Trojans take care of Indiana 16-4
No. 2 USC competed at home for the first time in over a month Saturday and put on a show for their fans, securing their 20th win of the year in dominant fashion, beating the Indiana Hoosiers 16-4.
Redshirt senior driver Paige Hauschild, redshirt senior driver Grace Tehaney and redshirt senior utility Bayley Weber all picked hat tricks to lead USC to the win, with Hauschild and Tehaney each scoring three and Weber slotting four. Despite the dominance of the trifecta, the Trojans made sure everyone got involved, with eight different players netting goals.
The Trojans got rolling from the opening sprint and proved to be a difficult force to stop all match long. By the time the first media timeout struck with three minutes remaining in the first half, they already had a commanding 4-1 lead.
Indiana had multiple chances to trim their deficit before the first quarter came to a close though, including a three shot possession followed by a breakaway in the final seconds. However, senior goalkeeper Carolyne Stern was a brick wall in the net for USC, thwarting Indiana with four first quarter blocks.
The second quarter was a similar story, as the Trojans continued to apply pressure and widened their lead to 9-2 by halftime. The first half was capped off with Stern serving a long-ball in transition to Hauschild, who found herself on a breakaway and took advantage, scoring her third goal of the contest.
Indiana seemed to have newfound life when the second half got underway, as they picked up some early stops and were able to nab their third goal of the game when senior utility Zoe Crouch slipped one past Stern.
Nonetheless, the Trojans weren’t rattled in the slightest and held the Hoosiers in check for the rest of the period. USC tacked on three goals of their own as well, courtesy of Tehaney and Weber, securing their hat tricks.
The Trojans would keep their foot on the gas throughout the fourth quarter, outscoring the Hoosiers 4-1 in the final frame and cruising to a commanding 16-4 victory.
It was a dazzling game in goal for Stern, who made eight saves and picked up a steal.
“[Stern’s] an anchor to our defense,” Weber said in an interview with the Daily Trojan. “It allows us to be able to capitalize on their mistakes knowing that she’ll save us.”
It was not only a great game on the defensive end for Stern, but for the Trojans as a whole. This was only the fourth time this season that they’ve been able to hold their opponent to less than five goals.
“The defense sets the tone,” said Head Coach Marko Pintaric in an interview with the Daily Trojan. “The defense was executed exactly as we prepared, we took away their style of play and their weapons as we planned on and the score shows that.”
With the victory, the Trojans improved to 20-1 on the year. They’ll be back in action Saturday, when they host San Jose State at Uytengsu Aquatics Center.