Saturday, April 29
San Jose, Calif.
2:30 PM
USC
vs
California
Players Mentioned
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2M
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2M
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2M
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G
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UT
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Photo by: Katie Chin
No. 1 USC Women’s Water Polo Takes Top Seed Into MPSF Tournament
April 27, 2023 | Women's Water Polo
Trojans are looking to win an eighth MPSF tourney title and secure an automatic berth into NCAAs.
MPSF CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT (San José, Calif.)
LIVE STREAMS ($$) | LIVE STATS
Friday, April 28
11 a.m. — Game 1: [2] Stanford vs. [7] San José State
12:45 p.m. — Game 2: [3] UCLA vs. [6] Arizona State
2:30 p.m. — Game 3: [4] California vs. [5] Indiana
Saturday, November 19
11 a.m. — Game 4: Games 1 & 2 losing teams
12:45 p.m. — Semifinal 1: Games 1 & 2 winning teams
2:30 p.m. — Semifinal 2: [1] USC vs. Game 3 winning team
Sunday, November 20
11 a.m. — 5th Place: Game 3 winning team vs. Game 4 losing team
12:45 p.m. — 3rd Place: Semifinals 1 & 2 losing teams
2:30 p.m. — Championship: Semifinals 1 & 2 winning teams
THIS WEEK
No. 1 USC now turns to competition as the top seed at the 2023 MPSF Tournament, which runs April 28-30 in San José, Calif. The Trojans have a first-round bye and move directly to a 2:30 p.m. semifinal on Saturday (April 29) against either No. 4 seed California or No. 5 seed Indiana to fight for a spot in Sunday's 2:30 p.m. title match. USC carries a 13-game win streak into the postseason action as the Trojans go on the hunt for an eighth MPSF Tournament title and an automatic ticket to the 2023 NCAA tourney.
FOLLOW ALONG
MPSF Tournament games will stream live at premium.gols.co on a subscription basis. Live stats for all games can be found at scores.6-8sports.com.
RANKINGS
USC picked up the No. 2 ranking in the nation to open 2023, mirroring the Trojans' 2022 finish. After serving up a decisive upset win over Stanford, USC took over as the No. 1 team in the nation on April 12. In the latest round of national rankings (released April 26), USC remains ranked No. 1.
LAST ACTION
A first-half hat trick from Paige Hauschild helped propel USC into control of its crosstown rivalry clash against No. 3 UCLA, as Hauschild tallied three straight goals to break a tie and get her Trojans on course to a resounding 14-9 win over the host Bruins. In winning the battle in Westwood, USC put an exclamation point on a 13th consecutive win that also secured the Trojans as the undisputed top seed in the MPSF Tournament with their 25-1 overall record and perfect 6-0 finish to the conference regular season. USC never trailed in the rivalry clash, taking a quick opening lead as Hauschild fed Tilly Kearns for her first of a final five goals on the day. The Bruins would pull even at 1-1 and at 2-2 before Hauschild took matters into her own hands, plugging in three straight Trojan goals to build a 5-2 USC lead early in the second period of play. USC would stay the course from there, answering a nearside strike from UCLA with a 6-on-5 missile from Julia Janov and a Grace Tehaney fake-and-fire that had the Trojans on top 7-3 for halftime. Bayley Weber knocked down her third field block of the half to add another statement from the USC defense going into the next 16 minutes. The teams stayed largely in stride in the third. The Bruins got to within three on two occasions, but Kearns had a response both time, ripping her third of the day in the final minute of the third to make it 10-6 Trojans entering the fourth. There, UCLA would convert on a couple 7-on-6 offensive setups to carve a bit off of what grew to be a six-goal USC lead with 3:35 to go. A 13-9, USC's defense dug back in, and the Trojan offense delivered one more big strike when Mireia Guiral earned a power play that saw Weber find fellow super senior Tehaney for a laser that lifted USC to a 14-9 advantage with 10 ticks to go.
NOTABLE:
- Tilly Kearns' five goals marked her season high and gives her 55 goals scored this year.
