University of Southern California
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University of Southern California EN S ATER OLO 2019 M ’ W USC Sports P Information 3501 Watt Way • Heritage Hall • Los Angeles, CA 90089 Phone: (213) 740-8480 • FAX: (213) 740-7584 Water Polo Sports Information Director: Darcy Couch • email: [email protected] RELEASE #7 — NOVEMBER 6, 2019 @USCWaterPolo No. 4 Trojans Visit No. 1 UCLA In Saturday’s Crosstown Splashdown USC squares off against the Bruins in a key MPSF morning matchup in Westwood. THIS WEEK 2019 SCHEDULE/RESULTS #4 USC (11-4, 1-0) at #1 UCLA (16-1, 1-0) USC record: 11-4 (1-0 MPSF) Boosted by a winning weekend a home last week, No. 4 USC (11-4, 1-0 Saturday, Nov. 9 | 10:30 a.m. MPSF) prepares to head across town next for a rivalry clash against Spieker Aquatics Center Date Opponent Time/Result No. 1 UCLA. The Trojans and the Bruins will do battle at 10:30 a.m. on Inland Empire Classic ~ Saturday (Nov. 9) at Spieker Aquatics Center for a key MPSF clash. The Sept. 14 at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps W 21-9 game will be televised on Pac-12 Los Angeles. vs. Whittier W 15-9 RANKINGS ——————————————————————————————————————— Sept. 15 vs. #4 UC Santa Barbara L 13-9 The defending NCAA champs opened up 2019 ranked No. 1 in the na- vs. Concordia W 27-3 tion. An early loss sent the Trojans to No. 5 in the land on Sept. 18. Series Record: USC leads 70-58-1 (W1) USC climbed up to No. 4 in the Oct. 9 rankings before moving to No. TV: Pac-12 Los Angeles Sept. 19 #9 LONG BEACH STATE W 13-6 6 in the Oct. 23 rankings. The Trojans were ranked No. 7 in the Oct. 30 (PbP: Anne Marie Anderson | Analyst: Tony Azevedo) rankings, but have climbed to No. 4 this week (as of Nov. 6). STREAM: pac-12.com/now STATS: thefosh.net/livestats.php?gameid=8486 SoCal Invitational$ SCOUTING UCLA ——————————————————————————————————— Sept. 27 $vs. #14 Princeton W 14-6 The No. 1 Bruins are 16-1 overall and 1-0 in MPSF play after beating Cal 10-9 last week. Ashworth Molthen leads Sept. 28 $vs. #4 Pacific L 16-15 UCLA in scoring with 34 goals. Goalie Alex Wolf is averaging 11.12 saves and 8.68 goals against per game in 13 Sept. 28 $vs. #8 Long Beach State W 9-6 appearances. USC is 70-58-1 all-time against the Bruins after going 2-1 in three meetings last year. USC beat UCLA Sept. 29 $vs. #7 California W 13-12 13-11 in their MPSF meeting, then fell 7-5 in the MPSF Tournament third-place game before beating UCLA 8-7 in the NCAA Semifinals. Oct. 5 #13 UC IRVINE W 16-10 LAST ACTION ————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————— Oct. 6 at #4 UC Santa Barbara W 10-9 USC made it a winning weekend in home waters with a crucial 9-8 upset win over No. 1 Stanford followed by a Oct. 12 at #3 Pacific L 12-11 17-9 victory over No. 12 San José State last week at Uytengsu Aquatics Center. Agasint the Cardinal, USC sopho- Oct. 19 at #6 Pepperdine L 13-12 more goalie Nic Porter went big with a career-high 20 saves in the cage, stymying the Cardinal on the defensive end while senior Marin Dasic and freshman Marcus Longton delivered a hat trick apiece on the offensive end on Nov. 2 #1 STANFORD* W 9-8 Senior Day for the Trojans. USC’s seniors combined forces right out of the gates as Sam Slobodien drew an exclu- Nov. 3 #12 SAN JOSÉ STATE W 17-9 sion on USC’s opening possession. Luka Karaman would hit Dasic for a sizzling skipper that netted an early 1-0 lead. Stanford answered with back-to-back goals to edge ahead 2-1 in the first three minutes of play, only to see Nov. 9 at #1 UCLA* (P12LA) 10:30 a.m. Longton rattle in back-to-back goals of his own to get USC back on top. That two-goal rally would balloon to four Nov. 16 at California* 1 p.m. straight strikes from the Trojans as Dasic faked and fired for a 4-2 lead. And after Porter squashed another Stan- ford 6-on-5 chance, Jacob Mercep sizzled in a solo shot for a 5-2 USC advantage midway through the second. MPSF Tournament (hosted by California) Stanford would carve the deficit down to one with a 6-on-5 finish and an even strike in the final minute of the half, Nov. 22 &TBD TBD and USC was gripping a 5-4 lead at the break. A Stanford 5-meter penalty shot would knot things up 5-5 at 6:15 Nov. 23 &TBD TBD in the