Sunday, April 29
Berkeley, CA
12:45 PM
USC
13
vs
12
Stanford
Players Mentioned
DR
/ Women's Water Polo
D
/ Women's Water Polo
G
/ Women's Water Polo
DR
/ Women's Water Polo
DR
/ Women's Water Polo
UT
/ Women's Water Polo
UT
/ Women's Water Polo
Photo by: Catharyn Hayne
No. 1 USC Wins Fifth MPSF Tournament Championship
April 29, 2018 | Women's Water Polo, Features
Four goals each from Maud Megens and Hayley McKelvey help power the Trojans to the tourney title with 13-12 OT win over Stanford.
BERKELEY, CALIF. — In a see-saw battle for MPSF supremacy, it was the top-ranked USC women's water polo team that made the winning final move to beat No. 2 Stanford 13-12 in overtime in today's MPSF Championship match in Berkeley. Tied 10 times in regulation, the Trojans and Cardinal had the score snarled even at the end of each period, locked up at 11-11 after four periods of work to bring up OT. In the first overtime stretch, USC's Hayley McKelvey punched in her fourth goal of the game before Paige Hauschild added her first to lift USC ahead 13-11. Stanford would get one to go in the next OT frame, but staunch Trojan defense thwarted the Cardinal's attempts to equalize while MPSF Player of the Year Amanda Longan made three saves in the last three minutes to help secure the title for the Trojans. Now 23-1 overall, USC has locked up an automatic berth in the coming NCAA Tournament, which the Trojans will host May 11-13 at Uytengsu Aquatics Center.
The 2018 MPSF Tournament title is USC's fifth all-time, adding to championships won in 2004, 2009, 2013 and 2016. Today's championship game win also extends USC's current win streak out to 13 victories in a row with NCAA action on the horizon next for the Trojans.
In today's final at Cal's Spieker Aquatics Complex, Stanford would steal ahead first, but the Trojans had an answer for each Cardinal goal in the opening period of play. Maud Megens drilled two goals while Hayley McKelvey punched in one to help the Trojans keep pace with the Cardinal, knotting it a 3-3 on Megens' counterattack blast just before the close of the first. It was a back-and-forth battle in the first few minutes of the second as well, as sophomore Kelsey McIntosh and Denise Mammolito answered the call to follow Stanford scores and get it to 5-5. Mammolito's goal would light a fuse for the Trojans, who had Megens earn a power play and then convert it herself to get USC its first lead of the game, up 6-5 with 4:45 on the clock in the second. Next it was McKelvey who zipped in a score to pad USC's lead to 7-5, although the Cardinal would fire right back with two 6-on-5 finishes to level it 7-7 by halftime.
Stanford sneaked back into the lead with a score three minutes into the second half before Megens and McKelvey teamed up again for the Trojans. McKelvey popped it out to Megens for a searing skipper that pulled it even again, and then Megens found McKelvey on a USC 6-on-5 to nudge the Trojans back on top, up 9-8. Again, Stanford found an equalizer, and it was 9-9 going into the fourth. That frame unfurled much like the third had, as Stanford got the early edge again, only to see USC pin up back-to-back goals to get the lead — this time on a well-placed strike from McIntosh and then turn-and-fire from Brianna Daboub for an 11-10 USC advantage with 3:06 to go in regulation. Stanford leveled it for the 10th time next, and then USC's defense would hold its ground the rest of the way to bring up overtime.
In USC's first overtime game of the year, the Trojans were focused and calm, shutting down the Cardinal while coming up with huge goals from McKelvey and Paige Hauschild to work out to a 13-11 lead. In the second OT, Longan opened up with two enormous saves to keep the Cardinal at bay. Stanford would manage a goal with 52 seconds left, but the Trojans regained control and locked away the win, the title and the free ticket to the NCAA Tournament with the 13-12 decision.
USC now awaits word on the entirety of the 2018 NCAA bracket, which will be revealed in the NCAA Selection Show at 5 p.m. tomorrow (April 30) at ncaa.com. The Trojans will be making their 15th consecutive appearance in the NCAA tourney as USC looks to add a sixth national championship to the women's trophy case at Troy.
