is next with 27, and Kally Lucas has 26. Kami Craig holds 24, with fellow senior Forel Davies at 23. 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 140 career goals to sit two away from moving up to No. 8 all-time. As a team, USC is No. 2 among MPSF teams in defense, allowing just 4.83 goals per game -- just 0.03 behind Stanford's current average. Offensively, USC has edged past the Cardinal to stand at No. 1 in the conference with 12.78 goals per game.
LAST WEEK
USC extended its win streak to 15 with three wins last week. The Trojans successfully defended their home pool first with a 15-6 win over Brown before facing a doubleheader and dealing out an 18-4 win over Cal State Bakersfield and an 18-6 win over Cal State Northridge. Standout performances came from several different hands in the winning run, which pushed the Trojans home win streak out to 17 straight. Patricia Jancso had a had trick to lead USC against Brown, and Joelle Bekhazi had back-to-back four-goal games for a new career high during USC's doubleheader wins. Kristen Dronberger led all scorers with a career-best five goals in the win over CSUN. In the cage, goalie Tumua Anae collected double-digit saves in every game. And from the starting line, Forel Davies won every opening sprint she took for the Trojans.
GOING STREAKY
• USC defense hasn't allowed more than six goals in the past TEN games.
• Joelle Bekhazi has scored at least two goals in the past EIGHT games.
• Goalie Tumua Anae has recorded at least 10 saves in NINE straight games.
• USC's overall win streak is 15 games.
• USC has won 17 straight games at McDonald's Swim Stadium.
• Forel Davies has won 27 consecutive opening sprints (March 6-present).
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 to start to tourney and then San Jose State 15-5 to earn their 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.
SCOUTING ASU
The No. 9 Sun Devils are 15-10 overall and 0-5 in MPSF play after losing 14-11 to Cal last week. Lynlee Smith leads ASU in scoring with 45 goals (1.8 gpg) with Dana Harvey and Amanda Young sharing time in goal. Harvey averages 6.0 saves and 3.7 goals-against per game in 15 appearances, and Young averages 5.8 spg and 5.4 gapg in 20 appearances. USC is 12-1 all-time against ASU, winning the past six meetings including four wins last season. USC beat ASU 12-6 when the teams last faced in the 2009 MPSF Tournament. ASU's last win over the Trojans was an 8-5 decision in the 2008 Stanford Invitational.
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, setting a new season high for herself with 23 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.
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. 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.
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 MSP 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 an All-American.
