Saturday, April 7
Los Angeles, CA
5:00 PM
USC
11
vs
6
California
Players Mentioned
DR
/ Women's Water Polo
D
/ Women's Water Polo
UT
/ Women's Water Polo
G
/ Women's Water Polo
DR
/ Women's Water Polo
DR
/ Women's Water Polo
UT
/ Women's Water Polo
UT
/ Women's Water Polo
Photo by: John McGillen
No. 3 USC Delivers Decisive 11-6 Win Over No. 2 Cal
April 07, 2018 | Women's Water Polo, Features
Trojans put together a powerful all-around effort to take down the Golden Bears in MPSF action.
LOS ANGELES, CALIF. — The No. 3 USC women's water polo team made a power move in MPSF action tonight with a resounding 11-6 win over visiting No. 2 California. The Golden Bears had held a one-goal lead in the first period of play before USC edged to take a 4-3 halftime advantage. In the second half, however, it was all USC. While goalie Amanda Longan worked her way to a 15-save outing, Maud Megens and Annika Jensen busted out second-half hat tricks to net the Trojans the powerful home win. Winners of eight straight now, USC improves to 18-1 overall and to 2-0 in MPSF play. Cal goes to 17-4, 4-2.
USC's stabilizer throughout the game was senior captain Brianna Daboub. After Cal struck first with a bar-in blast to take the opening lead, Daboub earned a 6-on-5 for USC and then promptly deposited the early equalizer off a setup from Jensen. When Cal got a skipper to go to nudge ahead 2-1, Daboub opened the second period with a strike out of set off a pass from Denise Mammolito. Daboub wouldn't score again in the game, but she'd get her Trojans up on power plays and deliver a couple more key assists before the Trojans' day's work was done. At the other end, it was Longan who reigned supreme in the cage. After one of her 15 saves on the night, USC went the other way and made the most of a 6-on-5 earned by Jensen. Megens would hit senior Hayley McKelvey for a booming slam to get USC a lead that it would not relinquish, up for the first time in the game with 4:44 on the clock in the second period. McKelvey issued a field block next to follow a save from Longan against a Cal power play, and then Kelsey McIntosh hit Megens for a ripper that made it 4-2 Trojans. Cal would sail in a score soon after, and USC would grip a 4-3 lead for halftime.
The third period unfurled with a scoring frenzy. Another USC 6-on-5 care of Daboub was finished off with a bullet from McKelvey off an assist from Paige Hauschild to get a 5-3 lead. Not 30 seconds later, McIntosh and Megens made another winning combination to make it 6-3 Trojans. That prompted a back-and-forth exchange with four goals scored in just over a minute. Cal would answer with a 6-on-5 strike, followed by another ripper from Megens off a feed from Daboub. Cal delivered a crosscage score next to make it 7-5 and would later close the gap to one with a score that made it 7-6 with 3:54 left in the third. Undeterred, USC responded with a steal from Megens and then a bold move from Longan to squash a pair of Cal possessions. With 1:18 left in the frame, McKelvey found Jensen for a rocket that proved too strong for the Cal defense to tug the Trojans ahead 8-6 entering the fourth. In the final frame it was all USC. While Longan collected another half-dozen saves in the final eight minutes, USC got two big blasts from Jensen and then a nifty score from Megens to make it a fourth-period shutout of the Golden Bears en route to a final 11-6 USC victory.
USC next heads north for a pair of games next weekend. The Trojans have a key MPSF matchup at Stanford set for 5:30 p.m. on Friday (April 13) in Palo Alto. That one will be televised live on Pac-12 Networks. Then, USC will pay a visit to San José State for a 2 p.m. MPSF contest on Saturday (April 14).
#3 USC 11, #2 California 6
April 7, 2018 | Uytengsu Aquatics Center (Los Angeles, Calif.)
USC 1 - 3 - 4 - 3 = 11
CAL 2 - 1 - 3 - 0 = 6
SCORING:
USC — Maud Megens 4, Annika Jensen 3, Brianna Daboub 2, Hayley McKelvey 2.
CAL — Emma Wright 2, Anna Illes 2, Kindred Paul, Sarah Siepker.
SAVES: Amanda Longan (USC) 15, Madison Tagg (CAL) 4.
USC's stabilizer throughout the game was senior captain Brianna Daboub. After Cal struck first with a bar-in blast to take the opening lead, Daboub earned a 6-on-5 for USC and then promptly deposited the early equalizer off a setup from Jensen. When Cal got a skipper to go to nudge ahead 2-1, Daboub opened the second period with a strike out of set off a pass from Denise Mammolito. Daboub wouldn't score again in the game, but she'd get her Trojans up on power plays and deliver a couple more key assists before the Trojans' day's work was done. At the other end, it was Longan who reigned supreme in the cage. After one of her 15 saves on the night, USC went the other way and made the most of a 6-on-5 earned by Jensen. Megens would hit senior Hayley McKelvey for a booming slam to get USC a lead that it would not relinquish, up for the first time in the game with 4:44 on the clock in the second period. McKelvey issued a field block next to follow a save from Longan against a Cal power play, and then Kelsey McIntosh hit Megens for a ripper that made it 4-2 Trojans. Cal would sail in a score soon after, and USC would grip a 4-3 lead for halftime.
The third period unfurled with a scoring frenzy. Another USC 6-on-5 care of Daboub was finished off with a bullet from McKelvey off an assist from Paige Hauschild to get a 5-3 lead. Not 30 seconds later, McIntosh and Megens made another winning combination to make it 6-3 Trojans. That prompted a back-and-forth exchange with four goals scored in just over a minute. Cal would answer with a 6-on-5 strike, followed by another ripper from Megens off a feed from Daboub. Cal delivered a crosscage score next to make it 7-5 and would later close the gap to one with a score that made it 7-6 with 3:54 left in the third. Undeterred, USC responded with a steal from Megens and then a bold move from Longan to squash a pair of Cal possessions. With 1:18 left in the frame, McKelvey found Jensen for a rocket that proved too strong for the Cal defense to tug the Trojans ahead 8-6 entering the fourth. In the final frame it was all USC. While Longan collected another half-dozen saves in the final eight minutes, USC got two big blasts from Jensen and then a nifty score from Megens to make it a fourth-period shutout of the Golden Bears en route to a final 11-6 USC victory.
USC next heads north for a pair of games next weekend. The Trojans have a key MPSF matchup at Stanford set for 5:30 p.m. on Friday (April 13) in Palo Alto. That one will be televised live on Pac-12 Networks. Then, USC will pay a visit to San José State for a 2 p.m. MPSF contest on Saturday (April 14).
#3 USC 11, #2 California 6
April 7, 2018 | Uytengsu Aquatics Center (Los Angeles, Calif.)
USC 1 - 3 - 4 - 3 = 11
CAL 2 - 1 - 3 - 0 = 6
SCORING:
USC — Maud Megens 4, Annika Jensen 3, Brianna Daboub 2, Hayley McKelvey 2.
CAL — Emma Wright 2, Anna Illes 2, Kindred Paul, Sarah Siepker.
SAVES: Amanda Longan (USC) 15, Madison Tagg (CAL) 4.
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