USC
UCLA
No. 3 USC Falls Short Of No. 4 UCLA
April 09, 2011 | Women's Water Polo
April 9, 2011
WESTWOOD, CALIF. - The No. 3 USC women's water polo team fought out of a three-goal hole to tie things in the fourth period, but the Trojans' crosstown rival No. 4 UCLA staved off the comeback with two goals for a 7-5 Bruin victory on Saturday afternoon in Westwood. The loss puts USC at 15-5 overall and now 3-3 in MPSF play, while UCLA improves to 20-5, 3-3.
It's the first time since 2000 that the Trojans have taken three losses in MPSF competition, and with just one conference match left in the regular season, USC is likely to wind up as a No. 4 seed for the coming MPSF Tournament.
USC's scoring was spread among five different scorers, while UCLA got four from Grace Reynolds, including the Bruins' last two strikes to pull ahead for good. UCLA had the upper hand throughout as the Trojans never led in the game. The referees' whistles blew often and harshly for a total of 22 exclusions and a penalty apiece. The cross bar also played a key role in the game, with numerous bar-outs on both ends and three 6-on-5 slams that stalled out Trojan attacks.
UCLA converted on its first 6-on-5 chance of the game to put USC on its heels early. USC closed to tie it 1-1 after Kaleigh Gilchrist earned a power play for the Trojans and Patricia Jancso blasted it with 21 ticks left in the first frame. UCLA would jump ahead by halftime with two more scores while the Trojans came up empty, striking out on three 6-on-5 opportunities in the period.
USC would end the silence on a rocket from Nadia Dan to open the second half, only to have the Bruins plug in two more scores - the first a 6-on-5 finish by Reynolds and the second a 5-meter penalty shot that came on senior Kristen Dronberger's third exclusion of the game. With the Bruins ahead 5-2 with 5:41 on the clock in the third period, USC found a spark. Gilchrist ripped in a score off a foul next, and after a couple defensive stops keyed by Joelle Bekhazi, Gilchrist got the Trojans up on a 6-on-5 again. Bekhazi fed the ball to Madeline Rosenthal on the post, and the freshman pumped in the finish to cut the UCLA lead to one on the way into the fourth period.
USC goalie Flora Bolonyai squelched a UCLA 6-on-5 next, and the Trojans equalized for the first time since the first quarter when Blair Moody went big for a bar-in score from the top to make it 5-5 with 6:21 remaining. The momentum would shift again, however, as USC's three-goal run was snapped with a score from Reynolds out of two meters just 30 seconds later. Reynolds made it a 7-5 UCLA advantage a minute later when she found the near post on a Bruin 6-on-5, and the Trojans were unable to sneak back into the game the rest of the way.
USC's final MPSF match comes up next week when San Jose State comes to town for a 4 p.m. game on Saturday (April 16).
#4 UCLA 7, #3 USC 5
USC 1 - 0 - 3 - 1 = 5
UCLA 1 - 2 - 2 - 2 = 7
SCORING:
USC - Patricia Jancso, Nadia Dan, Kaleigh Gilchrist, Madeline Rosenthal, Blair Moody.
UCLA - Grace Reynolds 4, Priscilla Orozco 2, KK Clark.
SAVES: Flora Bolonyai (USC) 9, Caitlin Dement (UCLA) 4.
