Saturday, February 15
Los Angeles, Calif.
12:00 PM
USC
vs
UC Irvine
Players Mentioned
DR
/ Women's Water Polo
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/ Women's Water Polo
2M
/ Women's Water Polo
2M
/ Women's Water Polo
D
/ Women's Water Polo
2M
/ Women's Water Polo
G
/ Women's Water Polo
UT
/ Women's Water Polo
DR
/ Women's Water Polo
DR
/ Women's Water Polo
UT
/ Women's Water Polo
G
/ Women's Water Polo
DR
/ Women's Water Polo
G
/ Women's Water Polo
DR
/ Women's Water Polo
G
/ Women's Water Polo
UT
/ Women's Water Polo
Photo by: John McGillen
No. 3 USC Sets Up For Saturday's Home Opener
February 12, 2020 | Women's Water Polo, Features
Trojans take on No. 6 UC Irvine at 12 p.m. on Saturday at Uytengsu Aquatics Center.
#3 USC (6-1) vs. #6 UC Irvine (9-3)
Saturday, February 15 | 12 p.m. |Â Uytengsu Aquatics Center
Series Record: USC leads 30-3 (W30)
THIS WEEK
No. 3 USC splashes down in home waters for the first time this season after opening the year with a stretch of road work. The Trojans' 2020 home opener features USC (6-1) up against No. 6 UC Irvine (9-3) in a 12 p.m. clash on Saturday (Feb. 15) at Uytengsu Aquatics Center.
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USC IN THE RANKINGS
USC opened 2020 ranked No. 1 in the national preseason poll, and the Trojans remained there until moving to No. 3Â in the latest national poll (released Feb. 12).
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SCOUTING UCI
The No. 6 Anteaters are 9-3 overall after going 2-2 at the Triton Invitational for a fifth-place finish at the event. UCI beat Santa Clara 13-3, Indiana 12-7 and UC Santa Barbara 10-4 and fell to Arizona State 10-9. Tara Prentice leads UCI in scoring with 31 goals to date, and goalie Morgan Jones is averaging 8.08 saves and 8.11 goals-against per game in 12 appearances. In a series dating back to 1996, The Trojans are 30-3 all-time against UC Irvine with wins in the last 30 meetings. Last season, USC beat the Anteaters 11-5 in a matchup in Irvine.
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LAST WEEK
USC came up just short of what would have been a seventh straight Triton Invitational title in taking a 7-5 loss to No. 3 UCLA last weekend in the championship bout in La Jolla. USC had pushed through to the semifinals after notching a 19-3 win over Villanova and a 15-6 win over No. 12 Long Beach State in group play on Saturday. On Sunday, USC fought back to beat No. 7 host UC San Diego 14-11 in the semifinals, but the Trojans couldn't stage a similar comeback in the final against the Bruins. Saturday's action saw a five-goal outburst from Sophia Lucas to help USC roll up a 19-3 win in the morning matchup with Villanova. In the afternoon, USC had Verica Bakoc and Denise Mammolito hit hat tricks in a 15-6 win over No. 12 Long Beach State. Grace Tehaney was the driving offensive force for USC in the semifinal, as the sophomore registered a career-high five goals. Four of those came in the second half, including an equalizer at 9-9 to set up the Trojans for their push to victory. It had been tied or a one-goal margin throughout the game until Elise Stein added to Tehaney and Kelsey McIntosh's goals at the end of the third to net an 11-9 USC advantage early in the fourth. From there, USC settled into control of things. Goalie Holly Parker made a big block, and then later Bayley Weber earned a 5-meter for McIntosh to finish off, and USC was up 12-9 and well on its way to the final 14-11 win and that ticket to the title match. Up against No. 3 UCLA in the championship bout, USC was playing catchup again. The Trojans trailed 2-1 at the end of the first and were down 5-3 until Tehaney and McIntosh went back-to-back to snarl the game at 5-5. UCLA answered with back-to-back goals of its own in the fourth, and the Trojans would be unable to break through in the last six minutes of action in taking a 7-5 loss to miss out on the Triton Invite title.
