USC
UCLA (Semifinals)
UCLA Edges USC In MPSF Semifinal
April 28, 2012 | Women's Water Polo
April 28, 2012
STANFORD, CALIF. - The USC women's water polo team wound up with another one-goal loss to rival UCLA today, falling 4-3 to the No. 2 seeded Bruins in the semifinals of the MPSF Tournament. The No. 3 seeded Trojans will face No.5 seed California tomorrow (April 29) at 2:30 p.m. at Stanford's Avery Aquatic Center. USC goes to 20-5 overall with today's loss to UCLA, which is now 20-3 on the way to tomorrow's title match vs. host No. 1 Stanford.
In a defensive battle down to the wire, UCLA managed the winner with three seconds left in regulation. Hannah Sebenaler -- who has equalized the game at 3-3 midway through the third period -- set sail another well-placed lob, landing it crosscage inside net to give UCLA back the lead it had lost early in the second half. Until that point, the USC defense had done its job to precision in allowing just one UCLA goal in a span of 22 minutes. That included a powerful 5-meter penalty shot save by USC goalie Flora Bolonyai with 24 ticks left in the third, preserving the 3-3 lockup entering the fourth frame.
Including that bigtime block, Bolonyai accumulated 10 saves in the game for the Trojan defense. Her UCLA counterpart Caitlin Dement tallied seven, but got some extra help from the cage as the Women of Troy saw six shots clang the crossbar or post during the game.
After a scoreless first frame, UCLA fired in two goals early in the second period. Natasha Schulman slid one in first, and a minute later Giselle Naranjo skipped a bar-in strike to put UCLA ahead 2-0. From there, however, the USC defense took control and the offense finally broke its silence. Dominique Sardo got USC up on a power play, earning a kickout off the drive while Monica Vavic finished off the opportunity to make it 2-1 with 2:51 on the clock. That score would hold through halftime and into the third until USC worked into another 6-on-5 chance. Vavic found Nadia Dan for a nearside skip that locked up the game 2-2 with 5:52 to go, and the Bolonyai hauled in another save for the Trojans to set them back on the attack. Working hard at the top, Patricia Jancso blazed in the go-ahead goal with a score off the foul, plugging it into the top corner to take USC ahead 3-2 with 4:48 remaining in the third. At 3:01, however, UCLA finally cracked the USC defense with Sebenaler's first lob, making it 3-3 to set up yet another defensive stalemate between the two rival teams.
Sebenaler's late-game lob was the winner, however, putting USC in the third-place game tomorrow. The Trojans will look to record their fourth win of the year over California in that matchup, which is set for 2:30 p.m. on Sunday (April 29) at Stanford's Avery Aquatic Center.
MPSF TOURNAMENT (Stanford, Calif.)
Semifinals - April 28
[2] UCLA 4, [3] USC 3
USC 0 - 1 - 2 - 0 = 3
UCLA 0 - 2 - 1 - 1 = 4
SCORING:
USC - Monica Vavic, Nadia Dan, Patricia Jancso.
UCLA - Hannah Sebenaler 2, Natasha Schulman, Giselle Naranjo.
SAVES: Flora Bolonyai (USC) 10, Caitlin Dement (UCLA) 7.
