Stephania Haralabidis scored the game winner from nearly a half a pool away to cap a perfect D1 women's water polo season for USC, and give the Trojans an 8-7 win over Stanford in the national championship game Sunday.
Haralabidis' goal was one of four scored by the two teams in the frenzied final minute of the game.
Her miracle shot with six seconds to go denied Stanford a third straight title and gave the USC women their first championship since 2013.
Meet your NCAA champions!! #undefeated pic.twitter.com/cV25CTqRGA
— USC Water Polo (@USCWaterPolo) May 16, 2016
Haralabidis was the hero for the Trojans in more than one way — she scored five goals for USC overall, as Southern Cal picked up its fifth national title in the sport.
USC got a goal from Brianna Daboub to take a two-goal lead with under a minute to play, but Stanford's Kat Klass then scored two quick goals, the second one to tie the score at seven with just 11 seconds remaining.
"I told them before the game here that 'Hopefully, the water polo gods will look out for you,'" said USC coach Jovan Vavic in the post-game news conference. "And they did. The water polo gods did look after us…"
"Stephania's goal at the end was a goal for the ages," Vavic said.
"When I got that ball … I was just like, 'I'm gonna shoot it,'" Haralabidis recalled in the post-game press conference. "'And I'm gonna put it in there.' And I did…. It's an amazing feeling."
The Trojans finished 26-0.
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