Indiana water polo traveled to Los Angeles this weekend to play its first two games of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation regular season, facing No. 2 USC and No. 4 UCLA on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.
Having recently journeyed to Irvine, California, to play in the Barbara Kalbus Invitational about two weeks earlier, the Hoosiers returned to California to play one of their hardest stretches of games this season so far with two top-five ranked opponents.
Indiana started its first match against No. 2 USC. The Trojans got out to a hot start, taking a three-goal lead inside the first three minutes. Indiana matched USC stride for stride early on, however, including a strike from senior attacker Olivia Stark with one second left in the first quarter, making the score 6-5 in favor of USC.
The second quarter started well for Indiana, with consecutive goals from junior attacker Louisa Downes and junior utility player Nicole Tyner tying the score at 7. From this point on, however, a switch flipped in USC.
Unlike their namesake from Troy thousands of years ago, the Trojans were the ones running riot on their opponents. USC washed over Indiana’s defense like a massive tidal wave, wreaking havoc on the Hoosiers’ backline as the Trojans netted goal after goal.
By the time there was only five minutes left in the fourth quarter, the score was a staggering 19-7. USC had scored 12 straight goals, with Indiana senior center Sophia Sollie only able to stop the streak momentarily.
Indiana scored four straight goals late in the fourth, but it meant little as both sides had emptied their benches into the pool. USC’s second half domination crushed Indiana, which fell 21-12.
The Hoosiers’ second match the following day was against No. 4 UCLA, and the start of the second game was more of the same. The Bruins jumped out to an 8-3 lead after the first quarter, which included a stretch of five straight goals.
After a quiet second quarter, the halftime scoreline read 10-4 in favor of UCLA. Despite two goals each from senior utility player Portia Sasser, senior attacker Skylar Kidd and junior attacker Grace Klingler, the Hoosiers only managed to cut the Bruins’ second half lead to 5.
Following four straight goals from UCLA in the third quarter, a Bruin victory seemed inevitable. It proved so as UCLA refused to step off the gas petal, outscoring Indiana in the fourth quarter and cementing the Hoosiers’ 19-9 defeat.
Indiana’s next matches are its third straight stretch of games in California, as it travels from March 15-16 to play in the Aztec Invitational in San Diego.
After starting the season on a 10-game winning streak, Indiana has now gone 2-6 in its last eight games. Currently rooted to the bottom of the MPSF regular season standings, the stretch of conference games from March 25 – April 19 will determine the outlook of Indiana’s season.
