Water polo secures perfect home record

Applause roared throughout Uytengsu Aquatic Center as USC celebrated Senior Day with the team’s seven seniors receiving a special tribute in their final home game.

In their penultimate game, the Trojans capped off an undefeated season at home with a 15-11 win against Arizona State. 

After achieving a perfect record at home, Head Coach Marko Pintaric spoke of the importance of the team’s win. 

“One of our preseason goals was to defend our own swimming pool and really try to be undefeated and that goal is achieved,” Pintaric said. “When you achieve those little goals, it’s always one step at a time and that’s how you play, one game at a time.”

In the first quarter, USC jumped out to an early lead with two quick goals from senior driver Téa Poljak. At the end of the first quarter, USC led 3-1, carrying that momentum through the second quarter to end the first half up 9-3. The strong offensive effort was spearheaded by redshirt junior 2-meter Tilly Kearns, who notched a hat trick with two minutes and 35 seconds to go in the first half. 

The second half began with another goal from Kearns as well as a score from redshirt junior driver Alejandra Aznar to push USC’s lead to 8 goals. However, ASU mounted a comeback, scoring 4 unanswered goals to close the quarter with the Trojans up 11-7. The Sun Devils’ resurgence was fueled by a pair of goals from freshman center Sophie Shorter-Robinson and the defensive efforts of freshman goalkeeper Alexa Knutson, who recorded 7 blocks.  

The fourth quarter began with a goal from senior driver Christina Crum, extending USC’s lead to 5 and swinging the momentum back in favor of the Trojans. Crum spoke of her appreciation of the support she has received from her teammates. 

“As a senior on this team I haven’t been one that has contributed in that many games and to finally work all these years and then get to be a senior and then actually be scoring in bigger games, I think the whole team is just really proud and excited for me and has my back just like I have theirs,” Crum said.

Goals from redshirt senior driver Grace Tehaney, sophomore utility Fanni Muzsnay and a breakaway score from freshman utility Maggie Johnson pushed USC’s lead out of range of a comeback, with the Trojans winning by 4 goals. 

The storied USC women’s water polo program now boasts an impressive 38-1 all-time record against ASU. The last time the Sun Devils beat the Trojans was 2008. 

Seniors Crum, Poljak and Tehaney, as well as Mireia Guiral, Claire Haas, Paige Hauschild and Caroline Stern, played their final game at the Uytengsu Aquatics Center on Saturday. Poljak and Haas, who started the game, attribute their success in the pool to the support of their teammates. 

“Claire and I are not, ‘big players’ for this team but we got to start,” said Poljak. “I think that momentum really helped us as seniors to know going in thatour whole team had our backs and had the confidence in us. And so I think it’s just really special to be able to jump in with those girls one last time at home, and it just means the world.”

With the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation tournament approaching and the NCAA tournament on the horizon, the No. 1 ranked Trojans will look to make a splash and hopefully capture a national title. 

“Every single player, whether you’re playing or not, we all want it and we all want it for each other and so we support each other,” Crum said. “And every person from top to bottom pushes each other in practice. And our practices are even harder than the game so I think that’s what’s really making a difference.”

The women’s water polo team will cap off their regular season campaign against UCLA at Spieker Aquatics Center at noon next Saturday.