USC Claims National Title
May 17, 2010
No. 2 USC 10, No. 1 Stanford 9 - National Championship
SAN DIEGO, CALIF. -- The USC women's water polo team captured a dramatic and emotional win today as the Women of Troy emerged with their third national championship in beating top-seeded Stanford 10-9 in the 2010 NCAA Championship game at Aztec Aquaplex in San Diego, Calif. The Trojans got ahead by four goals in the fourth quarter before Stanford closed in to within one in the final minute. But USC's resolve reigned supreme as the No. 2 seeded Trojans staved off the Cardinal's push and held on to stake their claim on the 2010 NCAA title. USC finishes the year with a 25-3 overall record. USC's last NCAA title came in 2004, and this year marked the Trojans' seventh consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance.
USC finishes the year with a 25-3 overall record. USC's last NCAA title came in 2004, and this year marked the Trojans' seventh consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance. For USC head coach Jovan Vavic, it is his eighth national championship (five men's and three women's) and it is the third time that he has claimed men's and women's national titles back-to-back. USC won the 1998 men's NCAA championship followed by the women's 1999 national championship, the 2003 men's and 2004 women's NCAA crowns, and now has followed the USC men's 2008 and 2009 titles with this 2010 women's NCAA championship. Overall, USC's 2010 NCAA women's water polo championship win gives the university 112 national team titles.
USC's balanced scoring and focused defense proved to be championship-caliber today. Seven different Trojans scored in the win, while the defense forced a pile of Stanford turnovers and shut down the Cardinal when it mattered most. Equally important was USC's ability to shrug off four 5-meter penalty shots earned and converted by the Cardinal. And after USC's previous five trips to the NCAA Tournament had resulted in three runner-up and two third-place finishes, this 2010 group of Trojans made certain to close out this season on top. USC's five seniors will go out as long-awaited national champions, thanks to an all-around effort that saw seniors Kami Craig, Kally Lucas and Alexandra Kiss each score in the title match, while fellow senior Forel Davies was perfect on opening sprints and served up a key assist in the fourth period, and senior goalie Tumua Anae notched eight saves in a determined stand in the cage.
In all, USC's scoring tally included two goals apiece for Kristen Dronberger, Patricia Jancso and Kally Lucas, along with scores from Joelle Bekhazi, Dominique Sardo, Alexandra Kiss and Kami Craig. Craig was named the NCAA Tournament MVP, with teammates Anae, Davies and Dronberger also named to the NCAA All-Tournament First Team.
The game opened up with Stanford gaining the early advantage as the Cardinal earned its first of what would become four 5-meter penalty shots in the game. Kelly Eaton converted all four, but it was only the first that would give Stanford a lead in the game. Eaton struck at the 7:06 mark of the first period, but USC steals plagued the Cardinal from there, while the Trojans converted on its first 6-on-5 opportunity with a Kristen Dronberger blast and later took the lead with a nearside rocket from Patricia Jancso. USC held that 2-1 lead through the end of the first, and would balloon its lead to 4-1 with the first two goals of the second period.
Joelle Bekhazi plugged in a score just after the teams pulled even on a 6-on-5 early in the second, and after a Dronberger steal was followed by a stop by Anae on a Stanford 6-on-5, Dominique Sardo went crosscage bar-in on a USC power play to make it a four-goal run for the Trojans and a 4-1 lead. Stanford stopped the run with its first 6-on-5 score to make it 4-2 midway through the second, but barely 30 seconds later the Trojans delivered again. USC worked the ball around on another 6-on-5, as Bekhazi hit Dronberger and she passed off to Lucas for a 5-2 USC lead. Another Stanford 5-meter pushed it to 5-3, although once again the Trojans regrouped and answered right back. The response came on another searing score from Jancso, and USC was up 6-3. Anae's 5-on-6 save at the close of the half secured that advantage for the Trojans as the teams took a break for halftime.
Stanford made somewhat of a push to open the second half of action, scoring its first natural goal of the game with a lob off an early counterattack. Once again, Stanford's Eaton went to the 5-meter mark for another penalty shot, and the Cardinal were within a goal with USC holding a 6-5 lead at 5:29. Anae came up big with a tough save on a close-range Stanford strike later, and the Trojans would also put a stop to a Stanford 6-on-5 opportunity to preserve that slim lead. Again the Cardinal misfired on a power play chance, and USC went back the other way to see Alexandra Kiss deliver a slick offspeed score for a 7-5 boost to USC's lead with 32 seconds left in the frame.
