A 26-2 record is the story for Head Coach Casey Moon and the mostly dominant USC women’s water polo team. But that record was 26-1 a week ago before Saturday’s loss to now-No. 1 UCLA. 

The Trojans may have failed to end their regular season on a high note, but they have much to celebrate from their successful season and seem to have everything they need to capture ultimate glory at the end of the year.

Led in scoring by freshman attacker Emily Ausmus — recently named Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Newcomer of the Year — with 96 goals, the team’s explosive offensive attack has led to huge victories. Throughout the year the Trojans picked up win after win and cruised past last year’s 18-9 record, but the Trojans will face a new level of pressure and urgency from their opponents in their most important games of the year yet this weekend as they head to the MPSF tournament in Westwood, California.  

The MPSF tournament holds stiff competition, notably from UCLA (18-4, 5-1 MPSF), No. 2 Stanford (19-1, 5-1), No. 4 UC Berkeley (17-4, 3-3) and No. 12 Indiana (17-10, 0-6). Luckily for USC, it has beaten all four of those teams during the regular season. Unluckily, the Trojans face a likely path to the championship of Indiana, then Stanford and then UCLA. 

Stanford and UCLA are responsible for USC’s only two losses of the season; the Trojans ultimately split their two matchups against both squads. Both of those games featured two standout issues of the Trojans’ game: exclusion trouble and big scoring runs from the other team.

When asked about the scoring runs USC has let up to opponents, sophomore attacker Meghan McAninch said the team needs to play together. 

“Something that we’ve talked a lot about, after our UCLA game, especially after our Stanford game, was just, after one or two mishaps or they score a goal, we just need to lock in again and remind each other, ‘We’re all in it together,’” McAninch said. “It’s a team sport, so I think the biggest thing for us is just playing with togetherness … because sometimes we lose that.” 

The second issue that USC could face is its foul trouble. The UCLA loss was largely due to the fouling that the Trojans found themselves in. 

“It’s our DNA. It’s our identity, how we play. We want to play aggressively,” Moon said. “The more aggressive we play, obviously the exclusions will go against us. But we’re not going to change how we play. Obviously be really mindful in certain situations. And, we are going to change our game plan a little bit, but I don’t want us to take away from our being the aggressor on defense.” 

While foul trouble could ruin the Trojans’ game plan, they have largely set up a system that has proved again and again to be a recipe for success. With a team and a strategy that is capable of competing and winning against any team in the nation, there are not a lot of reasons to change. 

When asked whether the likely late-round matchups matter to the team, Moon downplayed the significance. 

“Our focus is Indiana,” Moon said. “This is a tough tournament, and obviously [if] we don’t get past Friday, there’s no Saturday, Sunday. So in our minds we’re really one game focused at a time … So will we utilize the kind of prep that we’ve done before? Absolutely. But, we don’t want to get ahead of ourselves.” 

USC will face a tough test against Indiana at 11 a.m. Friday at Spieker Aquatics Center.