USA Weekly: Huge MPSF clashes await this weekend

March 10, 2023

Tilly Kearns of USC Trojans. Photo: USC Athletics.

With the season in America now fully underway, there were some exciting games last weekend, and this coming weekend promises more great matchups, especially in the MPSF conference.

Stanford will host UCLA, while USC will travel to Berkeley to play Cal. Additionally, there will be three games in the Big West Conference featuring Hawaii, CSUN, Cal Fullerton, Santa Barbara, and UC Davis, all of whom will be playing their first conference games of the season.

MPSF Conference Games, 4th March

The top-ranked side in the USA, Stanford, won its first conference match against Indiana with a score of 16-7. Two-time Olympic gold medalist Aria Fischer had an outstanding performance, scoring seven goals, five of which were in the first half, including a hat trick in the first quarter. Fischer is now just eight goals away from joining the MPSF’s 200 club. Team USA’s Jenna Flynn also made a significant contribution with four goals, making it her eighth multi-goal outing of the season.

California, who jumped up to third in the country, started off their MPSF campaign with a win against Arizona State, beating them 17-11. There were impressive showings from two players from the Southern Hemisphere, with Aussie Stinger Ruby Swadling providing four assists in the first half, helping her team take an early lead, while Kiwi Millie Quin was the star of the second half, netting four goals for the Golden Bears. For Arizona, Julliete Dhalluin, their top goal scorer this season, bagged a hat-trick.

Standings

Stanford – 1 – Win 1
California – 1 – 1
UCLA – 1 – 1
USC – 0 – 0
San Jose State – 0 – 0
Arizona State – 1 – 0
Indiana – 2 – 0

Big West Conference Games, 4th March

There were two games in the Big West Conference last weekend, with victories for Long Beach and UC Irvine.

Long Beach State defeated No.16 UC San Diego 14-8 in their Big West opener, with seven different players contributing to the scoreline. Martina Cardona, formerly of Terrassa, led the offensive effort for the Beach as she scored three goals and recorded an assist.

Meanwhile another top-10 team, UC Irvine bagged an overtime victory at Santa Barbara. Irvine prevailed 10-8 over the Gauchos, who suffered their first Big West loss of the season. Jessica Lynch converted three times for the Anteaters.

Standings

Long Beach State – 1 – 1 Win
UC Irvine – 1 – 1
Hawaii – 0 – 0
CSUN – 0 – 0
UC Davis – 0 – 0
Cal State Fullerton – 0 – 0
UC Santa Barbara – 1 – 0
UC San Diego – 1 – 0

Elsewhere

The USC Trojans swept all four of their non-conference opponents with ease, winning by a combined score of 87-23. Bayley Weber, who had an excellent tournament, scoring a total of 10 goals, is now just 17 goals away from becoming a member of the MPSF’s 200 club.

Michigan went four for four at their home invitational in Ann Arbor, downing Bucknell and Saint Francis in their CWPA matches, before defeating San Jose 9-4, with Kata Utassy netting seven.