- Kearns is now even with Bayley Weber in scoring in a team-high 22 games this year.
- Weber tallied four field blocks and two steals on the defensive end
- With her three goals, Grace Tehaney extended her streak to nine straight games with at least one goal.
- Tehaney has now scored multiple goals in USC's last four games
- Along with her three goals, Paige Hauschild delivered six assists.
STOPPING STANFORD
USC broke open a back-and-forth battle with a power move in the fourth period of play, knocking out a 17-12 win over visiting No. 1 Stanford in the Trojans' most powerful offensive output on record against the Cardinal. In a series dating back to 1996, USC and Stanford have had plenty of epic battles, but this decisive win by the Trojans marked the most goals scored by either team in a USC-Stanford matchup. The Trojans trailed for just 30 seconds during the second period and later turned the tide on the Cardinal by outscoring Stanford 5-1 in the fourth frame to tally the key MPSF win. The win avenged USC's only loss of the year and snapped a three-game skid against Stanford, including a loss to the Cardinal in last year's NCAA championship game. The Trojans were on point in this one, their focus on revenge unbroken even by Stanford being granted a grand total of six 5-meter penalty shots in the game. Five of the Cardinal's 12 goals came on penalties, the fifth of which brought it to a one-goal margin at the end of the third period. Leading 12-11 entering the final eight minutes, USC kicked things into an even higher gear. With Tilly Kearns earning back-to-back power plays for her Trojans, USC maneuvered ahead 14-11 on fine finishes from Grace Tehaney and Bayley Weber. The hits kept coming for the Trojans, whose defense got stuck in while the offense kicked in three more — a ripping backhand from Mireia Guiral, a slam at the post from Weber and a savvy strike from Julia Janov to make it a 5-0 scoring rally for USC and a 17-11 lead with 1:34 to go.
NOTABLE:
- USC's 17 goals scored was the most the Trojans have ever scored against Stanford.
- The USC-Stanford series record now stands at 43-41 all-time in USC's favor (series began in 1996).
- With four goals, Bayley Weber moved up to rank No. 9 all-time in scoring, now with 204 career goals.
- With three goals, Tilly Kearns cracked the all-time top-20, now ranked No. 20 with 138 career goals.
- Freshman Morgan Netherton tallied her second two-goal game of the season.
- Paige Hauschild had a game-high four assists.
- Julia Janov's two goals marked her first multiple-goal game of the season.
BY THE NUMBERS
On the way into postseason play, USC's balanced scoring charge is led by Bayley Weber with 64 goals, followed by Tilly Kearns with 55, Grace Tehaney with 40, Paige Hauschild with 35 and Alejandra Aznar with 32. In all, 23 Trojans have scored at least one goal to date, including eight with their first goals as Trojans. Defensively, all four USC goalies have factored into the 25-1 record to date, led by senior Carolyne Stern. Stern is averaging 9.2 saves per game thanks in part to a career-high 16 saves made against Long Beach State on Jan. 28 — one of five double-digit saves outings by Stern so far this season. USC's other three goalies — Laine Hourigan, Sofia Stein and Jada Ward — are in their first season of action as Trojans. Overall, the group averages 9.6 saves per game to anchor a Trojan defense giving up just 7.0 goals per game. USC has outscored opponents 436-182 so far, while holding teams scoreless in 18 different periods to date, including a powerful second-half shutout of No. 6 UC Irvine on Feb. 18 and a first-half shutout of San José State on April 1.
ON THE RISE
Redshirt seniors Paige Hauschild and Bayley Weber have been steadily climbing USC's all-time scoring ladder this season. Weber recently took over the No. 9 spot and holds 207 career goals — two away from moving up to No. 8. Hauschild, meanwhile, sits at No. 11 all-time with 199 goals to date. Several more veteran Trojans are also on the rise. Grace Tehaney stands alone at No. 15 with 163 goals to her name. Meanwhile, Tilly Kearns, who joined the 100-goal club at USC earlier this season, now holds 148 as a Trojan to stand at No. 17. Mireia Guiral also moving on up with 119 career goals. On the defensive end, senior goalie Carolyne Stern has taken over at No. 8 all-time among USC goalies and now holds 358 career saves.
