MPSF Women's Water Polo, Jan. 28-29
Jan. 29, 2017 Stanford 19, Long Beach State 5
Recap by Stanford
STANFORD, Calif. - MVP Maggie Steffens scored six goals and registered a hat trick in the first quarter to help lead top-ranked Stanford to a convincing 19-5 win over No. 14 Long Beach State at Avery Aquatic Center Sunday afternoon.
Jamie Neushul added four goals for Stanford (3-0), which turned a closely-contested affair after eight minutes into a blowout thanks to a seven-goal second quarter which gave the Cardinal a 10-1 halftime lead.
Steffens scored twice in the first 42 seconds of the game to give Stanford an early 2-0 advantage, the first coming on a penalty shot as a result of a 5-meter penalty drawn by Dani Jackovich at two meters. Steffens added her third goal of the first quarter with 3:10 remaining before Virginia Smith got Long Beach State (1-2) on the board with 43 seconds left in the opening frame.
Stanford's seven second-quarter goals came from six different players with Jamie Neushul scoring twice in the period and Jackovich, Steffens, Madison Berggren, Katie Dudley and Kat Klass each adding one. Two of the goals came on penalty shots from Berggren and Klass, while Steffens set up Neushul's second goal on a well-placed cross pass.
Long Beach State's offense got going in the third quarter, but not before Steffens, Jackovich and Neushul scored in the first three minutes of the period to push Stanford's lead out to 13-1. Raney Remme revved up the 49er attack with a lob shot to beat Gabby Stone, who turned in another solid performance with 11 saves in three quarters of work.
The Cardinal and 49ers traded goals the rest of the third period, with Neushul scoring her fourth and final goal of the day on a catch-and-shoot off another nifty feed from Steffens to give Stanford a 16-4 lead heading into the fourth.
Annabel Harman scored with 6:56 remaining the final quarter to get Long Beach State to within 16-5, but the Cardinal countered with two goals from Makenzie Fisher and one from Shannon Cleary with 5:01 left to close out the scoring.
Stanford was solid in man-up and man-down situations, going 2-for-3 on the 6-on-5 and limiting Long Beach State to 1-for-6 on the 49ers' power-play opportunities. Stanford also drew three penalty fouls and converted on all three ensuing penalty shots.
Julia Hermann relieved Stone in the fourth quarter, making three saves and conceding just one goal.
Long Beach State goalkeeper Eirini Patra went the distance in cage, making eight stops.
Stanford is next in action at the Stanford Invitational Feb. 4-5 at Avery Aquatic Center, beginning with an 8:30 a.m. start Saturday morning against No. 20 Loyola Marymount.
Arizona State 8, UCSB 4
Arizona State 13, Wagner 3
Recap by ASU
TEMPE, Ariz. - The Sun Devils got the 2017 season off on the right foot by scoring 34 goals en route a perfect 3-0 record following the first weekend of play.
ASU 13, WAGNER 3 In their first game of Sunday'sdoubleheader, the Sun Devil water polo team defeated Wagner College, 13-3, at the Mona Plummer Aquatics Center.
Employing a well-balanced attack, seven Devils scored against the Seahawks including senior Alkistis Benekouwho led the attack with four goals. Sophomore Maud Koopman followed not far behind with three in the morning contest.
ASU got on the board early, exploiting the Wager defense to create a favorable one-on-one attack with the Sehawks' goalie. Junior Lena Mihailovic got the Sun Devils on the baordin the first period after she sprinted to the goal and muscled a shot into the back of the net. ASU would add three more points in the first frame asKoopman, Claudia Abad and Kayla Casas each netted a goal.
After addingthree more goals in the second frame, and five in the third, the Sun Devils tacked on one in the final frame and held Wagner to just one goal over the last two periods of play to close out the, 13-3, victory.
ASU 8, SANTA BARBARA, 4 In a hard-fought battle between two top-ranked teams, the Sun Devil water polo team defeated Santa Barbara, 8-4, on Sunday afternoon at the Mona Plummer Aquatics Center.
In a game dominated by defense, the Sun Devils held the Gauchos to their season-low four goals. Their previous low of four goals came last week against Michigan where they were defeated 7-4.
"Throughout the whole weekend, our defense was what carried us," head coach Todd Clapper said. "Our good defense, the play of Mia [Rycraw] in the goal. Those things are, really, what carried us through."
Junior Lena Mihailovic's offense starred in the back-and-forth affair, as she laced three between the pipes against the Gauchos to total four in the double-header.
A star in game one, senior Alkistis Benekou opened the scoring for ASU in the first frame. However, UCSB quickly struck back with an equalizer 15 seconds later. The two teams fought back-and-forth and went into half time tied at three.
The Devils broke through in the third frame in part by Bente Rogge, who scored two goals, Stephanie Contreras and Maud Koopman who scored one a piece, while holding UCSB scoreless in the third quarter.