The fourth period was replete with drama as the whistle continued to blow ejections at both ends and momentum swung dramatically. USC padded its lead to 8-5 when Davies hit Dronberger for a nice strike out of 2-meters on USC's first possession of the frame. Stanford's penalty-a-period trend continued, with Eaton squeezing through her fourth 5-meter penalty shot of the game for the Cardinal to make it 8-6. Craig earned a power play for the Trojans next, however, and ended up finishing it off herself as the ball worked through Bekhazi and Kiss to get to Craig's hands for a 9-6 USC lead with 6:21 on the clock. Craig would be ejected soon after, and then a double ejection was whistled to remove Jancso and a Stanford player simultaneously. It was Jancso's third kickout of the game, taking out one of USC's top guns from its arsenal for the remainder of the match. Undeterred, Anae nabbed a takeaway soon after, and Lucas drilled a crosscage bar-in score that launched USC to its largest lead of the game, up 10-6 with 4:28 remaining. The daunting lead didn't shake off Stanford, however, as the Cardinal got another natural goal from Kim Krueger to make it 10-7. Back-to-back Stanford 6-on-5s took both Craig and Bekhazi out of the game with their third ejections each, and the Cardinal converted both. With 1:25 to go, Stanford made it 10-8, and USC worked to slow down the pace of the game in hopes of preserving the lead and avoiding a dangerous Cardinal counterattack. Instead, the Trojans were whistled for delay of game, turning the ball back into Stanford hands. That's where Bekhazi was ejected as the Cardinal set up for another 6-on-5, converting that one as well with a score from Annika Dries to cut the Trojan lead to 10-9 with 45 seconds remaining. USC moved the ball around and ate up the next 35 seconds of its shot clock, giving Stanford the ball with 10 ticks to go. The Cardinal's shot attempt was wide, and Anae got to the ball and held on to wind things down on a wild and exciting NCAA Championship victory for the Women of Troy.
2010 NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP May 16 -- San Diego, Calif. (Aztec Aquaplex) USC 10, Stanford 9 USC 2 - 4 - 1 - 3 = 10 STAN 1 - 2 - 2 - 4 = 9
SCORING: USC -- Kristen Dronberger 2, Patricia Jancso 2, Kally Lucas 2, Joelle Bekhazi, Dominique Sardo, Alexandra Kiss, Kami Craig. STAN -- Kelly Eaton 4, Kim Kreuger 2, Cassie Churnside, Annika Dries, Alyssa Lo.
SAVES: Tumua Anae (USC) 8, Amber Oland (STAN) 7.
No. 4 California 11, No. 6 Loyola Marymount 7 - Third Place
Led by senior captain Meghan Corso's team-high three goals and 11 saves from sophomore goalie Stephanie Peckham, the No. 4-ranked California women's water polo team (26-9) finished third in the nation with an 11-7 victory over Loyola Marymount Sunday (May 16) at the 2010 NCAA Women's Water Polo National Championship at the Aztec Aquaplex in San Diego.
In arguably the best season in Cal women's water polo history, the Golden Bears, led by 1996 USA men's Olympic water polo coach Richard Corso, placed third in the nation after defeating Michigan, 12-8, Friday; fell to top-seed Stanford, 6-3, Saturday and now defeated LMU (28-6) on Sunday. The Lions had upset 2010 MPSF Tournament champion UCLA, 6-5, on Friday.
Besides Corso's scoring output, which included two goals in the opening period that helped Cal jumped out to a 4-1 lead, Bear sophomore standout Emily Csikos and freshman center Dana Ochsner added two goals apiece. Seniors Camille Hewko, Julie Oreglia and Stephanie Schnugg also scored for Cal, along with freshman Lauren Bridges who gave the Bears their third goal of the first period.
Peckham continued to show why she is one of the nation's leading goaltenders as she collected 11 saves and kept the Lions at bay after Cal had jumped out to its early advantage.
"We are real happy with the match today," said Cal coach Corso. "This is the best result in the history of the program and that is the compliment to the seniors, as well as all the other players. They (the seniors) built a great foundation and now we need to keep the momentum going. I can come back to Berkeley with a smile on my face because my office is in a very tough wing (with the success of Cal's men's water polo program, and the Bears' men's and women's swimming and diving programs). I now have a trophy to show the rest of my colleagues. At Cal it is all about being World Class and finishing third in the nation is a big deal for our program."
Other NCAA women's water polo tournament results Sunday included No. 7-seed Marist defeating No. 8-seed Pomona-Pitzer, 6-5, in the seventh-place match; No. 3-seed UCLA defeating No. 5-seed Michigan, 9-6, in the fifth-place match. The NCAA championship match placed No. 1 Stanford versus No. 2-seed USC.
The Bears' win Friday against Michigan was their first NCAA tournament match in school history. Prior to women's water polo being an NCAA sport, Cal had competed in the National Collegiate Women's Water Polo Championship tournament from 1996-2000, finishing as national runners-up in 1996, 1997 and 1998.