HATS OFF TO THE CAPTAINS
USC's 2023 captains are a decorated pair. Both 2020 Olympians, Paige Haushild and Tilly Kearns are the experienced backbone of the Trojan roster once again. Kearns finished the 2022 season at the top of the scoring leaderboard with 64 goals — 10th most scored in a single season in program history — and as a Peter J. Cutino Award finalist. The Aussie Olympian earned spots on the 2022 NCAA All-Tournament First Team, the MPSF All-Tournament Team and All-MPSF First Team for her work at two-meters. Olympic gold medalist Hauschild collected 47 goals of her own last season while applying pressure on both sides of the pool. Hauschild was a freshman when USC won the NCAA Championship in 2018, although both she and Kearns were away training with their respective Olympic teams when the Trojans last won it all in 2021. Hauschild and Kearns are two of seven returning All-Americans on the 2023 USC roster, alongside Alejandra Aznar, Mireia Guiral, Carolyne Stern, Grace Tehaney and Bayley Weber.
MORE VETS
In all, USC returns 13 members of its 16-member roster from the 2022 NCAA Tournament. In addition to its seven All-Americans, experienced depth returns in the form of seniors Téa Poljak, Claire Haas, Brooklyn Aguilera and Christina Crum, along with junior Julia Janov and sophomores Honnie Vandeweghe-O'Shea and Isabel Zimmerman..
YOUNG GUNS
USC's newest additions come from an array of the best talent in the world, including U.S. pipeline members Morgan Netherton and Maggie Johnson. The Trojans also have added Fresno State transfer Fanni Muzsnay, who also has international experience as a member of the Hungarian National Team. Freshman Alex Bonaguidi is tabbed for duty at center, joined by redshirt sophomore Hannah Meyer, who sat out last season due to injury.
WATCH THIS!
USC's Paige Hauschild, Tilly Kearns and Bayley Weber have all earned spots on the Watch List for collegiate water polo's top honor — the Peter J. Cutino Award. The trio combined has scored 154 of USC's 436 goals scored to date, while also accounting for 61 out of 204 total Trojan steals on the defensive side. Olympic gold medalist Hauschild (35 goals) and U.S. National Team member Weber (64) are in their final season as Trojans, while Olympian Kearns (55) is in her third season at USC. All three feature prominently on USC's career scoring charts, with Weber and Hauschild at No. 9 and 11, respectively, and Kearns solidly in the top-20 with her 143 goals. USA Water Polo and The Olympic Club collaborates with the Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches to name 20 players to the Watch List for the 2023 women's season. The Peter J. Cutino Award, named in honor of the late Hall of Fame coach, recognizes the best player in men's and women's college water polo. The Watch List is completely independent from the nomination and voting process for the Cutino Award, as that honor will acknowledge the full breadth of the 2023 season. Finalists will be announced following the completion go the women's season. USC already has three men on the Watch List for the 2022 men's award — Massimo Di Martire, Jake Ehrhardt and Ashworth Molthen.
