Saturday, February 23
Irvine, CA
2:45 PM
USC
9
vs
8
Semifinal: vs. Cal
Players Mentioned
DR
/ Women's Water Polo
D
/ Women's Water Polo
2M
/ Women's Water Polo
G
/ Women's Water Polo
DR
/ Women's Water Polo
DR
/ Women's Water Polo
UT
/ Women's Water Polo
G
/ Women's Water Polo
UT
/ Women's Water Polo
Photo by: Kym Mammolito
No. 1 USC Adds Two More Wins To Take Spot In Title Match At Barbara Kalbus Invite
February 23, 2019 | Women's Water Polo, Features
Trojans follow a 7-1 win over ASU with a 9-8 victory over Cal to improve to 16-0.
IRVINE, CALIF. — The No. 1 USC women's water polo team is through to the championship match at the Barbara Kalbus Invitational after two wins today in Irvine. The Trojans punched a ticket to the semifinal with a defensive 7-1 win over No. 8 Arizona State in the morning. In the afternoon's semi, USC lined up against No. 4 California for the first time this season and fought out a tight battle for a 9-8 win that propels the Trojans into tomorrow's title match. USC will carry a 16-0 overall record into the final.
In the first game of the day, USC had an 8 a.m. opening sprint against No. 8 Arizona State. The Trojan defense would shut down the Sun Devils for the first three periods of action while the offense rattled the back of the cage seven times. In the first frame, Kelsey McIntosh converted early and the later earned a 5-meter penalty shot that Paige Hauschild deposited to net a 2-0 USC lead in the first eight minutes. Next, another slow scoring stretch ensued, but Denise Mammolito and Tilly Kearns would break through late while the Trojan D stayed solid to lift USC to a 4-0 halftime lead. In the third, goalie Amanda Longan kept piling up saves, amassing a grand total of nine by the time she checked out of the cage at the close of the third. Meanwhile, Alejandra Aznar plugged in two goals for USC at the other end, and Bayley Weber cleaned up a rebound to get USC ahead 7-0 entering the fourth. There, ASU was able to break its silence to make it 7-1 before Holly Parker snubbed the Sun Devils the rest of the way to lock up the ticket to the semis for the Trojans.
The semifinal bout with Cal was a tighter affair, as the teams fought through four ties in the first three frames before USC created some space in the fourth. That's where USC opened up a three-goal lead that was enough to keep Cal out of reach down the stretch as the Trojans held on for a 9-8 win. Kelsey McIntosh opened things up on the scoring front for USC n the first, but Cal fired back and it was tangled up 1-1 after eight minutes of play. In the next stretch the teams went goal-for-goal again. Bayley Weber edged USC ahead 2-1 and fellow freshman Tilly Kearns followed a Cal equalizer with a go-ahead blast to make it 3-2. Cal fired back again, and it was 3-3 at halftime. Cal took its first lead with an early strike to start the third before USC managed a three-goal surge to finally create some room. Kearns cleaned up a rebound and the Maud Megens finished off a long counter pass from goalie Amanda Longan to get USC back on top. McIntosh issued her second goal next, and USC was up 6-4. Cal got out of its rut with a 6-on-5 finish late in the third, and USC had a 6-5 lead to work with entering the fourth. There, Longan made two big early saves before USC generated back-to-back goals again — both from Megens — to get ahead 8-5 with 6:05 to go. Again Cal got one to go, but Weber had another savvy finish in her arsenal to notch a 9-6 USC lead with 5:12 remaining. The Bears finished a 6-on-5 next and added an even score to get within one at 9-8 with 2:48 left. The USC defense buckled in from there, with a big stop and a sweet save from Longan to hold on for the final 9-8 victory.
USC now heads to the title match tomorrow (Feb. 23) at 1 p.m. in Irvine.
BARBARA KALBUS INVITATIONAL (Irvine, Calif.)
GROUP PLAY
#1 USC 7, #8 Arizona State 1
Feb. 23, 2019 | Irvine, Calif.
USC 2 - 2 - 3 - 0 = 7
ASU 0 - 0 - 0 - 1 = 1
SCORING:
USC — Alejandra Aznar 2, Kelsey McIntosh, Paige Hauschild, Denise Mammolito, Tilly Kearns, Bayley Weber.
ASU — Bente Rogge.
SAVES: Amanda Longan (USC) 9 [3 periods], Holly Parker (USC) 3 [4th period], Bridget Johnston (ASU) 10.
SEMIFINAL
#1 USC vs. #4 California
Feb. 23 , 2019 | Irvine, Calif.
USC 1 - 2 - 3 - 3 = 9
CAL 1 - 2 - 2 - 3 = 8
SCORING:
USC — Maud Megens 3, Kelsey McIntosh 2, Tilly Kearns 2, Bayley Weber 2.
CAL — Carla Traplin 3, Brigitt Mulder 2, Hanna Derose, Emma Wright, Catie Wallace.
SAVES: Amanda Longan (USC) 11, Clair McDowell (CAL) 14.
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