No. 1 USC Takes Aim At Another Triton Invitational Title

THIS WEEK

No. 1 USC takes aim at a seventh consecutive title at the Triton Invitational this weekend, setting up camp in La Jolla to do battle at the event Feb. 8-9. The top-ranked Trojans (3-0) open group play with an 8:30 a.m. clash with Villanova for the first time in program history on Saturday (Feb. 8). From there, USC will face either LMU or Long Beach State to round out group play. A winning start would put USC in an 11:10 a.m. semifinal on Sunday (Feb. 9) to fight for a spot in the 5:50 p.m. championship game, which is preceded by a 4:30 p.m. third-place game. Action takes place at UC San Diego's Triton Pool.

USC IN THE RANKINGS

USC opened 2020 ranked No. 1 in the national preseason poll, and the Trojans have remained there in the latest polls (last released Feb. 5) to stand as the top-ranked team in the land.

TRITON INVITATIONAL NOTES

This year's edition of the competitive Triton Invitational features 16 teams, including three MPSF teams in USC, UCLA and Arizona State. The teams will open up action playing through four-team brackets, designated as follows:

Bracket A: #1 USC, #12 Long Beach State, #16 LMU, Villanova

Bracket B: #3 UCLA, #9 UC Davis, # 19 Indiana, Pomona-Pitzer

Bracket C: #5 UC Irvine, #8 Arizona State, #22 CSUN, Santa Clara

Bracket D: #7 UC San Diego, #9 UC Santa Barbara, #21 San Diego State, #24 Marist

On Sunday, semifinals and placement games will be held. Last year, the Trojans went undefeated at the 2015 Triton Invitational. USC beat Pomona-Pitzer 15-4 and LMU 16-5 on the first day and then topped Michigan 10-3 in the semifinals and UCLA 10-3 in the title match — USC's sixth consecutive championship at the event. Follow along at the 2020 Triton Invitational page.

LAST WEEK

USC got a career-high six goals from sophomore Mireia Guiral to pace the Trojans to a 16-3 victory over No. 16 LMU at the UCLA Mini Invitational. USC turned an early one-goal game into a Trojan-dominated match that saw Grace Tehaney and Elise Stein hit hat tricks along the way. Four different Trojans got to the back of the net in the first frame to help set the tone. Guiral's first of the day made 4-1 Trojans to end the first. She'd add another to open the second, while two new Trojan scorers got in on the action next. Tehaney delivered her second to end the half with USC up 8-2. In the third, the Trojan defense silenced the Lions with Holly Parker anchoring things in the cage while Guiral added two more goals to her count on the other end. With USC up 11-3 entering the fourth, Parker would give way to Erin Tharp in the final frame. That's where Guiral knocked in two more goals to build out her six-goal outing and help round out the final 16-3 USC victory.

MIREIA'S MPSF PICK

Sophomore Mireia Guiral doubled up on career firsts in this past week, hitting a career-high six goals in a 16-3 win over LMU and then earning her first career honor as the MPSF Player of the Week. Against the No. 16 Lions, Guiral was a perfect 6-for-6 in the game, with four goals coming in the second half as she built out her new career best with a six-goal final effort. She has scored in all three games so far for the 3-0 Trojans and holds nine goals total.

TAKEOVER AT THE TOP

Already the top pick in the conference, USC opens the 2020 season ranked No. 1 in the nation. The Trojans left off 2019 at No. 2 after a loss in the NCAA Championship game, but USC is in prime position as it sets up to kick off this 2020 campaign under the direction of head coach Marko Pintaric. In the national preseason poll (released Jan. 15), the Trojans led defending champ Stanford and rival UCLA, which were tied at No. 2, and another MPSF foe in No. 4 California.

BY THE NUMBERS

Just two games into 2020, USC has outscored opponents 58-7. Bayley Weber leads the scoring front with 10 goals, followed by Mireia Guiral with nine and Grace Tehaney with seven. Three USC goalies have capped up so far, with redshirt junior Holly Parker accumulating 13 saves and just four goals allowed in her seven periods of play. Redshirt freshman Erin Tharp has appeared in three periods, with six saves and three goals allowed, while true freshman Carolyne Stern has made eight saves and given up no goals in her two periods of work to date. Thanks in part to strong goalie play, the Trojan defense has shut out opponents in five periods this season so far. Overall, USC is averaging 19.3 goals per game on the offensive end and is allowing just 2.3 goals-against per game defensively.

OLYMPIC DREAMERS

This 2020 season will be a unique one in that it is an Olympic year, so several teams across the nation will have players taking the season off in order to train and compete with their national teams in preparation for the Games. USC has four Women of Troy slated to sit out the collegiate season to pursue Olympic dreams, with All-Americans Alejandra Aznar (Spain), Paige Hauschild (USA) and Maud Megens (Netherlands) as well as Tilly Kearns (Australia) taking 2020 off. But the Trojan roster remains powerful for 2020, as evidenced by USC's No. 1 pick out of the seven teams in the MPSF conference and No. 1 in the nation.

BACK FOR MORE

Head coach Marko Pintaric will have at his disposal two returning All-Americans in Denise Mammolito and Kelsey McIntosh along with returning All-MPSF honoree Bayley Weber. USC has a talented blend of youth and experience, as sophomores Weber, Mireia Guiral and Grace Tehaney all were members of USC's 2019 NCAA roster that reached the title match. And along with Mammolito and McIntosh, USC has a set of four solid seniors with Kaylee Brownsberger and Elise Stein back for more along with redshirt junior goalie Holly Parker. They'll lead a batch of eight players slated for their first competition as Trojans.

LAST SEASON

Under the direction of interim head coach Casey Moon, the USC women closed out a dramatic 2019 season by winning the MPSF Tournament championship and pushing on to reach the NCAA final, where the Trojans were edged out 9-8 by host Stanford in another intense battle between USC and the Cardinal. USC finished the year 28-2 overall and had six Trojans earn All-American honors. Senior goalie Amanda Longan locked up her third set of All-America First Team honors, while sophomore Paige Hauschild and junior Maud Megens were on the First Team honor roll for the second straight season. Coming in with All-America Honorable Mention this year were junior Denise Mammolito — now a two-time honoree — along with first-time All-Americans Alejandra Aznar and Kelsey McIntosh. •

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Alejandra Aznar

Kaylee Brownsberger

Mireia Guiral

Paige Hauschild

Tilly Kearns

Amanda Longan

Denise Mammolito

Kelsey McIntosh

Maud Megens

Holly Parker

Elise Stein

Carolyne Stern

Grace Tehaney

Erin Tharp

Bayley Weber