USC
UCLA
No. 2 USC Breaks Bruins With 11-10 Win
April 11, 2009 | Women's Water Polo
April 11, 2009
WESTWOOD, CALIF. - The No. 2 USC women's water polo team made another powerful move in its push toward the postseason as the Trojans forced their way past No. 3 UCLA in the Bruins' home pool on Saturday afternoon. The hard-fought 11-10 victory tallied the Trojans' second win of the season over their crosstown rivals and four-time defending NCAA champs. Saturday's MPSF clash see-sawed through nine ties and six lead changes with the eventual winning goal coming from Kristen Dronberger with just over two minutes left in the fourth period. The USC victory lifts the Trojans to a 19-1 overall record and 6-0 mark in MPSF play, while UCLA moves to 20-5, 5-2.
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No team led by more than a single goal until USC manufactured a three-goal run across the third and fourth periods to take a 10-8 lead with 5:55 to go. But the back-and-forth trend on the day saw the Bruins push back with two goals just 35 seconds apart to lock things up 10-10 with 4:00 on the clock. After serving up a field block against UCLA's next offensive attack, Kristen Dronberger later finished off a pass from Michelle Stein and blasted a score out of two meters with 2:14 to go in the fourth. USC goalie Ilse van der Meijden squelched UCLA's next attempt to tie with a save on a shot out of set from the Bruins. USC hit the bar on its next possession with 27 seconds left, and UCLA would wind up with the same result on its final shot, squelching the Bruins' hopes of forcing overtime and leaving the Women of Troy on top 11-10 for the big MPSF win.
Kami Craig led the Trojans with three goals on the day - not to mention a slew of ejections earned by the junior two-meter standout - while four other Trojans shared in the scoring with two goals apiece. Michelle Stein, Kally Lucas, Joelle Bekhazi and Dronberger each punched in a pair of huge goals to help move the Trojans toward victory. UCLA was led by a four-goal outing from Katie Rulon and three from KK Clark.
The match opened up with Kami Craig setting the tone for the Trojans. She earned back-to-back 6-on-5 advantages for USC, finishing off the second one with a powerful nearside strike out of set for a 1-0 USC lead. UCLA would answer with a 6-on-5 score of its own, and the neck-and-neck battle had begun. Michelle Stein ripped in a crosscage score at 2:07, and again UCLA quickly equalized with a skip shot at 1:49 to make it 2-2 on the way into the second period.
UCLA took its first lead of the game early in the second with a lob, going up 3-2 at 6:57, only to have Craig show some acrobatics on the other end as she went up high to haul in and blast a score off a smooth pass from Bekhazi at 6:17. USC worked back into the lead 4-3 next on a slick score from Kally Lucas. Stein knocked down UCLA's 6-on-5 try, but the Bruins answered a USC bar-out by earning and converting another 6-on-5 for a 4-4 tie at 3:29. Rulon registered back-to-back scores for the Bruins and put UCLA ahead 5-4 with a score off a counterattack at 2:16, only to have Dronberger bury a strike from the left side next for USC to put the teams snarled 5-5 for halftime.
The Trojans took back the lead to open the second half on Craig's third goal of the day as she whipped in a goal off a Stein setup at 7:18 in the third. Both teams missed on their next 6-on-5 opportunities, but another power play for the Bruins saw UCLA make it 6-6 with a finish from Rulon. USC had an answer with a power play score of its own from Stein to put USC up 7-6 at 2:51, but UCLA managed back-to-back scores from Clark with a counterattack goal first and then a score from the perimeter to push the Bruins into their first lead of the half, up 8-7 at 1:12. In the final minute, however, USC made its move. Stein hit Lucas for a nearside blast that made it 8-8, and after a Stein takeaway deep in Trojan territory, USC went up on a 6-on-5 with 23 seconds to go in the third. Just as the teams were pulling even, Lucas got a pass to Bekhazi, who slammed in the go-ahead goal for USC to put the Trojans ahead 9-8 going into the fourth period of play.
UCLA had the first possession of the fourth, but Bekhazi shut it down with a field block. At the other end, Bekhazi sliced in USC's third straight score from the top to give the Trojans that largest lead of the match. Despite the answering push from the Bruins, USC stayed calm and took back control on Dronberger's blast and ensuing defensive holds to lock down the win.
USC has two more regular-season matches on the docket, with arguably the biggest match of the season coming Saturday (April 18) at the Trojans' home pool as USC takes on No. 1 Stanford at 4:30 p.m. in a battle of undefeated MPSF squads that will decide the top seed for the coming MPSF Championships.
#2 USC 11, #3 UCLA 10
USC 2 - 3 - 4 - 2 = 11
UCLA 2 - 3 - 3 - 2 = 10
SCORING:
USC - Kami Craig 3, Michelle Stein 2, Kally Lucas 2, Kristen Dronberger 2, Joelle Bekhazi 2.
UCLA - Katie Rulon 4, KK Clark 3, Sarah Orozco, Megan Burmeister, Priscilla Orozco.
SAVES: Ilse van der Meijden (USC) 7, Brittany Fullen (UCLA) 8.