2018 MPSF TOURNAMENT (Spieker Aquatics Complex | Berkeley, Calif.)
CHAMPIONSHIP
#1 USC 13, #2 Stanford 12 (OT)
April 29, 2018 (Spieker Aquatics Complex | Berkeley, Calif.)
USC 3 - 4 - 2 - 2 --- 2 - 0 = 13
STAN 3 - 4 - 2 - 2 --- 0 - 1 = 12
SCORING:
USC — Maud Megens 4, Hayley McKelvey 4, Kelsey McIntosh 2, Denise Mammolito, Brianna Daboub, Paige Hauschild.
STAN — Makenzie Fischer 5, Katie Dudley 2, Aria Fischer 2, Madison Berggren 2, Shannon Cleary.
SAVES: Amanda Longan (USC) 12, Julia Hermann (STAN) 11.
The 2018 MPSF Tournament title is USC's fifth all-time, adding to championships won in 2004, 2009, 2013 and 2016. Today's championship game win also extends USC's current win streak out to 13 victories in a row with NCAA action on the horizon next for the Trojans.
In today's final at Cal's Spieker Aquatics Complex, Stanford would steal ahead first, but the Trojans had an answer for each Cardinal goal in the opening period of play. Maud Megens drilled two goals while Hayley McKelvey punched in one to help the Trojans keep pace with the Cardinal, knotting it a 3-3 on Megens' counterattack blast just before the close of the first. It was a back-and-forth battle in the first few minutes of the second as well, as sophomore Kelsey McIntosh and Denise Mammolito answered the call to follow Stanford scores and get it to 5-5. Mammolito's goal would light a fuse for the Trojans, who had Megens earn a power play and then convert it herself to get USC its first lead of the game, up 6-5 with 4:45 on the clock in the second. Next it was McKelvey who zipped in a score to pad USC's lead to 7-5, although the Cardinal would fire right back with two 6-on-5 finishes to level it 7-7 by halftime.
Stanford sneaked back into the lead with a score three minutes into the second half before Megens and McKelvey teamed up again for the Trojans. McKelvey popped it out to Megens for a searing skipper that pulled it even again, and then Megens found McKelvey on a USC 6-on-5 to nudge the Trojans back on top, up 9-8. Again, Stanford found an equalizer, and it was 9-9 going into the fourth. That frame unfurled much like the third had, as Stanford got the early edge again, only to see USC pin up back-to-back goals to get the lead — this time on a well-placed strike from McIntosh and then turn-and-fire from Brianna Daboub for an 11-10 USC advantage with 3:06 to go in regulation. Stanford leveled it for the 10th time next, and then USC's defense would hold its ground the rest of the way to bring up overtime.
In USC's first overtime game of the year, the Trojans were focused and calm, shutting down the Cardinal while coming up with huge goals from McKelvey and Paige Hauschild to work out to a 13-11 lead. In the second OT, Longan opened up with two enormous saves to keep the Cardinal at bay. Stanford would manage a goal with 52 seconds left, but the Trojans regained control and locked away the win, the title and the free ticket to the NCAA Tournament with the 13-12 decision.
USC now awaits word on the entirety of the 2018 NCAA bracket, which will be revealed in the NCAA Selection Show at 5 p.m. tomorrow (April 30) at ncaa.com. The Trojans will be making their 15th consecutive appearance in the NCAA tourney as USC looks to add a sixth national championship to the women's trophy case at Troy.
2018 MPSF TOURNAMENT (Spieker Aquatics Complex | Berkeley, Calif.)
CHAMPIONSHIP
#1 USC 13, #2 Stanford 12 (OT)
April 29, 2018 (Spieker Aquatics Complex | Berkeley, Calif.)
USC 3 - 4 - 2 - 2 --- 2 - 0 = 13
STAN 3 - 4 - 2 - 2 --- 0 - 1 = 12
SCORING:
USC — Maud Megens 4, Hayley McKelvey 4, Kelsey McIntosh 2, Denise Mammolito, Brianna Daboub, Paige Hauschild.
STAN — Makenzie Fischer 5, Katie Dudley 2, Aria Fischer 2, Madison Berggren 2, Shannon Cleary.
SAVES: Amanda Longan (USC) 12, Julia Hermann (STAN) 11.
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