LA JOLLA, Calif. (AP) — Sinia Plotz scored to begin each half and Anna Reed finished with 10 saves to lead Southern California to a 10-9 victory over California on Sunday night at the Canyonview Aquatic Center, earning the Trojans a seventh national championship in women's water polo.
It's the first championship for Casey Moon in his second season as the Trojans head coach. USC last claimed the title in 2021.
Holly Dunn scored on a power play with 23 seconds left in the first quarter to pull Cal even, but Ava Stryker answered with seven seconds remaining and USC took a 3-2 lead.
Emily Ausmus scored for a two-goal lead and Stryker added her second goal to give the Trojans a 6-3 advantage with 3:15 left before halftime. Eszter Varro answered with a goal eight seconds later for the Golden Bears and another one with 2:07 left to cut it to 6-5.
Ausmus found the net with eight seconds left, but Dunn scored on a shot just before the buzzer to get Cal within 7-6 at the break.
Plotz scored to begin the second half and give USC a two-goal lead, but Varro scored for the third time and Cal trailed 8-7.
Meghan McAninch scored on a power play midway through the quarter for a 9-7 lead. Julianne Snyder cut into the deficit with 48.7 seconds left and the Golden Bears had a tying shot by Dunn hit the crossbar. Talia Fonseca had one of her 11 saves on a shot by USC's Alma Yaacobi at the buzzer and Cal trailed 9-8 heading to the final quarter.
Rachel Gazzaniga scored two minutes in to again give USC a two-goal lead. Despoina Drakotou scored the final goal of the match on a 5-meter penalty shot after an exclusion on Reed with 5:23 remaining. Reed had a save on an earlier penalty shot.
The fourth-seeded Golden Bears (16-8), looking for their first championship, knocked out defending champion and top-ranked Stanford 13-11 in the semifinals to advance to their second final in three seasons under coach Coralie Simmons — in her 10th season. UCLA beat Cal 7-4 in the 2024 final and Stanford topped Cal 9-5 for the 2011 championship.
No. 3 seed USC advanced with an 11-10 victory over second-seeded UCLA in the other semifinal.
The event was hosted by UC San Diego.
AP Sports: https://apnews.com/hub/sports
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Please purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.
We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.
A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
Only subscribers can view and post comments on articles.
Already a subscriber? Login Here
Join us at the San Mateo Performing Arts Center on May 1 and May 2 at 7:30 PM for a dynamic … Read moreMateo Motion XXII
Get ready for an exhilarating morning at the Third Annual Foster City 5k Fun Run on Saturday… Read moreFoster City 5k
Come support local artists and small business! Our 3rd annual Spring Studio Sale! Read moreSpring Studio Sale
AMERICAN ROSE SOCIETY Read moreAmerican Rose Society NCNH District Rose Show & Rose Sale
Join us May 9th for the District 4 Toastmasters 2026 Conference -Â Eras of YOU: Renewing Huma… Read moreDistrict 4 Annual Conference - Eras of YOU Renewing Human Resilience in the Generative AI Era
CA Is Burning said:
CA Is Burning said:
Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup.
Error! There was an error processing your request.
Sorry, an error occurred.
Already Subscribed!
Cancel anytime
Thank you .
Your account has been registered, and you are now logged in.
Check your email for details.
Submitting this form below will send a message to your email with a link to change your password.
An email message containing instructions on how to reset your password has been sent to the email address listed on your account.
No promotional rates found.
Secure & Encrypted
Thank you.
Your gift purchase was successful! Your purchase was successful, and you are now logged in.
| Rate: | |
| Begins: | |
| Transaction ID: |
A receipt was sent to your email.
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.