USC Women’s Water Polo Slips In MPSF Semis With Loss To Undefeated UCLA

BLOOMINGTON, IND. — The No. 4 seeded USC women's water polo team was unable to derail top-seeded UCLA in today's MPSF semifinal bout, taking a 10-4 loss to the Bruins in Bloomington, Ind., to move into the third-place game at the tournament. USC is now 18-7 overall after making its ninth straight appearance in an MPSF semifinal game.

The Bruins jumped out to a 2-0 advantage, but USC bit back with a ripper of a goal from Rachel Gazzaniga out of two-meters to get one back. UCLA answered, though, with a strike out of set as well, and USC was down 3-1 after eight minutes of action. Another close-range UCLA score came early in the second, although Gazziniga would pump in another one off a power move to make it 4-2. The Bruins managed back-to-back blasts next to build a 6-2 lead before more work from Gazzaniga earned USC a look at a 5-meter penalty shot. Julia Janov stepped up and sizzled it in to make it 6-3, and USC's defense came up with some nice stops down the stretch to hold the score for halftime.

The Trojan offense would strike out in the third period, however, while UCLA moved out ahead 9-3. USC goalie Carolyne Stern snuffed a UCLA 5-meter penalty try along the way, but USC was unable to break through on the offensive end. A stalemate ensued in the fourth before USC broke through with a backhand blast from Emma Lawson off a feed from Brooklyn Aguilera to notch USC's fourth goal of the day, although UCLA had the final work with a score in the final minute to round out a 10-4 Bruin win.

NEXT: 
USC moves into the MPSF third-place game at 11:45 a.m. ET tomorrow (April 28) against Stanford at Counsilman-Billingsley Aquatics Center in Bloomington, Ind.

NOTABLE:
- With her goal today, SR Julia Janov continues to lead the team with goals scored in 22 different games this season.
- With two goals today, FR Rachel Gazzaniga has recorded a team-high 17 multiple-goal games this season.
- Gazzaniga also leads USC in scoring with 48 goals — one of four Trojans with at least 40 goals scored this season.

2024 MPSF TOURNAMENT

[1] UCLA 10, [4] UCLA 4
Saturday, April 27 | Counsilman-Billingsley Aquatics Center (Bloomington, Ind.)
USC    1 - 2 - 0 - 1 = 4
UCLA  3 - 3 - 3 - 1 = 10

SCORING:
USC — Rachel Gazzaniga 2, Julia Janov, Emma Lawson.
UCLA — Hannah Palmer 5, Dania Innis, Molly Renner, Malia Allen, Annaliese Miller, Anna Pearson.

SAVES: Carolyne Stern (USC) 3, Lauren Steele (UCLA) 17, Sydney Chang (UCLA) 2.