The best teams in the nation tend to be the greatest because of how they respond to adversity.
This rang true on Saturday morning when the USC women’s water polo team took down Long Beach State by a commanding score of 16-10.
Heading into halftime tied 6-6, the Trojans seemed to be in dire need of an offensive spark. They struggled somewhat in the first two periods on the powerplay and were not finishing opportunities like they typically do — especially compared to their high-scoring game last Saturday against then-No. 6 UC Irvine, when the Trojans went to bat in a 19-15 slugfest and emerged victorious.
But when things slow down offensively, there is no person better to turn to than two-time Olympian and silver medalist, graduate center Tilly Kearns. Only 16 seconds into the third period, Kearns received an entry pass and buried a shot past Long Beach State senior goaltender Chelsea Oliver.
USC followed that with a stop on the opposite end of the pool before heading back on the offensive, where they connected on a trifecta of beautiful passes and gave attacker Ava Stryker a wide open frame of nylon to target.
The run did not end there. The Trojans went to a different Olympian, freshman attacker Emily Ausmus, and she scored the first of her two goals in the game and rallied USC to a lead that the team would not give up for the game’s remainder.
That’s not to say that the Beach didn’t give it their best shot and make it a tight matchup numerous times in the remaining period and a half, though. After four scoreless minutes, Long Beach State finally got back on the board via a powerplay goal from junior attacker Elisa Portillo. They would score another goal on a 5-meter by freshman attacker Martina Cardona a minute later, bringing the score back within one, but USC would head back on another tear to open the game back up and take the lead to 12-8.
The first goal of the run would come from Stryker again — her third of the game. Following her, junior attacker Morgan Netherton would score a goal in the dying second of the period after her shot was partially field-blocked by a Long Beach defender, flying high in the air over the head of Oliver and slowly floating in the water toward, and finally across, the goal line despite every Beach defender trying to scoop it away.
The Trojans kept their foot on the accelerator, with sophomore attacker Meghan McAninch scoring her third goal of the day as well.
Yet again, Long Beach found some life, netting two more goals within 45 seconds of each other, but they would get no closer to USC than 12-10.
USC closed out the final four minutes with four goals of their own. Stryker nailed her fourth goal of the day, Ausmus would join the multi-goal party on a 5-meter as well. Sophomore center Rachel Gazzaniga scored a goal with about 30 seconds left, and, with one second to go, her counterpart at center, Kearns, sent one the length of the pool into an empty cage to put the icing on the cake. In addition to all four of these Trojans scoring in the fourth period, they all have scored in each of the 11 games that USC has played so far this year.
USC came out hot in the first half, as well. The Trojans opened by going up 2-0 early with goals from senior attacker Isabel Zimmerman and McAninch’s first goal, but gave one back shortly after. Junior attacker Maggie Johnson scored her seventh goal of the season to give the Trojans a 3-1 lead, but after that disaster struck for the Trojans.
The Beach went on a three goal tirade which looked to spell dangerous things for the No. 1 team in the country. After a much-needed time out from head coach Casey Moon, USC gained composure and swung back. Both Stryker and Netherton scored their first goals of the game, giving USC the lead once again. Portillo bit back on the Long Beach State side, but McAninch put one in with about a minute-and-a-half to go in the first half. In the final 10 seconds, Long Beach State scored once more to tie the game going 6-6 into half.
After an electric second half, USC will want to keep its focus on drawing exclusions from the opposition and getting both Kearns and Gazzaniga involved in the 2-meter spot. When these two become threats, it draws in the defense and opens up more space for outside shooters such as Ausmus, Stryker and McAninch along the perimeter.
USC will have a week to prepare for the Barbara Kalbus Invitational, where the team will open play against Biola on Friday at 10 a.m. in Irvine, California.