Loyola Marymount 1-3-2-1--7 Cal 4-3-2-2--11
Loyola Marymount goals: Kimberly Benedetti 2, Erin Manke 2, Daisy Carrillo, Mary Ann Campos, Anne Scott
Cal goals: Meghan Corso 3, Dana Ochsner 2, Emily Csikos 2, Lauren Bridges, Camille Hewko, Julie Oreglia, Stephanie Schnugg
Loyola Marymount goalie saves: Kristine Cato -8
Cal goalie saves: Stephanie Peckham -11
No. 3 UCLA 9, No. 5 Michigan 6 - Fifth Place
SAN DIEGO - The No. 3 seed UCLA Bruins women's water polo team (22-8) came out firing on all cylinders, jumping out to a 6-2 lead after the first period and never looked back, beating Michigan (32-7) 9-6 in the fifth-place match of the 2010 NCAA Women's Water Polo Championship at the Aztec Aquaplex in San Diego on Sunday afternoon (May 16).
"I'm really proud of my team today," UCLA Head Coach Brandon Brooks said. "I'm really proud with how we came out. We had a lot of energy and executed really well. We came out and did a great job of talking to each other. The defense was very solid like it has been the second half of the year. We were faced with a tough road after losing on the first day and we responded about as well as you could."
The Bruins got on the board first when Grace Reynolds beat Michigan goalie Alex Adamson on the first possession of the match with 7:37 to go in the first period. Reynolds made it 2-0 at the 6:40 mark with a skip shot that scored on UCLA's second possession. The Wolverines scored their first goal on a penalty shot by Lauren Orth with 6:18 left in the opening period. Reynolds continued her hot hand, completing a hat trick on a 6-on-5 opportunity with 5:43 remaining in the first, giving UCLA a 3-1 lead. UCLA scored another exclusion goal with 4:45 left, this one by KK Clark, to lead 4-1. Michigan made it 4-2 with 4:20 left when Lauren Colton scored from point-blank range, beating Bruin goalkeeper Caitlin Dement. Priscilla Orozco put UCLA up 5-2 with 3:49 on an exclusion goal, marking the Bruins' fifth-straight goal on five consecutive possessions. Orozco made it six straight possessions with a score when her screw shot beat Adamson to make it 6-2 with 3:04 left in the first period. Michigan got a stop on a Bruin power play on UCLA's seventh possession to stop the scoring streak. But the damage had been done with the Bruins holding a 6-2 lead after the first period.
"That's always your plan -- score on all your possessions, which would be nice," Brooks said. "The plan was definitely to come out strong, come out aggressive. I didn't know we scored on the first six possessions, but we did that well. It's a tribute to how strong we are emotionally and how much we have grown since last September."
Michigan made a switch in the cage to start the second period, subbing in Morgan Turner. UCLA scored on a counter attack to open the scoring for the second period as Orozco completed her hat trick on a goal with 4:15 left to put the Bruins up 7-2. That would be the only score of the second stanza as the Bruins took a 7-2 lead at the break. Dement was stellar in goal for UCLA as she recorded six saves in the first half for the Bruins.
"I thought at first I'd feel more motivated and have a lot of emotions in the game," Reynolds said. "I wanted to go out and give it all I've got and that is what the team did as well."
Michigan scored first in the third on a 6-on-5 play when Alison Mantel fired a shot past Dement in the upper corner to make it 7-3 with 5:01 to go. Orozco scored her fourth goal of the day, and the Bruins' fourth consecutive goal, when she pulled off a 360 move and fired a shot past Turner, giving the Bruins an 8-3 lead with 3:00 minutes left in the third period. The Wolverines trimmed the lead to 8-4 when Kiki Golden fired a shot cross-cage on a power play with 1:21 left in the third. UCLA led 8-4 at the end of three quarters.
Turner stopped a penalty shot by Clark early in the fourth period to keep Michigan within striking distance. Clark scored her second goal of the day and the first of the fourth period when she caught Turner off her line and fired one into the middle of the net from nine meters out, giving UCLA a 9-4 advantage with 3:02 remaining in the match. Cara Reitz then caught Dement off her line and made it 9-5 with her first goal of the match with 2:08 left. Michigan closed the scoring at 9-6 on a breakaway goal with six seconds left in the match by Leah Robertson.
Dement ended the match with nine saves for UCLA while Turner recorded five for Michigan and Adamson picked up one for the Wolverines in the first period. "Emotionally, it was a little hard," Dement said. "It wasn't really hard to play, but emotionally coming off of losing and not making it to the top the four and being on the other side of the bracket was a little difficult, but it is still the same game."
No. 5 Michigan vs. No. 3 UCLA (NCAA 5th-Place Match)
Michigan 2 - 0 - 2 - 2 = 6 UCLA 6 - 1 - 1 - 1 = 9 Michigan Goals: Lauren Orth, Lauren Colton, Alison Mantel, Kiki Golden, Cara Reitz, Leah Robertson Michigan Saves: Alex Adamson 1, Morgan Turner 5
UCLA Goals: Priscilla Orozco 4, Grace Reynolds 3, KK Clark 2 UCLA Saves: Caitlin Dement 9