USC
Pacific*
No. 3 USC Swamps Pacific 24-2
March 09, 2007 | Women's Water Polo
March 9, 2007
LOS ANGELES, CALIF. - The No. 3 USC women's water polo team got the job done on both ends of the pool on Friday, posting its highest scoring output of the year while matching its stiffest defense in a 24-2 victory over visiting Pacific at McDonald's Swim Stadium. The Women of Troy cruised to their 34th straight win in their home pool, and a grand total of 13 different scorers had a hand in it. Senior Erika Figge led the season-high group of scorers with a career-best four goals on the day, while Trojan goalies Whitney Morgan and Tumua Anae split time in goal to back up a staunch defensive effort by USC. The Women of Troy improve to 11-3 overall and 4-1 in Pac-10 play with the victory, while Pacific moves to 5-9, 0-5.
Erika Figge opened things up at Troy by converting a penalty shot earned by Miranda Nichols just a minute into the action. Nichols got a goal of her own next, pumping a score in from about three meters out for a 2-0 USC lead. The USC scoring tear continued with a 60- scoring run. Two of those came from Figge, once on a backhand at set and then on a perimeter score from the top. Julie Spataru served up a cross to Kally Lucas for another score at the 3:30 mark of the first period, and then Michelle Stein finished off a counterattack strike by the Trojans for a 6-0 USC lead. Pacific would get on the board with 2:07 left in the first when the MPSF's top scorer, Sarah Harris, scored on a Tiger 6-on-5 to make it 6-1. Carolyn Conway delivered a score out of two meters just 20 seconds later, however, leaving USC with a 7-1 lead at the first buzzer.
In the second period, USC managed to shut out the Tigers with Whitney Morgan manning the cage. Five new USC scorers got in on the action, starting with a score from Jana Wenger for an 8-1 lead that helped spark an eight-goal run for the Trojans. Figge served up a cross to Forel Davies on a USC counter, and the freshman rifled in the score to make it 9-1 at 5:20. Alexandra Kiss would blast in a perimeter score next, followed by a sweep shot from two meters by Jordan Anae and a blast from Alison Riddle at set with 34 seconds on the clock to push USC ahead 12-1 at halftime.
Tumua Anae capped up in goal for the Trojans in the second half, and after a silent start to the half, Wenger broke things open for USC with a 6-on-4 strike for a 13-1 USC lead at 4:01. Spataru then dished up another assist on Stein's second score of the day to make it 14-1. Pacific ended USC's 8-0 run with a 6-on-5 score from Virginia McConnell with 2:51 to go in the third frame. But that was all that the Trojan defense would allow the rest of the way. Following a Spataru bar-in strike off a Mary Cousineau assist for a 15-2 USC lead, three defensive takeaways by the Women of Troy led to three more USC scores before the close of the period. In a swift series of passes, Spataru crossed to Riddle, who slipped a pass to Lucas for a score that gave the freshman her first multiple-goal game at Troy. Cousineau then became USC's 12th scorer on the day with a rocket that pushed the Trojans ahead 17-2, and then Spataru handed out yet another assist with a slick pass to Riddle, who finished off the pass to get USC up 18-2 for the fourth period.
The Women of Troy didn't back down in the fourth period, extending their scoring streak to 10 unanswered goals as the Trojans shut out the Tigers in the final frame. Figge matched her career-high scoring effort with her fourth goal coming out of set off a pass from Kiss to open the period. Veronika Bartunkova rounded out USC's season-best scoring output by becoming the 13th Trojan to score when she took an assist from Nichols for a score in front of the cage that made it 20-2 USC. Kiss, Davies and Spataru each would notch their second goals of the night, and then Wenger finished things off with a strike out of two meters for a 24-2 final decision for USC.
USC now heads to Hawai'i, where the Trojans will face the Rainbow Wahine in an MPSF match at 4 p.m. HT on Saturday (March 17).
#3 USC 24, Pacific 2
PAC 1 - 0 - 1 - 0 --- 2
USC 7 - 5 - 6 - 6 --- 24
SCORING:
USC - Erika Figge 4, Jana Wenger 3, Kally Lucas 2, Michelle Stein 2, Alexandra Kiss 2, Alison Riddle 2, Julie Spataru 2, Forel Davies 2, Miranda Nichols, Carolyn Conway, Jordan Anae, Veronika Bartunkova, Mary Cousineau.
PAC - Sarah Harris, Virginia McConnell.
SAVES: Whitney Morgan (USC) 1, Tumua Anae (USC) 3, Jocelyn Gray (PAC) 2, Jill Hauck (PAC) 2.
