April 20, 2008

LONG BEACH, CALIF. - The No. 3 USC women's water polo team rounded out the regular season with a 10-6 win over No. 12 Long Beach State, building an early lead and holding it down the stretch. With the win, USC secures a 10-2 MPSF record to capture the No. 3 seed into the upcoming MPSF Tournament, held April 24-27 at San Diego State. The Trojans take a 17-6 overall record into their opening game of the tourney, set for 2:30 p.m. on Friday (April 26) against either Arizona State or Cal State Northridge. Long Beach State takes the No. 10 seed, holding a 15-15 overall record and 4-8 MPSF finish.

On Sunday at Long Beach State, the Women of Troy bunched their scoring around four players, as Veronika Bartunkova and Michelle Stein each slammed in hat tricks, and Kristen Dronberger and Alexandra Kiss added a pair of goals apiece to account for USC's 10 goals on the day. Defensive duties were split between Tumua Anae and Whitney Morgan, who had four and three saves apiece in the game in two periods of time in the cage each.

USC opened the match with a four-goal scoring spurt. Dronberger struck twice early for the Trojans, and Kiss tallied one next. Bartunkova's first of her eventual three would also come in the first period, before the 49ers were able to stop the scoring run with a 5-meter penalty score in the final minute of the first period. Long Beach State was awarded another 5-meter penalty shot in the second period, but it hit the bar to hold USC ahead 4-1.

The 49ers were able to get its first natural goal of the game on its next possession, however, cutting the game to 4-2 with 5:40 to go until halftime. The Trojans responded with a three-goal surge in a minute's span. USC worked the ball around on a 6-on-5, as Bartunkova hit Kally Lucas on the left and she sent the ball to Michelle Stein for the score and a 5-2 USC advantage. Next, Miranda Nichols stuffed a Long Beach State shot attempt from the top and took the steal the other way on the counter. She got the ball to Stein, who found Bartunkova on the cross for the score. Less than 30 seconds later, USC's passing game created another swift score, as Dronberger delivered a smooth cross to Bartunkova for another strike - her third of the day - to push USC ahead 7-2 with 3:07 on the clock. The 49ers earned a pair of 6-on-5 advantages before halftime. Anae made the save on the first, but a shot off the bar made its way in on the second to make it a 7-3 game going into the second half.

Across the next two periods, the teams stayed even on the scoring front. After an early Long Beach State score, USC worked out to a 10-4 lead thanks to a 6-on-5 score from Kiss and two more converted by Stein. Meanwhile, the 49ers got two final goals from Dayna Wawrzynski in the fourth period to close the game as a 10-6 USC win.

#3 USC 10, #12 Long Beach State 6
USC 4 - 3 - 3 - 0 = 10
LBSU 1 - 2 - 1 - 2 = 6

SCORING:
USC - Veronika Bartunkova 3, Michelle Stein 3, Kristen Dronberger 2, Alexandra Kiss 2.
LBSU - Dayna Wawrzynski 2, Branwyn Lee, Lauren Sieprath, Cecilia Canetti, Rachelle Denaro

SAVES: Tumua Anae (USC) 4, Whitney Morgan (USC) 3, Kristen Stragier (LBSU) 8.