USC
San Jose State
No. 4 USC Women Stop San Jose State 13-10
April 16, 2011 | Women's Water Polo
April 16, 2011
LOS ANGELES, CALIF. -- The No. 4 USC women's water polo team wrapped up the regular season with a win in snapping No. 7 San Jose State's four-match win streak with 13-10 Trojan victory in Saturday's MPSF action. All four USC seniors had a hand in the Senior Day win, which improved the Women of Troy to 16-5 overall and a 4-3 finish in the MPSF standings.
San Jose State made it clear who would be its biggest scoring threat early in the game, as Adriana Vogt had a hat trick for the Spartans in the first quarter on her way to an eventual six-goal day. Still, the balance of the Trojans kept USC from ever trailing in the game. A senior tandem of Joelle Behkazi and Kristen Dronberger had an answer for each of Vogt's first-frame goals, and after a San Jose State 6-on-5 was converted by Timi Molnar, USC's Nadia Dan rifled in a power play strike of her own to get USC up 5-4 after one period of play. USC's offense sputtered in the second, but its defense remained strong as the Spartans managed only a 5-meter penalty shot early in the period to lock things up 5-5 for halftime.
In the second half, the Women of Troy found their groove. Five straight Trojan goals ripped USC out of reach of the visiting Spartans, with Patricia Jancso providing the spark with a 6-on-5 score early on. Madeline Rosenthal stepped up for a steal and a one-on-one goal next, then finished off a pass into two meters from Blair Moody to lift the Trojans ahead 8-5. The USC defense stayed stiff, with Bekhazi and Dronberger nabbing takeaways before Bekhazi fed a 6-on-5 pass to fellow senior Sarah Van Norman on the post, and she blasted the chance for another USC score. Kara-Leigh Huse would make it five straight USC goals with her blast on another USC 6-on-5 before San Jose State stopped the run with a score on a Spartan power play just before the end of the third.
USC goalies Flora Bolonyai and senior Courtney Ray would share time in the cage in the fourth, which proved to be another busy frame on both ends. The teams traded goals in the period with Dan and Dronberger punching in scores for the Trojans and Kaleigh Gilchrist providing what would be USC's final goal of the day with a strike from the post of a 6-on-5 feed from Dan. Up 13-8 in the game, USC saw San Jose State's Vogt manage two more goals before the final buzzer, closing out the match as a 13-10 USC win.
A likely three-way tie in that third spot in the MPSF standings at 4-3 with Hawai'i and UCLA should leave the Trojans as the No. 5 seed in the coming MPSF Tournament (April 29-May 1), with Hawai'i winning out in the tiebreaker thanks to a two-goal win over the Bruins, who beat USC by two during MPSF play. USC's one-goal overtime win over Hawai'i was not a great enough margin of victory to pull the Trojans ahead in the tiebreak rules.
#4 USC 13, #7 San Jose State 10
USC 5 - 0 - 5 - 3 = 13
SJSU 4 - 1 - 1 - 4 = 10
SCORING:
USC -- Kristen Dronberger 3, Joelle Bekhazi 2, Nadia Dan 2, Madeline Rosenthal 2, Patricia Jancso, Sarah Van Norman, Kara-Leigh Huse, Kaleigh Gilchrist.
SJSU -- Adriana Vogt 6, Timi Molnar 3, Katie Buzzetta.
SAVES: Flora Bolonyai (USC) 4, Courtney Ray (USC) 0, Meagan Minson (SJSU) 9.
