No. 4 USC falls to No. 1 UCLA in Westwood

The annual crosstown showdown started out in a tight battle, but USC could not hang with the Bruins in a game that they dominated. The No. 4 Trojans traveled to Westwood looking to upset the No. 1 ranked Bruins. The Trojans lost their upset bid by a score of 11-6.

Rain could not deter the Trojan faithful from coming to support, and a sold-out stadium overflowed into the upper levels of a nearby parking structure.

Early on, the action was fierce. UCLA opened with an offense barrage, but sophomore goalie McQuin Baron opened with three straight saves.

The Trojans got on the board first though with a dynamic backhanded goal. On the next possession driver Blake Edwards would score and give the Trojans a two-goal lead. The Bruins would answer on their next two possessions to tie the game at two goals apiece halfway through the first period.

UCLA scored twice more in a first period that saw six total goals.

The Men of Troy struggled to get their offense going in the second period, failing to convert back-to-back power plays. UCLA goalkeeper junior Garrett Danner would finish the game with 19 saves, with 10 of them coming in the first half.

Danner was a force USC could not reckon with and Danner set his new career high in saves.

The Trojans were held scoreless in the second period and gave up two goals to fall behind 6-2 at halftime. The first half was a story of missed opportunities for the Trojans, who failed to convert on any of their five power plays, while UCLA scored on both of theirs.

Despite the scores for UCLA, Baron had seven saves in the first half on his way to recording nine saves.

The Trojans would open the second half winning the opening sprint, but UCLA sophomore Max Irving would net his second goal of the game giving the Bruins a 7-2 lead.

Sophomore Mihajlo Milicevic would end the Trojans scoring drought of over 10 minutes with a goal three minutes into the third period. The Trojans’ momentum would not last long though, with UCLA junior Ryder Roberts answering the goal to maintain the five-goal lead for the Bruins.

Two more goals before the end of the third period put UCLA 10 goals up. Sophomore Matteo Morelli made it 10-4 to end the third quarter.

The story of the game could be summed up in a Trojan power play shot in the fourth quarter that entered the goal but did not hit the net and was saved by UCLA.

The Bruins would go one to score another goal in the fourth period to finish with 11.

Blake Edwards converted a five-meter penalty shot for USC with less than two minutes remaining to make it 11-5.

Freshman Chase Koplow hit the game’s final goal for the Trojans as time expired to take the score to its final at     11-6.

The Bruins were led by Roberts who finished the day with four goals.

USC’s was led by two goals from Blake Edwards and one each for Lachlan Edwards, Milicevic and Morelli on a day when the Trojans’s high-powered offense was stopped in its tracks.

The Trojans’ record moves to 18-5 overall and 6-3 in MPSF conference play. The loss is the Trojans second of the year to the Bruins with the first coming in the finals of the SoCal invitational by a score of 10-9.

Next week, the Trojans will fight for the MPSF championship in a tournament hosted at the Uytengsu Aquatic Center.