USC has tough test ahead in UC Berkeley

Women’s water polo’s chance at a perfect season is over. No. 3 USC slipped up against No. 1 UCLA, 11-10, at the Triton Invitational last weekend, but there’s no time to dwell on it. The Trojans host No. 2 UC Berkeley this Saturday at Uytengsu Aquatics Center.

After an 11-0 start, Cal comes into the first MPSF match of the season fresh off a bye week, while USC returns home after a four-game tourney in San Diego. The Bears are battle tested; every game this season, they’ve played a team in the top 15 rankings, and their offense has produced double-digit goals in all but one outing.

“Cal is a very good team, well-balanced at each position,” Head Coach Marko Pintaric said. “They’re going to be very physical and tough to play.”

The USC offense is also humming. The Trojans tallied 10 scores on even strength against the Bruins, led by a hat trick from redshirt sophomore 2-meter Tilly Kearns. But Pintaric was disappointed in the 11 conceded goals, a far cry from the team’s goal of holding teams under 6.

Handling Cal’s high-powered, consistent attack will be a tall task, literally. Seniors attacker Emma Wright and center Kitty Lynn Joustra stand at 6 feet and 5-foot-11, respectively. The Canadian Olympian and the three-time All-American have combined for 41 goals so far, and the Bears aren’t just a two-headed beast; three other players have notched over double digits as well.

Senior utility Bayley Weber, the MPSF Player of the Week, and the rest of the Trojan defense will have its hands full Saturday.

“It’s more of a mentality that we need to focus on, rather than physical defense,” junior goalie Carolyne Stern said. “We need to focus on taking pride in our defense. But as a collective, I think that we’re getting better … I’m excited to see what this weekend and the next couple weekends bring.”

Stern, who appears to have won the starting job in the cage, is coming off of a tough game against UCLA, only saving 7 of 18 shots that came her way. Despite this rocky patch for the USC defense, Pintaric knows that it’s all about communication, something that the team is figuring out as they continue to gel together.

“This is a young team in terms of playing together, but I know the team is very confident and working very hard,” Pintaric said. “And when you work that hard, I think the confidence follows, and I have a feeling that the team feels the same.”

While this Cal matchup is an important early season test — the Trojans’ early success will look a lot different if they drop back-to-back games to the Bruins and the Bears — Pintaric is approaching it as any other game.

“Cal and UCLA are undefeated right now,” Pintaric said. “[The players] will take the exact same preparation if [we] would play Stanford one loss or with ASU with four losses or any other teams.”

The Trojans hop into the pool this Saturday at 1 p.m. to face UC Berkeley.