USC
UCLA*
No. 2 UCLA Edges No. 3 USC 8-7
April 07, 2007 | Women's Water Polo
April 7, 2007
WESTWOOD, CALIF. - The No. 3 USC women's water polo team staged a strong battle with crosstown rival and No. 2-ranked UCLA on Saturday, but came up just short in an 8-7 loss in Westwood. Patty Cardenas caused trouble for the Bruins with a hat trick to lead the Trojans in scoring on the day. The Women of Troy move to 14-4 overall and 7-2 in MPSF play, while UCLA improves to 20-1, 9-0 with its 10th straight win.
The Trojans paid their visit to the Bruins on UCLA's Senior Day, and the Bruins worked out to a 3-0 lead thanks in part to a pair of 6-on-5 scores. The Women of Troy would answer back with a run of their own - setting a theme for the day as the two water polo powers traded scoring surges. Michelle Stein sparked the Trojans' first streak, propelling high out of the water to grab a pass from Brittany Hayes and notch USC's first goal of the game with a 6-on-5 strike from two meters out. Playing in the cage for all four quarters was freshman Tumua Anae for her first look at the Bruins in her USC career. She came up big, stopping a 6-on-5 shot from Gabbie Domanic that was soon followed by Kami Craig earning an exclusion for the Trojans. After another UCLA kickout, USC was up 6-on-4, and Veronika Bartunkova passed to Patty Cardenas, who buried her shot to make it 3-2 UCLA with 34 seconds left in the period.
In the second, Anae came up with another solid save on a skip shot attempt. On the other end of the pool, Cardenas reared up and delivered the tying goal, thanks to an assist from Erika Figge. Locked up at 7:08 in the second, UCLA would move back ahead by converting two more 6-on-5 opportunities. UCLA's fifth goal was the result of a lucky bounce for the Bruins, as Cardenas' shot ricocheted for a long rebound that a Bruin was able to catch up to at halftank, earn an ejection, and get UCLA a 5-3 lead off that counterattack opportunity. But again, USC would find an answer. A minute later, after the Trojans had shut down another UCLA power play chance, Cardenas found Figge on the left post, and Figge ripped in a backhand bullet to cut the score to 5-4. With 1:22 to go in the half, UCLA went up with another 6-on-5, but Anae made the save and then Jana Wenger closed things down with a field block to help bring up hafltime.
USC extended Figge's first goal to another three-goal tear. After a takeaway at two meters, Figge later hit Cardenas on a USC 6-on-5. Cardenas rifled in a crosscage rocket to even the score again, 5-5 at 5:43 in the third. A minute later, Stein dropped the ball in for Hayes as the shot clock threatened to expire. Hayes peeled off a no-look backhand shot, giving USC its first lead of the game at 6-5 at the 4:45 mark.
Again, however, UCLA would respond, managing back-to-back scores to grab back a lead. Courtney Mathewson struck twice for the Bruins on counterattack strikes, the second of which proved the game-winner as she took a long pass, for a the catch-and-shoot with seven seconds left in the period and an 8-6 UCLA advantage.
That brought up the fourth period, where UCLA's top-ranked defense came through and stopped two Trojan man advantages. On a late counterattack, however, Stein found Nichols, who earned a 5-meter penalty for the Trojans with 1:49 remaining. Figge stepped up to take it, blazing in a searing skip shot to cut the score to 8-7. USC was able to grab the final possession, going on the attack with 17.5 seconds to go, but the UCLA defense swarmed the ball on the perimeter to shut down USC's hopes of a tying goal to force overtime. The two teams are likely to face again this year, possibly at the upcoming MPSF Tournament (April 26-29) and potentially at the NCAA Championships in May.
USC now turns to face a three-game weekend. First up is California at 6 p.m. on Friday (April 13), then San Diego State at 5 p.m. on Saturday (April 14) for two MPSF showdowns. The busy weekend is capped with a nonconference matchup with Hartwick at 12:30 p.m. on Sunday.
#2 UCLA 8, #3 USC 7
USC 2 - 2 - 2 - 1 -- 7
UCLA 3 - 2 - 3 - 0 -- 8
SCORING: USC - Patty Cardenas 3, Erika Figge 2, Michelle Stein, Brittany Hayes.
UCLA - Courtney Mathewson 3, Jilian Krause, Kacy Kunkel, Gabbie Domanie, Kate Belden, Kelly Rulon.
SAVES: Tumua Anae (USC) 7, Emily Feher (UCLA) 10.