Each team added one goal in the fourth quarter, to close out the Sun Devil's 8-4 victory.
California 12, Long Beach State 6
California 11, UC Davis 9
Recap by Cal
BERKELEY -- Senior goalie Madeline Trabucco made six saves -- including a handful of clutch stops in the fourth quarter -- and the No. 4 Cal women's water polo team defeated No. 19 UC Davis 11-9 in the final game of the California Speedo Cup on Saturday at Legends Aquatic Center.
The Bears (5-0) defeated No. 14 Long Beach State 12-6 in their first game of the day.
Trabucco stonewalled the spirited Aggies down the stretch in the final game, including neutralizing things on a rare 6-on-3 opportunity when Cal incurred three exclusions on one possession midway through the fourth quarter. Trabucco split time with sophomore Madison Tagg in both games and made 10 saves overall.
"Obviously those stops she made in the second half were instrumental in us getting momentum," Cal coach Coralie Simmons said. "She helped us keep our composure on the 3-on-6. She had to come up big. She really facilitated us getting that second win."
After coasting to relatively easy win over the 49ers -- Cal led 12-4 with under six minutes to play -- the win over UC Davis was hard-fought. The Aggies led 2-1 after the end of the first quarter and the game was tied 4-4 at the half.
The third quarter is when the Bears made their move. After junior Dora Antal scored the first of her three goals, senior Emily Loughlin netted back-to-back scores before Antal found the cage again for an 8-4 Cal advantage with 2:53 to go in the third quarter. But the Aggies scored three unanswered goals to close the period and the Bears' lead was just one heading into the final period.
Both teams tightened up defensively in the fourth quarter, with them exchanging goals until the final buzzer sounded.
"The last few moments there were getting a little hectic, but I think it really came down to falling back on what we do in practice," Trabucco said. "It was one of those things where we stayed calm and at the same time our communication was really good."
Antal scored three goals in each game and Loughlin and junior Anna Illes had two in each contest. Kacey Avalos' goal with 5:31 left pushed the Bears' lead back to two for the final margin against the Aggies.
"We've gone a few stretches now wanting to get looks at a lot of rotations," Simmons said. "I think that we are a group that needs to be tested. Why not early in the season? It's good to know we can keep our composure."
Saturday's Speedo Cup wrapped up a busy weekend for the Bears in which they played three games in less than 24 hours after going nearly going two weeks after their initial two matches of the season. Cal will return to action next weekend at the Stanford Invitational.
"We have been practicing so much, we were really geared up to play," Trabucco said. "It was a really great weekend. We got a lot of people in and everyone got a lot of playing time. The whole weekend was a great experience."
San Jose State 11, CSUN 4
Long Beach State 9, San Jose State 8 (SV-OT)
Berkeley, Calif.----- San Jose State University split a pair of matches at the Cal Speedo Cup women's water polo tournament defeating #22-CSUN, 11-4, and losing to #14-Long Beach State, 9-8 in sudden-victory overtime. Sophomore Carla Toha Vilanova was the leading scorer for the #17-ranked Spartans (2-4) with six goals, four against Long Beach State (1-0) and two in the win over CSUN (Cal State Northridge, 1-6). Klaudia Paradi scored twice in each match for San Jose State. Goalkeeper Katelynn Thompson played the entire way against Long Beach State and was credited with five saves. She stopped seven shots against CSUN. Long Beach State's Alexandria Messier scored the game-winner with 2:32 in the sudden-victory period after both teams were tied, 8-8, after four quarters and two overtime periods. "Physically, we were better than both opponents. We made too many mistakes. We couldn't finish our opportunities. We had plenty of opportunities," said San Jose State head coach Gabor Sarusi whose team was ahead of Long Beach State, 6-4 at halftime. The Spartans led CSUN from start to finish and had as much as a nine-goal lead, 11-2, midway through the fourth quarter on freshman Kathryn Elgin's first goal of the season. "As a team we played better. That was the difference. Our defense was where it needed to be. I think Northridge had 29 shots on the cage and we only gave up four goals. Our goalies had a good game. We played good team defense and offense. It was a good effort at both ends of the pool," summarized Sarusi about the CSUN win. San Jose State returns to action, Saturday, February 4, in the two-day Stanford Invitational. The Spartans open against #4-Cal at 12:15 p.m. and take on #19-UC Davis at 5:45 p.m. The next day, San Jose State faces #7-Michigan and either host Stanford, Hawaii, UC Irvine or Loyola Marymount.
USC 28, Concordia 1
USC 22, Whittier 4
Recap by USC
RIVERSIDE, CALIF. -- The No. 2 USC women's water polo team pinned up two more powerful performances in back-to-back games and back-to-back big wins for the Women of Troy. Fifteen Trojans scored across the two victories, with freshman Alaina Cousineau hitting the back of the net twice for her first career goals as a Trojan. USC improves to 7-0 on the year with today's 28-1 win over Concordia and 22-4 win over Whittier out at the CBU Mini Invitational in Riverside.
