Feb. 10, 2013

SAN DIEGO, CALIF. -- The No. 2 USC women's water polo team got out of the gates as champions with a 4-0 start to 2013 play and a successful run to the UCSD Triton Invitational title. The Women of Troy topped San Diego State12-3 in the semifinals today, then steered toward victory again in a 13-6 championship win over Arizona State this evening in San Diego.

That ticket to the title match was punched with a solid semifinal effort against No. 7 San Diego State in the Trojans' morning matchup. USC built a 3-0 lead and when the Aztecs cut the lead down to one the Trojans responded with a now-trademark streak out of reach. USC manufactured a 7-0 scoring run that spanned halftime, with Kaleigh Gilchrist and Eike Daube each blasting a pair of goals during the surge to a 10-2 lead with 3:29 to play in the third. SDSU would stop the run at seven with a score at the 2:25 mark, but the Trojan defense would allow nothing more from the Aztecs the rest of the way. Goalie Flora Bolonyai would pitch a shutout in the fourth frame, while USC tallied one in the fourth from Hannah Buckling, and the Trojans were decidedly through to the final with a 12-3 win.

In the evening's final, USC never trailed, but did have to shake off a 3-3 tie with the Sun Devils during the first frame. The Trojans wrapped two three-goal surges around a single ASU strike to pad USC's advantage out to a five-goal edge just after halftime. The attack was again balanced for the Women of Troy, with seven different players scoring in the 13-6 decision. Vavic was the top gun in this one, knocking in four goals for the Trojans, with Jayde Appel, Madeline Rosenthal and Dominique Sardo each tallying a pair in the championship victory.

2013 UCSD TRITON INVITATIONAL (San Diego, Calif)

SEMIFINAL - Feb. 10, 2013
#2 USC 12, #7 San Diego State 3
USC 3 - 5 - 3 - 1 = 12
SDSU 1 - 1 - 1 - 0 = 3

SCORING:
USC -- Monica Vavic 2, Eike Daube 2, Kaleigh Gilchrist 2, Dominique Sardo 2, Jayde Appel, Colleen O'Donnell, Courtney Walters, Hannah Buckling.
SDSU -- Amber Pezzolla, Anique Hermann, Taelor Moreno.

SAVES: Flora Bolonyai (USC) 8, Rachel Mitchell (SDSU) 13.

CHAMPIONSHIP - Feb. 10, 2013
#2 USC 13, #5 Arizona State 6
USC 5 - 3 - 4 - 1 = 13
ASU 3 - 1 - 1 - 1 = 6

SCORING:
USC -- Monica Vavic 4, Jayde Appel 2, Madeline Rosenthal 2, Dominique Sardo 2, Colleen O'Donnell, Olivia Cummins, Kaleigh Gilchrist.
ASU -- Shannon Haas 2, Petra Pardi, Ao Gao, Alicia Brightwell, Abigail Kerth.

SAVES: Flora Bolonyai (USC) 5, Ianeta Hutchinson (ASU) 10.