Maud Megens & #1 USC Expose Princeton as Paper Tigers

USC Women's Water Polo defeats Princeton at home.

Photo Courtesy: John McGillen/USC Athletics

Michael Randazzo, Swimming World Contributor

Even Ashleigh Johnson, considered to be the world’s top woman water polo goalie, can’t slow down the Trojans of Southern Cal as they continue on a historic run.

Johnson, who backstopped the U.S. Women’s National Team to Olympic gold last August in Rio, was unable to stop Maud Megens and top-ranked University of Southern California from remaining perfect this season. The Trojans (22-0) claimed a 12-3 win Thursday night over #10 Princeton (16-2) at the Uytengsu Aquatics Center in Los Angeles on the strength of Megens powerful right arm. The freshman from the Netherlands completed a hat trick with 2 minutes remaining in the first quarter on her way to five goals on the night.

Brianna Daboub chipped in two goals as host USC raced out to a 10-1 first half lead. Johnson was bombarded by 26 shots, leaving the 2017 Swimming World Female Water Polo Player of the Year defenseless in the wake of the Trojan onslaught.

Photo Courtesy: Princeton Athletics

With the win, USC extended to 49 the longest women’s water polo winning streak in NCAA history.

The Tigers entered the match with a single loss—a 7-6 decision to sixth-ranked Arizona State last weekend in the Roadrunner Invitational—suggesting that this match-up of East and West Coast powers might have national implications. But in the latest Women’s Water Polo Division I Rating Percentage Index for matches through March 12, Princeton had the 28th most difficult schedule in the country. USC—with wins over #2 Stanford, #3 UCLA, Arizona State and # 7 Michigan—checked in with the nation’s third-best strength of schedule.

Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) play is up next for the Trojans, beginning with a match this Saturday against #14 San Jose State and continuing through next month. The MPSF Championships, to be held April 28-30 at UCLA’s Spieker Aquatics Center, will determine which team is awarded the conference’s automatic berth in the 2017 NCAA Women’s Water Polo Tournament. Not only will the MPFS champion be given a bye into the Final Four, it is also certain to be the tournament’s top-seeded team.

Last year four MPSF teams—Arizona State, Stanford, UCLA and USC—qualified for NCAAs from the nation’s toughest water polo conference.

Princeton’s path to an NCAA berth is far more tenuous. After licking their wounds, the Tigers begin Collegiate Water Polo Association conference play next weekend with matches against newcomer Saint Francis PA and #25 Bucknell, followed by a highly anticipated April 2 match against Michigan. The Wolverines (17-8) have played the country’s toughest schedule, including matches against the top six teams in the current Varsity Top 25 Poll: USC, Stanford, UCLA, Cal, UC Irvine and Arizona State.

The winner of the Princeton vs. Michigan tilt will be ideally positioned for the CWPA’s automatic NCAA berth, to be decided at the CWPA Championship, April 28-30 at Indiana University in Bloomington.

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