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MIREIA'S MPSF PICK
Sophomore Mireia Guiral doubled up on career firsts in this past week, hitting a career-high six goals in a 16-3 win over LMU and then earning her first career honor as the MPSF Player of the Week. Against the No. 16 Lions, Guiral was a perfect 6-for-6 in the game, with four goals coming in the second half as she built out her new career best with a six-goal final effort. She has scored in all three games so far for the 3-0 Trojans and holds nine goals total.
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TAKEOVER AT THE TOP
Also the top preseason pick in the conference, USC opened the 2020 season ranked No. 1 in the nation. The Trojans left off 2019 at No. 2 after a loss in the NCAA Championship game, but USC is in prime position as it sets up to kick off this 2020 campaign under the direction of head coach Marko Pintaric. In the national preseason poll (released Jan. 15), the Trojans led defending champ Stanford and rival UCLA, which were tied at No. 2, and another MPSF foe in No. 4 California.
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BY THE NUMBERS
Now seven games into 2020, USC has outscored opponents 111-34. Gracey Tehaney leads the scoring front with 16 goals, followed by Bayley Weber with 15, Mireia Guiral with 13 and Denise Mammolito with 12. Tehaney is the only Trojan to have scored in every game this year. Meanwhile, three USC goalies have capped up so far, with redshirt junior Holly Parker making five appearances while averaging 8.21 saves and 5.9 goals-against per game. Redshirt freshman Erin Tharp has played five total periods, with 10 saves and five goals allowed, while true freshman Carolyne Stern has made 15 saves and given up just one goal in her four periods of work to date. Thanks in part to strong goalie play, the Trojan defense has shut out opponents in seven periods this season so far. Overall, USC is averaging 15.9 goals per game on the offensive end and is allowing just 4.86 goals-against per game defensively.Â
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OLYMPIC DREAMERS
This 2020 season will be a unique one in that it is an Olympic year, so several teams across the nation will have players taking the season off in order to train and compete with their national teams in preparation for the Games. USC has four Women of Troy slated to sit out the collegiate season to pursue Olympic dreams, with All-Americans Alejandra Aznar (Spain), Paige Hauschild (USA) and Maud Megens (Netherlands) as well as Tilly Kearns (Australia) taking 2020 off. But the Trojan roster remains powerful for 2020, as evidenced by USC's No. 1 pick out of the seven teams in the MPSF conference and No. 1 in the nation.
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BACK FOR MORE
Head coach Marko Pintaric will have at his disposal two returning All-Americans in Denise Mammolito and Kelsey McIntosh along with returning All-MPSF honoree Bayley Weber. USC has a talented blend of youth and experience, as sophomores Weber, Mireia Guiral and Grace Tehaney all were members of USC's 2019 NCAA roster that reached the title match. And along with Mammolito and McIntosh, USC has a set of four solid seniors with Kaylee Brownsberger and Elise Stein back for more along with redshirt junior goalie Holly Parker. They'll lead a batch of eight players slated for their first competition as Trojans.
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LAST SEASON
Under the direction of interim head coach Casey Moon, the USC women closed out a dramatic 2019 season by winning the MPSF Tournament championship and pushing on to reach the NCAA final, where the Trojans were edged out 9-8 by host Stanford in another intense battle between USC and the Cardinal. USC finished the year 28-2 overall and had six Trojans earn All-American honors. Senior goalie Amanda Longan locked up her third set of All-America First Team honors, while sophomore Paige Hauschild and junior Maud Megens were on the First Team honor roll for the second straight season. Coming in with All-America Honorable Mention this year were junior Denise Mammolito — now a two-time honoree — along with first-time All-Americans Alejandra Aznar and Kelsey McIntosh. •
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