LAST SEASON
In 2022, USC posted a 20-4 overall record while making an 18th straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament. The Trojans went a perfect 6-0 in MPSF competition before taking second in the MPSF Tournament and reaching a fourth consecutive NCAA final. USC had beaten Fresno State 15-9 in the quarterfinals and then topped Cal 9-7 in the semis to face Stanford in the title match, falling 10-7 to the Cardinal. At the close of the season, Tilly Kearns was selected as a finalist for the Peter J. Cutino Award and was a First Team All-American along with Paige Hauschild. They were joined by fellow All-Americans Bayley Weber (Second Team), Carolyne Stern (Third Team), Mireia Guiral (Honorable Mention) and Grace Tehaney (Honorable Mention). Head coach Marko Pintaric was named MPSF Coach of the Year for the second consecutive season. •
LIVE STREAMS ($$) | LIVE STATS
Friday, April 28
11 a.m. — Game 1: [2] Stanford vs. [7] San José State
12:45 p.m. — Game 2: [3] UCLA vs. [6] Arizona State
2:30 p.m. — Game 3: [4] California vs. [5] Indiana
Saturday, November 19
11 a.m. — Game 4: Games 1 & 2 losing teams
12:45 p.m. — Semifinal 1: Games 1 & 2 winning teams
2:30 p.m. — Semifinal 2: [1] USC vs. Game 3 winning team
Sunday, November 20
11 a.m. — 5th Place: Game 3 winning team vs. Game 4 losing team
12:45 p.m. — 3rd Place: Semifinals 1 & 2 losing teams
2:30 p.m. — Championship: Semifinals 1 & 2 winning teams
THIS WEEK
No. 1 USC now turns to competition as the top seed at the 2023 MPSF Tournament, which runs April 28-30 in San José, Calif. The Trojans have a first-round bye and move directly to a 2:30 p.m. semifinal on Saturday (April 29) against either No. 4 seed California or No. 5 seed Indiana to fight for a spot in Sunday's 2:30 p.m. title match. USC carries a 13-game win streak into the postseason action as the Trojans go on the hunt for an eighth MPSF Tournament title and an automatic ticket to the 2023 NCAA tourney.
BAYLEY WEBER WINS MPSF PLAYER OF THE YEAR; MARKO PINTARIC EARNS THIRD STRAIGHT MPSF COACH OF THE YEAR
Check out USC's All-MPSF award winners HERE
Check out USC's All-MPSF award winners HERE
FOLLOW ALONG
MPSF Tournament games will stream live at premium.gols.co on a subscription basis. Live stats for all games can be found at scores.6-8sports.com.
RANKINGS
USC picked up the No. 2 ranking in the nation to open 2023, mirroring the Trojans' 2022 finish. After serving up a decisive upset win over Stanford, USC took over as the No. 1 team in the nation on April 12. In the latest round of national rankings (released April 26), USC remains ranked No. 1.
LAST ACTION
A first-half hat trick from Paige Hauschild helped propel USC into control of its crosstown rivalry clash against No. 3 UCLA, as Hauschild tallied three straight goals to break a tie and get her Trojans on course to a resounding 14-9 win over the host Bruins. In winning the battle in Westwood, USC put an exclamation point on a 13th consecutive win that also secured the Trojans as the undisputed top seed in the MPSF Tournament with their 25-1 overall record and perfect 6-0 finish to the conference regular season. USC never trailed in the rivalry clash, taking a quick opening lead as Hauschild fed Tilly Kearns for her first of a final five goals on the day. The Bruins would pull even at 1-1 and at 2-2 before Hauschild took matters into her own hands, plugging in three straight Trojan goals to build a 5-2 USC lead early in the second period of play. USC would stay the course from there, answering a nearside strike from UCLA with a 6-on-5 missile from Julia Janov and a Grace Tehaney fake-and-fire that had the Trojans on top 7-3 for halftime. Bayley Weber knocked down her third field block of the half to add another statement from the USC defense going into the next 16 minutes. The teams stayed largely in stride in the third. The Bruins got to within three on two occasions, but Kearns had a response both time, ripping her third of the day in the final minute of the third to make it 10-6 Trojans entering the fourth. There, UCLA would convert on a couple 7-on-6 offensive setups to carve a bit off of what grew to be a six-goal USC lead with 3:35 to go. A 13-9, USC's defense dug back in, and the Trojan offense delivered one more big strike when Mireia Guiral earned a power play that saw Weber find fellow super senior Tehaney for a laser that lifted USC to a 14-9 advantage with 10 ticks to go.
NOTABLE:
- Tilly Kearns' five goals marked her season high and gives her 55 goals scored this year.
- Kearns is now even with Bayley Weber in scoring in a team-high 22 games this year.
- Weber tallied four field blocks and two steals on the defensive end
- With her three goals, Grace Tehaney extended her streak to nine straight games with at least one goal.
- Tehaney has now scored multiple goals in USC's last four games
- Along with her three goals, Paige Hauschild delivered six assists.
