With the score knotted at 4-4 and a minute left in the first half Saturday, No. 1 USC women’s water polo was looking for revenge against a UCLA team that had handed the Trojans their only two losses of the season. The No. 3 Bruins were looking to recapture the first-quarter dominance that gave them a 3-1 lead just minutes before.

The only thing star USC sophomore attacker Emily Ausmus was looking for was the net.

On a counter attack, with only UCLA junior goalie Lauren Steele in the way, Ausmus faked, dropped below the water’s surface and tricked one of the best keepers in the country as she launched a missile to the back of the net for a 5-4 lead, USC’s first of the game.

After scoring the momentum-changing goal, Ausmus pointed to the robust crowd on the home side of Uytengsu Aquatics Center, which erupted in cheers, while the nearly even group of Bruin faithful opposite them went quiet.

“I never know what I’m gonna do in the moment. So that was kind of a surprise to me,” Ausmus said of her gesture to the crowd. “For me, [it’s] motivation, looking up at the crowd and seeing people going crazy. It’s just such a good feeling. That’s what the Trojan energy feels like.”

Saturday afternoon’s clash between two of the best teams in the country was all it was billed to be. A showcase of top-tier positioning and defense early on quickly turned into a shootout in the 11-goal fourth quarter. But when the dust settled, USC (21-2, 6-0 MPSF), led by a five-goal, one-assist performance from Ausmus, earned its revenge in the rivalry contest, beating the Bruins (18-3, 4-2) 13-11 to secure the No. 1 seed heading into the MPSF Tournament next weekend. 

“This is a really good confidence boost for us. UCLA has beat us twice, and they’re really good,” Head Coach Casey Moon said in a postgame interview with the Daily Trojan. “At the end of the day, it’s not about wins. It’s about this belief. … We’ve [gone] on this incredible run [in conference play]. The run’s not over.” 

After finishing the regular season undefeated in the MPSF, which represents every NCAA champion since the women’s water polo tournament’s inception in 2001, the Trojans earned a bye in the MPSF Tournament, meaning they will skip straight to the semifinals Saturday at UC Berkeley’s pool. 

Though they have now taken down both UCLA and No. 2 Stanford (11-1, 5-1) this season, both squads will remain formidable in the postseason, as USC will likely need to beat at least one of the two to win the league title. The Bruins beat the Trojans by three and one in two different nonconference bouts, while the Cardinal stayed with USC all the way before Ausmus sealed the deal in the final seconds of an 11-10 victory.

Ausmus embraces ‘selfless’ role in win

There’s little that hasn’t been said about Ausmus’ offensive prowess after the former Olympian scored a program-record 114 goals last season to win MPSF Newcomer of the Year.

To an untrained eye, Ausmus’ 65 goals this season, still good for third most in the MPSF, may look like a decline. To Moon, who is in his 18th year on USC’s staff, and Ausmus, her sophomore campaign has perhaps been even more impressive.

“She just has this ‘it’ factor in her. She hates to lose,” Moon said. “But the thing about her is it’s not about her. She’s such a selfless player, and she loves her team … she’s our cheat code.”

Ausmus isn’t just an attacker: She dominates in sprints, frequently racks up assists, has 34 steals this season and is shooting at an even higher clip than her impressive 60% last season. On Saturday, she made 5-of-6 attempts, including two goals in transition and finishing two penalty attempts.

“My role in this team has definitely shifted from last year, coming in as a freshman and just shooting,” Ausmus said. “My role this season has shifted into assisting and setting up, and creating and kind of more of the selfless play that a lot of people who don’t really know water polo won’t see. But I just want to get that natty for our seniors and for our team and to bring it back home to our school.”

Trojans come back thanks to goalie play, depth

Though Saturday’s game ended with a dominant win and the Trojans hitting the Victory Bell in celebration, it didn’t start out clean: Redshirt sophomore goalie Anna Reed didn’t notch her first save until after she had surrendered three goals and USC was down 3-1 in the first quarter. On the other side, Steele saved four of USC’s five shots in the quarter.

But Reed and the Trojans bore down, winning the second quarter 4-1 and limiting the damage in the defense-dominated third quarter to give them the advantage going into the thrilling final period. Reed, in particular, stepped up, saving a total of eight shots for a 42.1% save percentage, nearly passing Steele’s final 43.5% clip by game’s end.

USC’s defenders also played a major role in maintaining the lead, blocking a total of 11 shots, including three from junior center Rachel Gazzaniga and two apiece from sophomore center Alma Yaacobi and freshman utility Natalia Blazevic.

“It’s not all on [Reed]. We’ve got to be better as a group to shrink that goal for her as much as possible,” Moon said of USC’s tough first quarter. “When we needed a block, she made one.”

On top of Ausmus’ late push, other Trojan scorers were critical to USC’s six-goal fourth quarter that secured the win.

While junior attacker Ava Stryker’s hat trick began with the first goal of the game for either side, she finished it with an early fourth-quarter goal that broke the final tie of the game and started an onslaught of Trojan scoring. Gazzaniga scored her second goal to put USC up by three with two minutes to play, all but clinching the win. Yaacobi was the other Trojan with multiple goals Saturday, adding one of hers in the fourth quarter.

“It’s fortunate to have those pieces on your team,” Moon said of his third-, fourth- and fifth-highest scorers.

The Trojans will have a week off before they take on the winner of a first-round MPSF matchup, presumably No. 4 Cal (13-5, 3-3), on Saturday at 12:45 p.m. in Berkeley.