The first game of the day saw the Trojans roar to an 11-0 lead on Concordia. The Eagles would break through late in the first period, but it would be all USC the rest of the way. Twelve different Women of Troy scored in the win, led by four goals apiece from Maud Megens and Ioanna Haralabidis, while Stephania Haralabidis, Brigitta Games and Elise Stein tallied hat tricks. The goal was manned by Amanda Longan for the first three frames, with the sophomore collecting 12 saves in that span before giving way to freshman Holly Parker, who tallied two saves and no goals allowed in the final period of play.
As soon as that match came to a close, USC would reload and refocus on a new opponent, as Whittier then splashed down to take on the Trojans next. USC issued a shutout of the Poets in the first half, amassing an 11-0 lead by halftime with Stephania Haralabidis collecting four of those goals. Whittier would break through in the third, but USC would work out to a 16-3 lead on the way into the fourth quarter. Victória Chamorro was in the cage for those first three frames, making five saves along the way before Parker checked in for the fourth. The freshman made one save as USC poured out six more goals to round out a 22-4 final win.
The Women of Troy now return home for their first game of the year at Uytengsu Aquatics Center. USC will host San Diego State on Friday (Feb. 3) at 5 p.m. in its home opener.
CSUB 10, Pomona 8
UC Irvine 13, CSUB 3
Recap by CSUB
RIVERSIDE, Calif.--No. 23 CSU Bakersfield split a pair of matches at the California Baptist Mini Saturday afternoon.
CSUB faced Pomona-Pitzer in the first match of the day. The Sagehens, ranked second in the current Division III poll led 2-1 after one went up 4-2 on Jocelyn Castro's second goal early in the second. The Roadrunners scored the next six goals led by Ashley Paz who had three during the span. Lindsay Paulson charted two before the Sagehens tallied an Esma Dollaku score with 5:10 to play in the fourth. Pomona Pitzer scored twice in the final three minutes to close to 9-7 before Kristen Jensen's insurance goal with 33 seconds remaining put the game away for the Roadrunners.
No. 6 UC Irvine defeated the Roadrunners 13-3 in the nightcap. Nicola Barrett scored two of the three goals; Paz had the other tally for the `Runners. She also drew three ejections. Courtney Wahlstrom made 10 saves.
"We were better than the score indicated," Gall said. ""Our starters need to be more productive and efficient but our bench is really providing some valuable minutes for us. Ana Ruiz and Lindsey Paulson are really doing a nice job on both sides of the pool. We have many things to work on before our Cal game in two weeks. However, we know we can get there."
The Roadrunners will host an Alumni Day next Saturday beginning at 2 p.m. CSUB resumes competition Feb. 11 when the `Runners host California in the MPSF opener for both schools at 1 p.m.
Arizona State 13, San Diego State 4
Recap by ASU
TEMPE, Ariz. -- In their first game of the spring, the Sun Devil water polo team defeated San Diego State, 13-4, on Saturday morning at the Mona Plummer Aquatic Center.
Sophomore Maud Koopman led the attack with five goals, two assists and six steals. The attacker showed no signs of rust, scoring her first goal early on in the second period and then tacking on three more in the fourth frame.
Junior Lena Mihailovic added three goals and two steals of her own, a feat head coach Todd Clapper praised.
"I'm really happy with, in particular, how Lena [Mihailovic] came out," Clapper said. "Sometimes in the past, she has second-guessed some of her shooting in the early parts. She was really confident and really decisive today, offensively, and I was really proud of her."
On the other end of the pool, redshirt junior Mia Rycraw posted eight saves on the morning, allowing just three goals off of 23 attempts. The California-native posted critical saves early on in the match, including making two saves to allow the Devils to take the lead in the first frame.
Rycraw was backed up by her defense who posted 15 saves, collectively. Despite having a few new players on center defense, the defense came together to play aggressively.
"I felt like for the most part our defense was really good," Clapper said. "I was really happy and felt like our press defense played really good: people were blocking really well on the shot blocks," Clapper said.
San Diego State struck first, putting one on the board in part by a penalty shot. The teams battled back-and-forth in scoring until junior Kayla Casas laced one into the pipes for a Devils lead, making the score 4-3. Mihailovic tacked on another goal to increase ASU's lead to two going into the second period.
Never surrendering their lead for the remainder of the game, ASU added two goals in the second period by Koopman and sophomore Peggy-Jean Allin. The Devils defense came back to shut out the Aztecs in the third frame while tacking on four goals, extending their lead 11-3.
Koopman and Mihailovic each fired one into the net in the fourth quarter to seal the victory for the Devils.
The Devils return to play tomorrow, Jan. 28, to take on Wagner College and Santa Barbara in a double-header at 9 a.m. and 1 p.m., respectively.