Women's Water Polo | 3/26/2017 12:19:00 AM

LOS ANGELES/WHITTIER, CA – Eighteenth-ranked Hartwick fell to the defending national champion USC Trojans 21-5 but defeated Whittier 13-9 to salvage a split on Saturday in the first two games of their west coast trip. The Hawks are now 11-6 overall on the season.
           
In the opener, the two teams traded goals in the first minute and a half of action. USC opened the scoring before Zsofia Polak (Dunaujvaros, Hungary / Rudas HS) answered to tie the score at 1-1 just 10 seconds later. The Trojans made it 2-1 before Lena Kotanchyan (Moscow, Russia / Elk Island School #368) evened things once again at the 6:22 mark.
           
The hosts netted two in a row to grab a 4-2 advantage. Polak notched her second of the game with 1:48 left in the quarter to trim the gap to one, 4-3. USC scored two more goals in the final 1:33 to take a 6-3 lead heading into the second quarter.
           
The Trojans began the second quarter on a 5-0 run to open up an 11-3 edge. Nikolina Mihajlovik (Mississauga, ONT / Silverthorn Collegiate Inst.) got one back for Hartwick at the 3:57 mark to make it a seven-goal game. USC came back with two tallies before Polak netted her third for the Hawks' final goal of the game with 30 seconds left before the halftime horn. The hosts added one more goal with 10 ticks left.
              
The Trojans (24-0) would out-score the Hawks by a margin of 7-0 in the second half to secure their 51^st consecutive victory.
              
The Hawks finished the game only being out-shot by a count of 30-20. USC converted on 21 of its 30 shots in the game for a shooting percentage of 70% with 'Wick only scoring on only five of its 20 attempts (25%).
              
Josette Santos (Huntington Beach, CA/Edison HS) and Emma Aleksandrovic (Belgrade, Serbia/Medicine School Zvezdara) combined for six saves in the contest.
              
In the nightcap, the Hawks and Poets were tied at 2-2 after the first quarter of play. Tori Wilson (Kitchener, ONT / Grand River Collegiate Institute) scored both of the Hawks' goals in the period.
              
Hartwick opened the game up with six consecutive goals for an 8-2 advantage in the second quarter. Mihajlovik would score three goals in the quarter with Kotanchyan tallying twice. Lauren Brennan (Canberra, Australia / St. Clares College) and Katie McKenty (Auckland, New Zealand / Takapuna Grammar School) each added a goal apiece as the Hawks took a 9-3 lead into halftime.
              
Mihajlovik, Kotanchyan, and Gina Grauer (West Lawn, PA/Wilson HS) scored third-period goals for the Hawks as they increased their lead to 12-5. The Poets trimmed the gap to four thanks to three straight goals in the fourth quarter. Sarah Lewis (La Jolla, CA / Cathedral Catholic HS) answered for 'Wick with under two minutes left to close out the Hartwick scoring. Santos would make five saves in the Hartwick cage.
              
The Hawks are off until Wednesday, March 29 when they play a pair of games at Azusa Pacific and Redlands.