httpss://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQF47RFIvaI
The Trojans were in the driver’s seat throughout the rivalry clash against the visiting No. 2 Bruins, consistently coming up with some extra padding to the USC advantage after every UCLA attempt to close the gap.
The back-and-forth battle raged on, but USC would pad things to a 7-4 lead just seconds before the close of the period when another Peterson-produced power play saw Ioanna Haralabidis find sister Stephania for the strike that had USC holding a three-goal lead entering the fourth.
Peterson’s hard work got USC up on a 6-on-5 and some smooth scoring from the Trojans saw Stephania rifle in the finish to make it 8-5 USC with 2:50 left to play.
For their roles in helping to drive the Trojans to the championship, Stephania Haralabidis and Amanda Longan secured another MPSF sweep of weekly awards, as Haralabidis was named MPSF Player of the Week for the second time and Longan grabbed MPSF Newcomer of the Week honors for the third consecutive week.
For their efforts in driving the Trojans to perfect performances at the Triton Invitational and UCI Invitational, USC’s Stephania Haralabidis and Amanda Longan have paired up to sweep the MPSF weekly honors twice so far this season.
The Anteaters are the only team this year to score in double digits against the Trojans, but USC remained unfazed in a see-saw battle against the tournament host that saw the lead change hands back and forth and lock up even seven times.
UC Irvine led 4-3 after the first period of play and later got out to an 8-6 advantage with 3:38 left in the third period, only to see the Trojans rattle off three straight scores to work back into the lead. Hayley McKelvey provided the spark and Stephania Haralabidis followed with back-to-back blasts to take the Trojans ahead 9-8 with 1:22 to go in the third.
The Trojans would shut down a Stanford 6-on-5 chance next, and then Brigitta Games shouldered the load and dished out the equalizer to get USC even again at 5-5 with 3:05 to go.
USC would wind up on the attack as the clock wound down, setting up Stephania Haralabidis to come through as the hero of the game as she landed a lob in the back of the net with just 5 seconds left to get USC a 7-6 lead. 2016 TROJANS AT A GLANCE.