Around the League: USC, Stanford stand out in water polo, Colorado dominates women’s soccer
UCLA sophomore midfielder Jackson Yueill remains in the top 10 nationally in assists per game and total assists with .60 and six, respectively. (Owen Emerson/Daily Bruin senior staff)
While Bruin athletes continue competing in Westwood, here’s a look at some of the biggest news from the rest of the Pac-12.
Men’s water polo
Michael Hull, assistant Sports editor
In the world of Big Four water polo, UCLA’s record-setting weekend was the biggest news. But outside of all things Westwood, two other teams had less noteworthy, but more dominant wins.
[Related: Men’s water polo breaks record against UC Davis with 52nd straight win]
No. 3 USC collected its 13th and 14th wins of the year with a 15-4 win against No. 8 Pepperdine and a 20-4 victory over No. 17 UC Irvine.
In Palo Alto, No. 5 Stanford beat No. 6 Long Beach State 10-9 and San Jose State 15-3. The Cardinal’s Blake Parrish totaled 14 goals over those games and the 21-7 victory over No. 20 Santa Clara University, where he had seven, a career high.
No. 2 California is in the middle of a two and a half week break, at the end of which it will face UCLA at home.
Men’s soccer
Grant Sugimura, assistant Sports editor
The Pac-12 has four teams ranked in the NSCAA top 25 this week. Stanford tops the list at No. 16, followed by UCLA at No. 17, Washington at No. 22 and San Diego State at No. 25. With four, this is the most teams the Pac-12 has featured in the top 25 since week one with UCLA, Stanford, Cal and SDSU.
Stanford’s redshirt junior goalkeeper Andrew Epstein has been named the conference’s Player of the Week. Epstein notched his fourth and fifth solo shutouts of the season over Washington and Oregon State.
With its 1-0 victory over then-No. 13 San Diego State, UCLA has three victories against top-20 opponents this season. Meanwhile sophomore midfielder Jackson Yueill continues to tear up the turf and play team ball. Yueill remains in the top 10 nationally in two statistics: assists per game at .60 and total assists with six.
[Related: Men’s soccer scores 1-0 upset against No. 13 San Diego State]
Women’s soccer
Hanson Wang, assistant Sports editor
Don’t look now, but an unfamiliar name is atop the Pac-12 women’s soccer standings.
No. 23 Colorado (11-3-0, 5-0-0 Pac-12) leapfrogged No. 3 Stanford, No. 6 USC, No. 10 Cal and No. 14 UCLA after the Buffaloes won both their conference matchups this past week – 3-1 against Oregon and 3-0 against Oregon State.
How unprecedented is that?
This is the first time in Colorado’s history that it has started 5-0 in either Big-12 or Pac-12 play. Since the Buffaloes joined the Pac-12 in 2011, they have finished 11th, 11th, sixth, third and 12th in each respective year. This year’s squad is led by freshman midfielder Taylor Kornieck, who has scored 10 goals, including one in each of Colorado’s last five matches.
The Buffaloes’ schedule only gets tougher from now on, however. After a game against Washington, they play all four of the California schools in back-to-back weeks. That 11-day stretch will likely determine which school is the Pac-12 champion.
