In their first real test of the 2019 season, on Saturday in Irvine, CA the USC women’s water polo team held on for a 9-8 victory against #4 Cal, advancing to the finals of the annual Barbara Kalbus Invitational, where they will meet second-seeded Stanford at 1 p.m. today at the UC Irvine Aquatics Center.
The Trojans will be seeking a fifth-straight Kalbus crown, no easy task against a Cardinal squad that easily subdued #3 UCLA by a score of 10-4 in yesterday’s other Kalbus semifinal.
Results for all matches are available here at the Kalbus Invitational Tournament Central.
The eight goals scored by Cal represents a season high against a USC defense which had previously allowed less than three goals a game. That the Golden Bears were a tough out against the Trojans should come as no surprise; since Coralie Simmons took over as head coach in 2017, Cal has played well against USC—including a 6-5 loss last year in the Kalbus semifinals—although her squad has no victories (0-5 the past two years) to show for its efforts.
Cal’s Madison Tagg comes up big for Golden Bears in a loss to USC. Photo Courtesy: Catharyn Hayne
As she has all season, Maud Megens led USC with three scores, while Kelsey McIntosh, Tilly Kearns and Bayley Weber added two apiece. Amanda Longan recorded 11 saves against Cal after collecting nine in three quarters of action in a 7-1 drubbing of Arizona State earlier in the day. Freshman Carla Traplin topped Cal with three goals, while Brigitt Mulder netted two. Madison Tagg notched 14 saves in the Golden Bear cage after helping her team to a morning victory over #5 Hawai’i. The senior from Orinda, CA made five stops as Cal held on for a 12-10 win over the resurgent Rainbow Wahine.
On the other side of the tournament bracket, Stanford buzzed through two highly-regarded opponents to return to the finals for the third straight year. In the morning the Cardinal took a 14-3 decision over #10 Pacific behind a hat trick from Kat Klass and 13 saves by Thea Walsh. But the best—so far this season—was yet to come. Mackenzie Fisher, who now has 45 goals in her team’s first ten games, poured in five goals against the Bruins as Stanford opened up an early 5-0 lead and then let its defense hold off UCLA, limiting leading scorer Maddie Musselman to two goals.
The win sets up a title bout between the nation’s two best teams—and a rematch of last year’s Kalbus final, when the Cardinal sprinted to a 7-3 lead at halftime and then held the Trojans scoreless in a 9-3 drubbing. It will be hard to see that happening again, but with a potent offense led by Mackenzie and her sister Aria Fischer, and a dominant defense back-stopped by Emalia Eichelberger (11 saves against UCLA), there’s a real sense that USC’s 32-match win streak is in jeopardy.
In other action, Hawai’i rebounded from its early-morning loss to Cal by beating Arizona State 10-8. The Wahine will face Pacific—a 12-9 winner over Michigan—for fifth place. The Wolverines will hope for a seventh-place result against Arizona State, who they beat 6-5 two weeks ago at the Triton Invitational.
The weather’s NOT always perfect in SoCal; UCI’s Dan Klatt bundles up on the Anteaters’ pool deck. Photo Courtesy: Glen Feingerts
In a rematch of two Big West opponents from two weeks ago, host UCI will look to again top UC Santa Barbara. The Anteaters won both games yesterday, including 15-10 over Loyola Marymount. The Lions can finish 11th with a win over UC San Diego; San Jose State will face Long Beach State for 13th place and California State University at Northridge (CSUN) squares off against San Diego State for 15th place.