The Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, the most competitive conference in NCAA varsity women’s water polo, did not disappoint this weekend. On Sunday, USC and Stanford battled through five overtime periods before the Trojans prevailed 9-8 behind a golden goal by Paige Hauschild in the 2019 MPSF Tournament final. As a result, Southern Cal will not only supplant the Cardinal as the nation’s #1 team, they will almost certainly earn top-seeding in the 2019 NCAA Women’s Water Polo Tournament that will take place May 10 – 12 at Stanford’s Avery Aquatic Center.
The Trojan triumph in MPSF was the culmination of a weekend of tournament action among the seven conferences that determine NCAA participants. There was one noteworthy upset—Cal Lutheran ended Pomona-Pitzer’s string of dominance in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC). But the MPSF’s dominance is likely to be reaffirmed when tournament berths are announced at 8 p.m. tonight via the NCAA website. USC, Stanford, UCLA and Cal will again capture four of the 10 berths in the national championship tournament bracket.
Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF)
Championship website
Tournament Champion: USC (26-1; 5-1 MPSF)
Regular Season Champion: Stanford (20-2; 6-0 MPSF)
Wrap Up: The Cardinal were in their home, they were ahead by two goals with five minutes remaining in the match, and they’re coached by John Tanner, recently named 2019 MPSF Coach of the Year, and led by Makenzie Fischer, the conference Player of the Year for 2019. So, what could go wrong?! Two words: Paige Hauschild. The super sophomore cut the lead to one with an even-strength goal at the four-minute mark, and then a minute later assisted on the equalizer to Bayley Weber with the Trojans on the power-play. It was an epic comeback that deserved an memorable overtime, with goalies Emalia Eichelberger (13 saves for Stanford) and Amanda Longan (15 saves for USC) keeping the score tied until the fifth overtime period, when Hauschild (game-high 4our goals) solved Eichelberger and gave her squad a tremendous boost. USC will almost certainly claim the top spot in the NCAA seeding, with Stanford taking second.
Cal and UCLA engaged in their own epic battle, with the Bruins eking out a 7-6 victory. That result—and a narrow loss to the Cardinal on Saturday—should be enough for the Golden Bears to join Stanford, UCLA and USC in NCAAs this year, likely in one of the play-in games on Friday, May 10th.
Big West Conference
Championship website
Tournament Champion: Hawai’i (18-5; 4-1 Big West)
Regular Season Champions: UC Irvine (19-9; 3-1 Big West)
Wrap Up: Hawai’i and UC Irvine—the Big West’s two best teams—met again in the Big West final, and this time the Rainbow Wahine prevailed, 7-6 to capture the conference’s automatic tournament berth for the first time since 2015. The difference-maker for the champs was Head Coach Maureen Cole, who switched goalies at intermission. It turned out to be a brilliant move; Bridget Layburn recorded 10 saves in half a game of action, holding the Anteaters to a lone goal that came with less than two minutes remaining in the match—and allowed her teammates to rally from a halftime deficit.
It’s possible that UCI will get some consideration from the NCAA for an at-large bid, it’s likely that Cal’s RPI (4)—which is higher than the Anteater’s ranking of 7—will be a difference maker.
In one sideline note, Irene Gonzalez of Hawai’i closed out her conference career with 225 goals; she’s got at least one more game to and supplant CSUN’s Madeleine Sanchez (229) for tops in Big West history. Mary Brooks of UCI ended her Anteater career with 206 goals, good for seventh all-time in conference history.
When it comes to GCC play, no one can stop Kyra Christmas. Photo Courtesy: JDMS Creations
Golden Coast Conference
Championship website
Tournament Champion: Pacific (17-8; 7-0 GCC)
Regular Season Champion: Pacific
Wrap Up: Pacific completed the three-peat for women’s Golden Coast Conference titles, racing out to a 4-1 lead in the first quarter and then hanging on for a 13-9 victory over second-seed Loyola Marymount. Leading the way for the Tigers was Kyra Christmas, the 2018 and 2019 GCC Player of the Year. Christmas delivered early and often for her team, netting three of her game-high total of five goals in the decisive first half. Clara Vulpisi chipped in with 13 saves, while Mariana Duarte and Viktoria Szmodics each had a pair of goals and assists.
Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
Championship website
Tournament Champion: Cal Lutheran (21-8; 12-2 SCIAC)
Regular Season Champion: Pomona-Pitzer (19-13; 14-0 SCIAC)
Wrap Up: As they say, all good things must end, and for the Sagehens of Pomona-Pitzer, their run of 37-straight conference wins—including back-to-back SCIAC titles—came to a crashing halt on Sunday in Haldeman Pool. There were signs of turbulent waters for the champs on Friday, when it took last minute goal from Anna Yu for the top-seeded Sagehens to subdue the #4 Leopards of La Verne in a 9-8 decision.
A back-and-forth contest saw Pomona-Pitzer leading by a goal entering the final period, but Victoria Meek, Lexi Rond and Christin Hirn rallied the Regals to a 10-9 lead with three minutes remaining. Goalie Bailey Meyer and the Cal Lutheran goal posts held off a Sagehen rally, and the visitors escaped with their first win over Pomona-Pitzer since 2013—following a streak of nine straight losses. Oh, and the Regals also qualified for their first NCAA tournament since 2010.
Western Water Polo Association
Championship website
Tournament Champion: UC San Diego (21-13; 4-0 WWPA)
Regular Season Champion: UC San Diego
Wrap Up: As they have so often in the last decade, the Tritons of UC San Diego again prevailed in the WWPA final. Led by a trio of hat-tricks by Ciara Franke, Taylor Onstott and Shelby Stender, UCSD closed out a dominant chapter in WWPA history. The finals win over Fresno Pacific by 15-4 advances the Tritons to their seventh-straight NCAA tournament, and eighth in program history. Head Coach Brad Kreutzkamp has led his squad to 17 straight WWPA tournament victories, part of a streak of 45-straight WWPA wins that ended on Sunday. Next season, the Tritons will exit the DII-focused WWPA for the more turbulent competition of the Big West, as they take transition to DI status.
Collegiate Water Polo Association
Championship website
Tournament Champion: Michigan (23-8; 6-0 CWPA)
Regular Season Champion: Michigan
Wrap Up: There was little drama going into the 2019 CWPA tournament; with the departure of Indiana and the decommissioning of polo at Hartwick, Michigan dominated all of its remaining conference foes, and continued that success over a long weekend in Brown’s Katherine Moran Coleman Aquatics Center. The only drama in Sunday’s CWPA final came in the final period, when Princeton rallied with three goals to make the final score—10-6—respectable. With the win, Michigan returns to the NCAA tournament for the fourth straight time and, with the nation’s sixth toughest schedule will likely avoid a first round play-in match.
Not enough fingers to count Wagner’s sixth-straight MAAC title. Photo Courtesy: Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference
Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference
Championship website
Tournament Champion: Wagner (28-9; 13-1 MAAC)
Regular season champions: Wagner
Wrap Up: After decimating hapless Virginia Military Institute 25-2 on Saturday—a beating that at one point included 23 unanswered goals for Wagner—one might have been anticipating that the Seahawks came into Sunday’s MAAC final looking to put a hurting on the host Red Foxes of Marist. They did, but not on the scoreboard. Employing a smothering defense—at one point Marist went 17 minutes without a goal—that limited the host team to 16 shots, Wagner absolutely extinguished any hopes the Red Foxes might have entertained of an upset.
With an 8-4 win, the Seahawks booked punched their ticket to NCAAs for the sixth-straight time, and ninth in program history, by virtue of an unprecedented sixth consecutive MAAC title. The win also confirmed what everyone besides MAAC schedule-makers know; no one in the conference can beat Wagner in the water.