No. 1 USC Sets Off For San José State For First MPSF Matchup

#1 USC (11-1) at #13 San José St. (5-10)

Sunday, March 1 | 12 p.m. | San José, Calif.

Series Record: USC leads 37-0

STATS: thefosh.net

THIS WEEK

Back on top in the national rankings, No. 1 USC turns to its first MPSF matchup of the year this week. The Trojans (11-1) are off to check out San José State's new facility, with a 12 p.m. clash with the No. 13 Spartans (5-10 set for Sunday (March 1).

USC IN THE RANKINGS

USC opened 2020 ranked No. 1 in the national preseason poll, and the Trojans remained there until moving to No. 3 on Feb. 12. On Feb. 19, USC was listed at No. 4, but the Trojans have fought back and have since taken over the No. 1 spot again as of Feb. 26.

SCOUTING SJSU

The No. 13 Spartans are 5-10 overall after finishing 12th at the Barbara Kalbus Invitational, where they lost to Arizona State 8-6, beat UC Dacis 12-11 in overtime and fell 8-5 to UC San Diego and 13-10 in overtime to LMU. Olga Descalzi Portell leads SJSU in scoring with 29 goals to date, and goalie Hannah Henry is averaging 6.2 saves and 10.23 goals-against per game. In a series dating back to 1998, The Trojans are 37-0 all-time against San José State after a 22-8 USC win when the teams met last year in Los Angeles.

CAPTAINS' CENTURY CLUB

Both USC's senior captains — Denise Mammolito and Kelsey McIntosh — are now officially members of the 100-goal club at USC. Mammolito hit her 100 at the close of 2019, while McIntosh just rang up her 100th last weekend at the Barbara Kalbus Invite. She now holds 103 career goals, while Mammolito ranks No. 21 all-time with her 122 goals to date.

LAST WEEK

USC was dominant in its run to the 2020 Barbara Kalbus Invitational championship — the Trojans' second straight title at the event. USC build such powerful leads in both the semifinal against No. 2 UCLA and the final against No. 1 Stanford that the Trojans didn't need to score a single goal in the final frame in order to claim victories. USC had opened up with a 20-8 win over LMU and a 10-7 win over host UC Irvine in group play to step into the semis against the Bruins. There, USC took control of things early against rival UCLA. After the Bruins had it even early at 1-1, the Trojans punched up four straight scores. Denise Mammolito lit the fuse, and McIntosh converted a 5-meter penalty shot earned by Bayley Weber next to make it 3-1. Kelsey ripped in her second of the frame with a skipper, and USC was up 4-1 to close the first, but far from done doing damage to the Bruins. Verica Bakoc opened the second with a 6-on-5 score, putting the Bruins back by four, down 5-1. UCLA would get a 5-meter penalty shot to go next, only to see Grace Tehaney lace her her second to net a 6-2 USC advantage by halftime. The Bruins would manage just one goal in the third while Elise Stein and McIntosh answered with strikes before Tehaney blasted a buzzer-beater to carry the Trojans to a 9-3 lead entering the fourth. UCLA would find a scoring touch in that frame, but had too much ground to make up on the Trojans, who held tight to their hard-fought victory ad capped it with one last block from Parker to make it a 9-7 USC win. In the title match, USC squashed No. 1 Stanford 10-5, churning out the first five goals of the game while silencing the Cardinal for the first 12 minutes of action in Irvine, Calif. Five different Trojans scored in that 5-0 buildup, while goalie Holly Parker stuffed a 5-meter penalty try by the Cardinal during the first frame. Stanford would get on the board with back-to-back goals in the second, only to see Grace Tehaney lace in her second goal of the day for a 6-2 lift by halftime. The Trojans opened the second half with a four-goal surge sparked by a beautiful backhand blast from Mireia Guiral. After another Stanford 5-meter attempt went awry, Kelsey McIntosh broke through for her first goal of the day. Bayley Weber made the turn and finish at set next, and the Elise Stein followed with a sizzler that tugged the Trojans ahead 10-2 before Stanford broke its second-half silence with a power-play goal before the end of the third. In the fourth, USC's hefty lead ensured victory. No more USC goals were even necessary as Stanford could only manage two scores in the last eight minutes as the Trojans emerged resoundingly victorious with the final 10-5 decision.

HOLLY HAULS IN MPSF HONORS

Redshirt junior goalie Holly Parker averaged 9.0 saves and 6.3 goals-against per game in three games in USC's winning run to the Barbara Kalbus Invitational championship. For her powerful performance between the pipes, Parker picked up her first career honor as the MPSF Player of the Week.In the championship match, Parker turned away two Stanford 5-meter penalty shots and allowed just five goals by the No. 1 Cardinal in USC's 10-5 championship victory. In the semifinals, Parker had a career-high 10 saves — including a 5-meter penalty stop — to help USC beat No. 2 UCLA 9-7. And in group play against host No. 6 UC Irvine, Parker had nine saves in a 10-7 win over the Anteaters. The run marked back-to-back BKI titles for the Trojans, who are now 11-1 overall on the year.

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 six games so far for the Trojans and holds 13 goals total.

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.

BY THE NUMBERS

Now eight games into 2020, USC has outscored opponents 169-67. Gracey Tehaney leads the scoring front with 28 goals, followed by Denise Mammolito with 22, Kelsey McIntosh with 19, Bayley Weber with 18 and Mireia Guiral with 15. 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 nine appearances while averaging 8.34 saves and 6.06 goals-against per game. Redshirt freshman Erin Tharp has played seven total periods, with 17 saves and eight goals allowed, while true freshman Carolyne Stern has made 23 saves and given up six in her six periods of work to date. Thanks in part to strong goalie play, the Trojan defense has shut out opponents in 10 periods this season so far. Overall, USC is averaging 14.1 goals per game on the offensive end and is allowing just 5.6 goals-against per game defensively.

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.

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.

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. •

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Alejandra Aznar

Verica Bakoc

Kaylee Brownsberger

Mireia Guiral

Paige Hauschild

Tilly Kearns

Amanda Longan

Denise Mammolito

Kelsey McIntosh

Maud Megens

Holly Parker

Elise Stein

Carolyne Stern

Grace Tehaney

Erin Tharp

Bayley Weber