Tensions were high at Uytengsu Aquatics Center Saturday afternoon as No. 4 USC women’s water polo finished its regular season at home against undefeated No. 1 UCLA. Despite a head start and strong defense, USC fell short by two goals with a 7-5 loss, heading into the MPSF Tournament as the No. 4 seed with a 17-6 record.
After a steal from freshman attacker Ava Stryker, senior attacker Alejandra Aznar broke the silent standoff between the Trojans and the Bruins five minutes into the game. The Trojans ended the first period with a 1-0 lead.
“It was just a long game, not too many goals,” Aznar said. “First quarter was just up and down, so very tiring.”
The match picked up in the second period. UCLA freshman utility Panni Szegedi tied the score with a six-on-five goal, then added another goal later in the period to give the Bruins a 3-2 lead. Less than a minute later, the Trojans bit back with a six-on-five from Aznar, tying the score again at 3-3 heading into halftime.
The third period was equally intense. Both parties were playing a chasing game — as soon as the Bruins gained a competitive advantage by staying one goal ahead, sophomore attacker Morgan Netherton shut it down with an assist from Aznar early in the quarter.
“We rely on very young players. Because we had such a large senior class last year, some underclass players barely played any minutes,” Aznar said. “Now, freshmen are just playing almost a full game.”
Young blood has become increasingly important and is taking on more crucial roles as the Trojans say goodbye to their seniors. For example, during the Trojans’ last game — an 14-10 win against No. 10 Arizona State, the second-year Netherton contributed a career high four goals to lead the team.
“[Netherton] has a really high ceiling. We use her a lot more and let her make decisions for us. As her ceiling grows, her confidence is going to build,” head coach Casey Moon said.
The chase didn’t end there. With 2:36 on the clock in the third quarter, senior defender Abigail Hendrix sailed in a sweet shot to make it all even yet again at 5-5. However, UCLA quickly reclaimed its lead after another six-on-five, and Szegedi scored again less than a minute later for an insurance goal.
The fourth quarter sealed the Trojans’ fate, as both teams locked down on defense. After two yellow cards and a full timeout on the USC side, no goals came from either end. UCLA remained unchallenged as it kept a tight grip, ending the game with a 7-5 win.
“We did amazing defense, we had very good moments, very good steals. [UCLA] didn’t know what to do in some situations, making them use the full block or bumping the ball out,” Aznar said.
“It’s not one thing that points to a loss. It’s a group,” Moon said. “The biggest thing is this idea of fighting amongst our players. We have this never-give-up attitude, and that’s really important.”
For the coming MPSF Tournament, Trojans will open up against No. 5 seed Arizona State at 12:30 p.m. PST on Friday in Bloomington, Indiana.