USC
UC Santa Barbara (SoCal Tournament)
No. 1 USC Powers Into SoCal Semifinals
October 14, 2006 | Men's Water Polo
Oct. 14, 2006
LOS ANGELES, CALIF. -- The top-ranked, undefeated USC men's water polo team has propelled its way into the semifinals of the competitive Southern California Tournament with two decisive wins in the Trojans' home waters of the McDonald's Swim Stadium on Saturday. USC toppled No. 8 UC Santa Barbara 11-5 and No. 11 UC Irvine 14-3 to scratch up the Trojans' 31st and 32nd straight victories. The No. 1 Trojans are now 13-0 on the season. USC will face No. 3 UC San Diego in a 10 a.m. semifinal on Sunday at McDonald's Swim Stadium. No. 2 California has earned its place in the other semifinal match against No. 4 UCLA. A semifinal win would put the Trojans in line to claim their second straight SoCal Tournament championship. The final match is set for 4:40 p.m. at McDonald's Swim Stadium.
The balance of the USC men's water polo took over in the Trojans' opening game of the Southern California Tournament as USC battled out of a halftime draw to claim an 11-5 win over UC Santa Barbara. As has been a theme of the season, the USC defense put a vice grip on its opponents in the third period, holding the Gauchos scoreless while generating a scoring run that put the Trojans well ahead. After a 4-4 lockup at the half, USC went on a five-goal scoring run, building an 8-4 lead on the way into the fourth period and going up 9-4 on a 6-on-5 strike by Thomas Hale to open the fourth.
Senior Pavol Valovic recorded his first multiple-goal game of the season with a pair of scores for the Trojans. He got USC on the board first thanks to a swift cross from Hale. Drew Vyn and Matt Sagehorn then scored their first of two in the game to help USC ahead 3-2 in the second, though UC Santa Barbara would keep closing in. After Jovan Vranes scored from the perimeter, the Gauchos' Dane Lindstrom punched in a tying score with under a second left in the half to make it 4-4.
In the third, Hale hooked up J.W. Krumpholz for a two-meter strike and a 5-4 USC lead that the Trojans wouldn't come close to giving up the rest of the way. Although the crossbar and UCSB goalie Rick Wright still put a stop to several USC shot attempts, the Trojans made sure to break through plenty of time in the period. Gabor Sarusi pumped USC up to a 6-4 lead midway through the third, followed by a bullet from Valovic for a 7-4 advantage. Hale delivered another assist to close out the period when he found Sagehorn on the left side to make it an 8-4 USC lead for the final period. Both goalies were a force in the cage for their respective teams. USC goalie Adam Shilling slammed down nine saves for the Trojans, and UCSB's Rick Wright also tallied nine for the Gauchos in the game.
Hale and Vyn both finished off 6-on-5 opportunities for USC in the fourth, and Sarusi fired in a 5-meter score after UCSB's Michael Machado was called for brutality. The penalty strike with 20 seconds left would close things down on USC's 11-5 win, setting up the Trojans for their next match against UC Irvine.
USC's dominating defense and powerful offense stood tall in the Trojans' next game of the tourney. USC careened to a 9-0 lead by halftime against UC Irvine, and jacked up that advantage to 10-0 to open the third before UC Irvine got on the board with a lob. Meanwhile, seven different Trojans got to the back of the net to help build that 10-1 lead, with freshman Jordan Thompson coming out on top with his second career hat trick. Justin Rappel became the eighth Trojan scorer when he finished off a counterattack that he had sparked with a stuff of a UC Irvine shot attempt. Downpool, Rappel got the ball on the right side of the cage, and the lefty rifled in a crosscage strike to get USC ahead 11-1. Matt Norris ended up rounding out USC's scoring list at nine scorers when he drilled a goal off a pass from Nico Sardo just three seconds before the close of the third period for a 13-2 USC lead. In the fourth, USC and UCI locked up at one goal apiece, with the Trojans getting a second goal from Gabor Sarusi and the Anteaters getting a goal from Kyle Baxter.
In the cage, USC's Adam Shilling pinned up seven saves in three periods of work -- including a pair of 5-on-6 stops. In the fourth, Ben Weil took over and registered five solid saves for the Trojans.
USC 11, UC Santa Barbara 5
USC 1 - 3 - 4 - 3 -- 11
UCSB 1 - 3 - 0 - 1 -- 5
SCORING:
USC -- Pavol Valovic 2, Drew Vyn 2, Matt Sagehorn 2, Gabor Sarusi 2, Jovan Vranes, J.W. Krumpholz, Thomas Hale.
UCSB -- Vincze 2, Knudtsen, Lindstrom, Lantz.
SAVES: Adam Shilling (USC) 9, Rick Wright (UCSB) 9.
USC 14, UC Irvine 3
USC 3 - 6 - 4 - 1 -- 14
UCI 0 - 0 - 2 - 1 -- 3
SCORING:
USC -- Jordan Thompson 3, Juan Delgadillo 2, Gabor Sarusi 2, Jovan Vranes 2, Pavol Valovic, Nico Sardo, Thomas Hale, Justin Rappel, Matt Norris.
UCI -- Newland, Merlo, Baxter.
SAVES:
Adam Shilling (USC) 7, Ben Weil (USC) 5, Matt Garcia (UCI) 6.
COMPLETE SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA TOURNAMENT RESULTS AND SCHEDULE
