After two tough losses to the University of California, Davis and the University of California, Berkley, No. 15 Indiana water polo had two weeks of rest before its last home match against the No. 3 University of Southern California Trojans at the Counsilman-Billingsley Aquatics Center.
This is the second time the teams faced off against one another this season, as they first met at the Barbara Kalbus Invitational on Feb. 23, when the Trojans defeated the Hoosiers 12-10.
With most of the game being back and forth, USC broke away in the fourth quarter en route to a comfortable 13-8 victory.
Indiana couldn’t take care of the ball on the offensive end, as it had 11 turnovers to the Trojans’ 9. Indiana drew two penalties, which the Trojans converted on both times.
Indiana struck first with senior attacker Sophie Wazzan logging the goal after a steal by senior defender Kallie White. The Trojans responded with two goals of their own to take the lead with 3:05 left in the first.
Sophomore attacker Louisa Downes tied the game for the Hoosiers with great ball movement on a powerplay. Neither team found the back of the net for the final two minutes to be even at 2 at the end of the first quarter.
With the shot clock winding down in the second quarter, sophomore attacker Grace Klingler gave Indiana its first goal of the frame and the lead. Two minutes later, USC notched its first goal of the quarter to tie things up 3-3 heading into the media timeout.
Out of the timeout, USC took the lead with two goals, both of which were caused by careless ball movement by Indiana. The Hoosiers responded with a goal of their own by White to have a slight 5-4 disadvantage at halftime.
It was a back-and-forth game early in the third quarter with the score being 6-6 with 2:43 left in the quarter. With two minutes left in the quarter, junior attacker Portia Sasser drew a penalty to give the Trojans the lead off a converted penalty shot. The Trojans extended their lead with two more goals to give Indiana some work, trailing 9-6 entering the fourth quarter.
In the fourth quarter, the Hoosiers couldn’t complete the comeback as they were outscored 4-2, with Crouch and junior attacker Skylar Kidd notching the team’s only goals of the frame. The loss marked Indiana’s sixth of the season.
Indiana hopes to snap its three-game losing streak this weekend when it travels to Tempe, Arizona, to take on the Arizona State University Sun Devils on Saturday.
