Men’s soccer
Grant Sugimura, assistant Sports editor
The Pac-12 is still up for grabs. No. 11 Washington toppled No. 9 Stanford 1-0 in an overtime victory. With the victory, UW moves on to UCLA Thursday while Stanford can still clinch this weekend.
Three teams were ranked in the NSCAA top-25 poll for the third consecutive week. Stanford leads the pack at No. 9, then Washington at No. 11 and finally San Diego State at No. 21. UCLA received votes, but once again did not break back into the rankings.
The Huskies’ redshirt junior goalkeeper Auden Schilder was named the Pac-12 Conference Player of the Week. The win over the Cardinal was Schilder’s fourth solo shutout of the season and the fifth in his career. Schilder notched 15 combined saves over the weekend.
UCLA senior defender Michael Amick was one of the seven Pac-12 athletes named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District Men’s Soccer Team. The team recognizes the nation’s top student-athletes for their outstanding performances on the pitch and in the classroom. Amick was also pegged for the Senior CLASS Award previously.
Men’s water polo
Michael Hull, assistant Sports editor
Hours after UCLA battled a Stanford team that gave the Bruins more trouble than expected, the eyes of the nation turned to another part of Los Angeles for the second Big Four showdown of the weekend.
No. 2 California fell to No. 3 USC 10-6 under the lights of Uytengsu Aquatics Center. The Trojans’ Matteo Morelli and freshman Matt Maier, who combined for five of USC’s 10 goals, came away with Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Player of the Week and Newcomer of the Week honors, respectively.
Unlike the two teams’ previous matchup at the Mountain Pacific Invitational in September, where USC scored five times in the fourth quarter to narrow the margin of defeat to three goals, the scheduled conference game was close at the beginning.
Back-and-forth goals from both the Bears and the Trojans kept the game within one goal, but USC scored with under two minutes in the second quarter to take a 5-3 lead going into halftime.
The teams had equal production in the third, but the Trojans shut out the Bears in the fourth thanks to goalie McQuin Baron. The junior recorded 17 saves overall, earning praise from Morelli, who called him the best goalie in the country after the game.
That will be tested when reigning Cutino Award winner Garrett Danner and the No. 1 Bruins take on USC at Uytengsu on Saturday.
Women’s soccer
Hanson Wang, assistant Sports editor
Although No. 18 UCLA’s two shutout losses last week dropped it from Pac-12 title contention, the top three teams in the conference table remained the same.
No. 3 Stanford (16-1-1, 9-1-0 Pac-12) stayed atop the standings with 4-0 and 2-1 wins over unranked Arizona and Arizona State respectively last week. Two points behind the Cardinal are the No. 5 USC Trojans (14-3-1, 8-1-1), who tied No. 23 Utah 1-1 and defeated No. 22 Colorado 3-0 in their last two matches. USC is responsible for Stanford’s lone loss this year, a 3-0 decision in early October.
The Buffaloes (14-5-0, 8-2-0) are the only other team within striking distance heading into their final regular season game, and three top-25 matchups will determine who claims the conference title. Colorado faces Utah, Stanford takes on No. 21 Cal and UCLA challenges USC, with each match on Friday.
The Cardinal can claim the Pac-12 outright with a win or if neither the Trojans nor the Buffaloes win. USC wins the conference if it wins and Stanford loses – a win and a Cardinal draw ties both teams atop the standings. Colorado can only capture a share of the title with a win, a Stanford loss and a USC loss or tie.