STOPPING STANFORD
USC broke open a back-and-forth battle with a power move in the fourth period of play, knocking out a 17-12 win over visiting No. 1 Stanford in the Trojans' most powerful offensive output on record against the Cardinal. In a series dating back to 1996, USC and Stanford have had plenty of epic battles, but this decisive win by the Trojans marked the most goals scored by either team in a USC-Stanford matchup. The Trojans trailed for just 30 seconds during the second period and later turned the tide on the Cardinal by outscoring Stanford 5-1 in the fourth frame to tally the key MPSF win. The win avenged USC's only loss of the year and snapped a three-game skid against Stanford, including a loss to the Cardinal in last year's NCAA championship game. The Trojans were on point in this one, their focus on revenge unbroken even by Stanford being granted a grand total of six 5-meter penalty shots in the game. Five of the Cardinal's 12 goals came on penalties, the fifth of which brought it to a one-goal margin at the end of the third period. Leading 12-11 entering the final eight minutes, USC kicked things into an even higher gear. With Tilly Kearns earning back-to-back power plays for her Trojans, USC maneuvered ahead 14-11 on fine finishes from Grace Tehaney and Bayley Weber. The hits kept coming for the Trojans, whose defense got stuck in while the offense kicked in three more — a ripping backhand from Mireia Guiral, a slam at the post from Weber and a savvy strike from Julia Janov to make it a 5-0 scoring rally for USC and a 17-11 lead with 1:34 to go.
NOTABLE:
- USC's 17 goals scored was the most the Trojans have ever scored against Stanford.
- The USC-Stanford series record now stands at 43-41 all-time in USC's favor (series began in 1996).
- With four goals, Bayley Weber moved up to rank No. 9 all-time in scoring, now with 204 career goals.
- With three goals, Tilly Kearns cracked the all-time top-20, now ranked No. 20 with 138 career goals.
- Freshman Morgan Netherton tallied her second two-goal game of the season.
- Paige Hauschild had a game-high four assists.
- Julia Janov's two goals marked her first multiple-goal game of the season.
BY THE NUMBERS
On the way into postseason play, USC's balanced scoring charge is led by Bayley Weber with 64 goals, followed by Tilly Kearns with 55, Grace Tehaney with 40, Paige Hauschild with 35 and Alejandra Aznar with 32. In all, 23 Trojans have scored at least one goal to date, including eight with their first goals as Trojans. Defensively, all four USC goalies have factored into the 25-1 record to date, led by senior Carolyne Stern. Stern is averaging 9.2 saves per game thanks in part to a career-high 16 saves made against Long Beach State on Jan. 28 — one of five double-digit saves outings by Stern so far this season. USC's other three goalies — Laine Hourigan, Sofia Stein and Jada Ward — are in their first season of action as Trojans. Overall, the group averages 9.6 saves per game to anchor a Trojan defense giving up just 7.0 goals per game. USC has outscored opponents 436-182 so far, while holding teams scoreless in 18 different periods to date, including a powerful second-half shutout of No. 6 UC Irvine on Feb. 18 and a first-half shutout of San José State on April 1.
ON THE RISE
Redshirt seniors Paige Hauschild and Bayley Weber have been steadily climbing USC's all-time scoring ladder this season. Weber recently took over the No. 9 spot and holds 207 career goals — two away from moving up to No. 8. Hauschild, meanwhile, sits at No. 11 all-time with 199 goals to date. Several more veteran Trojans are also on the rise. Grace Tehaney stands alone at No. 15 with 163 goals to her name. Meanwhile, Tilly Kearns, who joined the 100-goal club at USC earlier this season, now holds 148 as a Trojan to stand at No. 17. Mireia Guiral also moving on up with 119 career goals. On the defensive end, senior goalie Carolyne Stern has taken over at No. 8 all-time among USC goalies and now holds 358 career saves.
