Round One of the much-anticipated rivalry between the No. 1 Stanford women's water polo team and No. 2 USC in 2013 went to the Trojans, who captured the UCI Invitational title with a 13-10 win at Anteater Aquatic Complex on Sunday in Irvine.

The Cardinal (11-1) had a chance to tie things up when it was awarded a five-meter penalty trailing 11-10, but the shot was saved and the Trojans (12-0) scored the game's final two goals.

Stanford had advanced to the championship game with a 10-3 win over No. 5 Arizona State in the morning semifinal.

Stanford returns to Avery Aquatic Center for an MPSF contest against CSU Bakersfield on Saturday at 1 p.m.

Sunday's title game turned into a slugfest right out of the gate as Stanford struck first with Kiley Neushul's goal just 28 seconds into the contest. A Melissa Seidemann goal sandwiched a Madeline Rosenthal goal to give the Cardinal a 2-1 advantage, but USC scored three times over the period's final 6:06 to take a 4-2 lead.

After the teams traded goals to open the second frame, Steffens and Seidemann cashed in on penalties to equalize, Kaley Dodson scored an even-strength goal and Anna Yelizarova netted a power-play goal to spur a 4-0 run that put the Cardinal in front 7-5 with 2:12 to go in the half. But USC answered with goals from Hannah Buckling and Anni Espar to send the game into the halftime break tied at 7-7.

The game began to turn in the third period, as USC kept up its momentum with four goals while Stanford hit a cold patch, being held to just one goal over eight minutes.

Stanford fought back gamely, with Steffens cutting the deficit to 11-9 just 21 seconds into the final frame, and Annika Dries making it a one-goal game at the 6:09 mark. But with 4:10 to go, the Cardinal's penalty shot was saved by USC goalie Flora Bolonyai, shifting momentum back to the Trojans, who scored twice over the next 1:42 to put things out of reach.

Steffens scored three times to lead the Cardinal, with Neushul and Seidemann each scoring twice. Dries, Yelizarova and Kaley Dodson each added a goal as well. On defense, Kate Baldoni went the distance for the Cardinal, making eight saves.

The back-and-forth of the title game was in stark contrast to Stanford's 10-3 semifinal win over fifth-ranked Arizona State. The Cardinal raced out to a 7-1 halftime lead and never looked back. Dries and Neushul scored twice each while Stanford got additional goals from Seidemann, Steffens, Yelizarova, Cory Dodson, Alexis Lee and Kaitlyn Lo.

— Stanford Athletics

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