Trojans Medal At FINA Intercontinental Tournament

Four former, current and incoming Trojans have taken home a gold medal from the 2018 FINA Intercontinental Tournament in Auckland, New Zealand. Both the men's and women's U.S. teams defeated Australia in the finals to claim gold. The U.S. women's team avenged their loss to Australia in last year's Intercontinental Tournament final with a 10-7 victory. The U.S. men's team secured its gold medal with a 9-6 victory over the Aussies in the finals.

Former Trojans Stephania Haralabidis and Olympian Kaleigh Gilchrist – both NCAA champions while at USC — competed for the USA women. Team USA defeated New Zealand, Kazakhstan, Japan and Canada on their way to a finals berth versus Australia. Haralabidis, who made her U.S. National Team debut in December 2017, scored 12 goals throughout the tournament and contributed three goals in the gold-medal game. Gilchrist scored nine goals throughout the tournament and also scored three goals in the finals match.

Two other former Trojans competed in on the women's side of tournament for the Australian and Canadian teams. Olympian Hannah Buckling — another NCAA champ as a Trojan — earned a silver medal with Australia and scored five goals throughout the tournament. Additionally, 2010 NCAA champion Joelle Bekhazi won a bronze medal with Canada and also scored five goals throughout the tournament.

Current Trojan Marko Vavic and incoming freshman Hannes Daube competed for the men's U.S. team. Team USA defeated New Zealand, Saudi Arabia, Japan and China to earn a spot in the finals match against Australia. Vavic scored seven goals during the tournament including two goals in the gold-medal game. Daube scored nine at the event and contributed one goal during the final. On the other side of the pool was USC senior Blake Edwards, who earned a silver medal competing for the Australian men and scored five goals during the tournament.

Players Mentioned

Blake Edwards

Stephania Haralabidis

Marko Vavic