HATS OFF TO THE CAPTAINS
USC's 2023 captains are a decorated pair. Both 2020 Olympians, Paige Haushild and Tilly Kearns are the experienced backbone of the Trojan roster once again. Kearns finished the 2022 season at the top of the scoring leaderboard with 64 goals — 10th most scored in a single season in program history — and as a Peter J. Cutino Award finalist. The Aussie Olympian earned spots on the 2022 NCAA All-Tournament First Team, the MPSF All-Tournament Team and All-MPSF First Team for her work at two-meters. Olympic gold medalist Hauschild collected 47 goals of her own last season while applying pressure on both sides of the pool. Hauschild was a freshman when USC won the NCAA Championship in 2018, although both she and Kearns were away training with their respective Olympic teams when the Trojans last won it all in 2021. Hauschild and Kearns are two of seven returning All-Americans on the 2023 USC roster, alongside Alejandra Aznar, Mireia Guiral, Carolyne Stern, Grace Tehaney and Bayley Weber.
MORE VETS
In all, USC returns 13 members of its 16-member roster from the 2022 NCAA Tournament. In addition to its seven All-Americans, experienced depth returns in the form of seniors Téa Poljak, Claire Haas, Brooklyn Aguilera and Christina Crum, along with junior Julia Janov and sophomores Honnie Vandeweghe-O'Shea and Isabel Zimmerman..
YOUNG GUNS
USC's newest additions come from an array of the best talent in the world, including U.S. pipeline members Morgan Netherton and Maggie Johnson. The Trojans also have added Fresno State transfer Fanni Muzsnay, who also has international experience as a member of the Hungarian National Team. Freshman Alex Bonaguidi is tabbed for duty at center, joined by redshirt sophomore Hannah Meyer, who sat out last season due to injury.
WATCH THIS!
USC's Paige Hauschild, Tilly Kearns and Bayley Weber have all earned spots on the Watch List for collegiate water polo's top honor — the Peter J. Cutino Award. The trio combined has scored 154 of USC's 436 goals scored to date, while also accounting for 61 out of 204 total Trojan steals on the defensive side. Olympic gold medalist Hauschild (35 goals) and U.S. National Team member Weber (64) are in their final season as Trojans, while Olympian Kearns (55) is in her third season at USC. All three feature prominently on USC's career scoring charts, with Weber and Hauschild at No. 9 and 11, respectively, and Kearns solidly in the top-20 with her 143 goals. USA Water Polo and The Olympic Club collaborates with the Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches to name 20 players to the Watch List for the 2023 women's season. The Peter J. Cutino Award, named in honor of the late Hall of Fame coach, recognizes the best player in men's and women's college water polo. The Watch List is completely independent from the nomination and voting process for the Cutino Award, as that honor will acknowledge the full breadth of the 2023 season. Finalists will be announced following the completion go the women's season. USC already has three men on the Watch List for the 2022 men's award — Massimo Di Martire, Jake Ehrhardt and Ashworth Molthen.
LAST SEASON
In 2022, USC posted a 20-4 overall record while making an 18th straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament. The Trojans went a perfect 6-0 in MPSF competition before taking second in the MPSF Tournament and reaching a fourth consecutive NCAA final. USC had beaten Fresno State 15-9 in the quarterfinals and then topped Cal 9-7 in the semis to face Stanford in the title match, falling 10-7 to the Cardinal. At the close of the season, Tilly Kearns was selected as a finalist for the Peter J. Cutino Award and was a First Team All-American along with Paige Hauschild. They were joined by fellow All-Americans Bayley Weber (Second Team), Carolyne Stern (Third Team), Mireia Guiral (Honorable Mention) and Grace Tehaney (Honorable Mention). Head coach Marko Pintaric was named MPSF Coach of the Year for the second consecutive season. •
USC Water Polo's Emily Ausmus | Trojans Live 3.24.25
Monday, March 24
Women's Water Polo - Stanford 8, USC 3: Highlights (5/10/24)
Friday, May 10
Julia Janov - 2024 NCAA Women's Water Polo Banquet speech
Thursday, May 09
Women's Water Polo - Stanford 12, USC 11: Highlights (4/28/24)
Sunday, April 28
