May 9, 2004
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STANFORD, Calif. - No. 1-seed USC came out running early behind a goal and three assists by freshman utility Brittany Hayes to take a 4-3 halftime lead and hold on for a 10-8 victory over No. 3-seed Loyola Marymount in the NCAA Championship game on Sunday at Avery Aquatic Center. The victory capped off a perfect 29-0 season.
USC Kelly Graff had five saves and the Women of Troy defense stepped up to hold off LMU. The Women of Troy took advantage of five LMU third period ejections to keep up with a furious Lion attack and withstood the fourth quarter heroics of LMU's Cara Colton.
LMU came out playing the same defense that they had used to upset Stanford the night before. This did not prevent the Women of Troy from scoring twice as sophomore driver Lauren Wenger tipped in a high pass from Hayes on the opposite side of the goal to score with 5:17 left in the first period. Hayes scored one of her own a little more than a minute later to put USC ahead by two. USC keeper Graff had two early acrobatic saves to keep the Lions from seeing the back of the cage.
LMU goalie Katie Murray made one save in a first period that was highlighted by outstanding goalkeeper play. LMU cut the deficit to one with a four-meter lob shot by freshman utility Colton with 29 seconds left, but Hayes found junior driver Erin Wilson open with 12 seconds to play to make it a 3-1 game.
Hayes used her great pool sense again just 22 seconds into the second period for her third assist of the game, this time finding senior Liz Simms open inside. Simms pushed off her defender in the two-meter zone and skipped one into the left side of the goal. LMU wasted no time in scoring again, with senior Devon Wright powering one from four meters over the arms of Graff.
Following a USC ejection with 2:39 left in the half, LMU coach John Loughran called a timeout to try to cut the USC lead, but that attempt was failed as USC's Wenger knocked away a bad pass and Graff made a save. LMU got their goal with 34 seconds left when Sarah Hamilton was whistled for a foul on Wright in the two-meter zone. Sophomore utility Stacia Peterson skipped one off the water in front of Graff to cut USC's lead to one for a second time.
USC took control again early in the second half by scoring on a 6-on-5 opportunity just 38 seconds into the period when junior Eszter Gyori bombed a shot from two meters through a Lion defensive set that featured three blocking the goal. LMU didn't panic and came down the pool to score again when Peterson made a four-meter netter with 5:38 to play in the period.
Hayes picked up a second goal when she got free with 4:09 to go in the period, allowing the Women of Troy to regain a two-goal lead for the third time in the match. USC took a three goal lead for the first time with Graff making two great saves and getting a backhanded Moriah Van Norman score with 3:25 to go on Hayes' fourth assist. LMU responded 19 seconds later with a score of their own as Colton scored to bring the game to a 7-5 USC lead. Hayes took advantage of a Wright ejection to score yet again with 1:19 to play.
LMU scored 36 seconds into the final period with Peterson's second penalty shot goal of the game. LMU had yet another ejection with 5:35 to go and Erika Figge quickly took advantage with a four-meter cage-rattler. Colton recorded her third goal of the game with 4:45 remaining in the championship match by bouncing a 6-on-5 shot off the hands of Graff. Colton made that back-to-back scores 43 seconds later to cut the lead to one and made two defensive stops to prevent the Women of Troy from adding to their lead.
USC's Anna Pardo helped the Women of Troy cause by finding the right corner of the goal with 3:08 left in the game to give USC a two-goal lead with half a period to play. Peterson missed a tip-in shot with 50 seconds to play that would have cut USC's lead. The Trojans ran out the clock and the entire Trojan bench, including head coach Jovan Vavic and his assistants, jumped into the pool to celebrate as time expired.
Notes: This was the first championship game appearance for both teams...LMU has been to the NCAA tournament every year since it began in 2000...The two teams met early in the year with USC winning that match 8-4...Erika Figge won all four sprints for USC...LMU failed a 6-on-5 opportunity to end the first half that would have tied the game...The Women of Troy took advantage of three consecutive Lion ejections by converting on two of them...After only three ejections in the first half, the Lions had three within the first three minutes of the second half, with USC taking advantage twice...Colton had two key blocks in the third period to keep LMU in the game...The national title was the second for USC head coach Jovan Vavic, who also won the NCAA Men's Water Polo Championship in December.