USC
San Diego State
No. 2 USC Moves To UCI Invite Semis
February 26, 2011 | Women's Water Polo
Feb. 26, 2011
IRVINE, CALIF. - The No. 2 USC women's water polo team has secured another semifinal slot at the UCI Invitational with a pair of dominant wins today in Irvine, Calif. The Trojans beat UC San Diego 14-5 in today's opener before beating San Diego State 11-3 today to punch a ticket to face UCLA in tomorrow's semifinals. USC improves to 8-1 overall with today's victories.
In both games, USC mounted a powerful first half of play to put their opponents out of reach. Against the Tritons, USC went ahead 8-2 by halftime and padded that lead to 13-4 entering the final frame. Nadia Dan led all scorers with a hat trick in the match, while USC goalie Flora Bolonyai had four saves to help anchor the Trojan defense.
Against the Aztecs, USC got even stingier on the defensive end. Bolonyai threw up 13 saves in the game, shutting out San Diego State in the second and third periods of play as the Trojans created plenty of distance between themselves and the Aztecs. USC led 5-1 at halftime and 8-1 entering the fourth period. Chelsea Silvers scored a career-high three goals in the win for USC to lead a group of seven Trojan scorers.
USC will now face crosstown rival UCLA at 11:45 a.m. tomorrow (Feb. 27) in the UCI Invitational semifinals for a shot at playing for the title tomorrow afternoon. The Trojans are the defending tournament champions, and last faced UCLA earlier this month in a 10-8 USC win in the semifinals of the Stanford Invtitational.
UCI INVITATIONAL
Saturday, Feb. 26
USC 14, UC San Diego 5
USC 5 - 3 - 5 - 1 = 14
UCSD 1 - 1 - 2 - 1 = 5
SCORING:
USC -- Nadia Dan 3, Dominique Sardo 2, Constance Hiller 2, Nicolina McCall, Sarah Van Norman, Joelle Bekhazi, Kara-Leigh Huse, Patricia Jancso, Kaleigh Gilchrist, Kristen Dronberger.
UCSD -- Kirsten Bates 2, Felicia Orozco, Hanalei Crowell, Katherine Biehle.
SAVES: Flora Bolonyai (USC) 4, Ostosh (UCSD) 1, Taylor (UCSD) 5.
USC 11, San Diego State 3
USC 2 - 3 - 3 - 3 = 11
SDSU 1 - 0 - 0 - 2 = 3
SCORING:
USC -- Chelsea Silvers 3, Patricia Jancso 2, Kristen Dronberger 2, Nicolina McCall, Sarah Van Norman, Joelle Bekhazi, Nadia Dan.
SDSU -- Ashley Novack, Ashley de Goede, Kimmy Keach.
SAVES: Flora Bolonyai (USC) 13, Campoli (SDSU) 10.