third, but USC was ready to fire back. Hannes Daube hit freshman Chris Sturtevant for a power play rocket Nov. 24 &TBD TBD that nudged USC back into the lead, and the Trojans would stay a step ahead the rest of the way. Daube delivered another assist with a pass to Longton for his third of the day — a career best for the freshman. That shot had USC NCAA Tournament (hosted by Pacific) up 7-5, and the Trojans defense stiffened from there. On another Stanford 6-on-5, Mercep blocked a shot that Dec. 7 !Semifinals popped up on Porter, who was able to adjust and knock away the save. The Cardinal misfired on their next power play chance, while Porter’s save count ballooned to 16 with a huge stop in the final minute of the third. That helped Dec. 8 !Championship spur Jake Ehrhardt to lace in a nifty lob, and USC was up 8-5 entering the final frame. Stanford made a two-goal Home games in BOLD CAPS (at Uytengsu Aquatics Center) rally thanks to another 5-meter penalty shot and then an even score pulled the Cardinal within one, down 8-7 with * MPSF game 5:09 to go. Once again, Porter came up clutch. A booming stop on a Stanford counterattack would be followed by ~ Inland Empire Classic — Claremont & La Verne, Calif. a steal from Daube. Daube would find Dasic soon after, and the senior captain unleashed a low slider to get USC $ Mountain Pacific Invitational — Westchester & Westwood, Calif. &MPSF Tournament — Berkeley, Calif. a 9-7 advantage with 2:20 to go. The USC defense would hold strong from there, with Porter collecting his 20th ! NCAA Champs — Stockton, Calif. (P12) = televised by Pac-12 Networks save — the most on record by a Trojan since at least 2005 — before a late Stanford 6-on-5 led to a last-second goal that would wrap the game as a final 9-8 USC victory. The next day vs. San José State, the Trojans would shake off a two-goal deficit by scoring five straight goals to storm into the lead before going even bigger in the fourth frame to top the Spartans in USC’s final home game of the year. Trailing 5-3 midway through the second period, 2019 Men’s Collegiate Top-10 USC final found a groove. Daube delivered a cross to Mercep for a sizzler that lit the spark on what would balloon (Week 9 • Nov. 6) to a five-goal USC scoring surge. Dasic would fake and fire for the equalizer next, and then Ehrhardt went on a Rank School Last Week Points solo mission to get USC its first lead of the game, up 6-5 in the final minute of the first half. Hard-working senior 1. UCLA 2 97 Slobodien earned a late 6-on-5 for his Trojans, then promptly found Luke Wyatt for a lefty laser just before the 2. Stanford 1 91 halftime buzzer, and USC was back in form while gripping a 7-5 advantage. In the third, Ehrhardt squashed SJSU’s 3. Pacific 3 90 opening 6-on-5 chance with a booming field block, and then Dasic found Daube for a ripper that tallied USC’s fifth 4. USC 7 86 straight score and an 8-5 lead. The Spartans broke their silence with a 6-on-5 next, and the teams would stay in 5. UC Santa Barbara 4 82 scoring stride during the third with three goals apiece. Daube had his hat trick complete by the end of the third, 6. Pepperdine 5 77 while Longton zipped in his second as USC was up 11-8 entering the fourth. That’s where the USC gameplan finally 7. California 8 69 clicked into place. Only one SJSU goal would get through the USC defense, while the Trojans piled on 8. Long Beach State 6 65 seven goals of their own at the other end. Senior Matt Maier struck twice in the fourth, as did fellow 9. Harvard 9 (T) 61 senior Dasic and junior Mercep. Slobodien would unleash a searing backhand blast as well, and USC 10. UC San Diego 9 (T) 55 had a decisive 17-9 comeback win in the books to round out a perfect season at home for the Trojans. SWEEPS WEEK ———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————— USC garnered its first MPSF awards sweep of the season on Nov. 4 with goalieNic Porter named MPSF Player of 2019 AWARDS the Week for the first time and freshmanMarcus Longton nabbing USC’s first MPSF Newcomer of the Week honor this season. The two first-time picks were instrumental in USC’s upset win over No. 1 Stanford and a big victory MPSF Player of the Week (3): over San José State in USC’s final home games of the year.