Cal Falls Just Short in NCAA Women's Water Polo Title Match

USC prevails 10-9, denying the Golden Bears their first-ever national title in the sport

NCAA title-match action at the goal | Photo courtesy of Cal Athletics

Cal’s quest for its first-ever NCAA championship in women’s water polo fell just short Sunday in a 10-9 defeat to USC at the Canyonview Aquatic Center at La Jolla.

The fourth-seeded Bears (16-8) battled back repeatedly to stay close, but never enjoyed a lead against the No. 3 seed Trojans (25-3).

“Congrats to Cal, they’re incredible,” USC coach Casey Moon said during an ESPNU post-match interview. "They gave us a great fight.”

The Bears had lost four of their previous five matches before the start of the NCAA tournament. But they topped Hawaii 15-10 in the quarterfinals on Friday, then stunned top-seeded Stanford 13-11 in the semifinals on Saturday.

Cal women's water polo | Twitter

USC was going to be an uphill challenge, having beaten Cal all three previous meetings this season. The Trojans were motivated to win their first NCAA title since 2021.

Cal’s Coralie Simmons, in her 10th season, was hoping to become the first female coach to win a title since the NCAA began contesting the women’s water polo championship tournament in 2001.

The Bears made it to the 2024 championship game before falling 7-4 to UCLA.

Simmons’ squad fought hard in this one and had a chance to tie the game in the final seconds.

Cal junior Julia Bonaguidi had a shot blocked by USC goal keeper Anna Reed on a power play with 1:14 left.

The Bears got the ball back when senior Abbi Magee blocked a USC shot and Cal called timeout with 55.1 seconds left.

Cal kept possession and got a new 30-second shot clock, giving Magee a shot from just left of the USC goal with about 15 seconds to play. The ball skipped wide and USC took possession. 

After a timeout with 10 seconds left, the Trojans ran the clock out.

USC won its seventh title, but the Bears made this the closest national championship match since 2019, when Stanford edged the Trojans 9-8.

USC led 3-2 at the end of the first quarter, 7-6 at halftime and 9-8 through three periods. The Trojans forged two-goal leads five times, but Cal trimmed the margin to a single goal on each occasion.

Eszter Varro, a sophomore from Hungary, led Cal with three goals, Freshman Despoina Drakotou of Greece had two goals and an assist and Holly Dunn,a sophomore from New Zealand, scored twice. Juniors Julianne Snyder and Kate Meyer each had a goal and an assist and Magee assisted twice.

Sophomore Talia Fonseca had 10 saves in the net for Cal while USC’s Reed had 14 stops.

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