STOCKTON, Calif. — One of the greatest seasons in No. 8-ranked Princeton University women’s water polo history concluded with a 18-8 loss to the No. 2-ranked University of Southern California (USC) Trojans at the University of the Pacific’s Chris Kjeldsen Pool in the semifinals of the 2023 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Championship.
USC started quickly with three goals in the first three minutes of action forcing a Princeton timeout.
Out of the break, Kaila Carroll netted a goal for the Tigers to get them on the scoreboard. Kayla Yelensky scored on a five-meter after a USC goal before two tallies from the Trojans made it 6-2 after eight minutes.
Jovana Sekulic and Meera Burghardt scored in the second frame for head coach Derek Ellingson‘s group as the Trojans led 10-4 at halftime.
Carroll scored her second of the contest in the third stanza, while Yelensky scored twice in the fourth quarter to collect a hat trick. Yelensky finished with 60 goals in her second season.
Princeton – which ties with No. 3 the University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA) for third place in the final championship standings as the Bruins fell to No. 1 Stanford University by a 14-9 score in the other semifinal – finishes 30-4 overall becoming just the third team in program history record at least 30 victories (2014, 2015). The Tigers reached the national semifinals for the first time ever and became the first non-West Coast institution to get to the Final Four in a non-COVID-19 impacted season since 2016.
Release courtesy Princeton University Athletics Communications
