Undefeated USC Starts Road Run At UC Irvine
October 25, 2006 | Men's Water Polo
Oct. 25, 2006
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THIS WEEK: After playing 10 straight games in home waters, the top-ranked Trojans hit the road this week for a comparatively light weekend, as undefeated USC has just one game against UC Irvine at 12 p.m. on Saturday (Oct. 28). The Trojans played four games last weekend and two in each of the previous weekends of action at McDonald's Swim Stadium. The Trojans are 6-0 on the road this year as they enter this weekend's clash with the Anteaters.
RANKINGS: The Trojans (17-0, 4-0 MPSF) have taken control of the national rankings as they hold tight in their sixth straight week as the nation's top-ranked team after spending three weeks at No. 2. USC spent the last seven weeks of 2005 as the top-ranked team but was displaced in 2006 by California. The Trojans have since beaten the Bears twice in tournament championship games to lay claim to the No. 1 position. UC Irvine (6-13, 0-2) is ranked No. 11.
WEEKEND RECAP: The Trojans reigned supreme through the tightest match of the year over the weekend, outlasting rival No. 3 UCLA for a 9-8 sudden-death overtime win that marked USC's 35th consecutive win and put them at a clear 4-0 in MPSF play this year. USC had held a three-goal lead early in the second half against the Bruins, but the UCLA defense silenced the Trojans for 13 minutes while the Bruins took a late lead. USC broke through and tied it, bringing up overtime, where Juan Delgadillo put the Trojans ahead in the second overtime period only to have UCLA tie it again. In sudden-death overtime, Thomas Hale drilled the game-winner to ice the game -- a feat he accomplished in 2005 against the Bruins as well. The next day, USC came up against East Coast power St. Francis, but the momentum of the bigtime UCLA win carried over for the Trojans, as they swamped the visiting Terriers 20-8 behind hat tricks from Tommy Corcoran and Matt Sagehorn. That victory improved the Trojans to 17-0 on the year, and ballooned their home winning streak to 20 straight.
STREAK SMARTS: OK... everyone is wondering where the Trojans' current 36-game winning streak stands. By hitting win No. 35 with its win over UCLA, the team passed up the USC football program's storied win streak, which was snapped in the 2005 national championship game just a month after the USC water polo team claimed the 2005 NCAA title. Water polo's 36-game run has well overtaken the program's previous best winning streak of 17 games, but it is still 15 wins short of the all-time longest men's water polo winning streak in the country -- held at 51 by Stanford (1985-1987). Check in this time next year to see if the Trojans are in line to take over the Cardinal's 51-0 claim to fame. At Troy, USC women's volleyball put up a 52-match winning streak across the 2002-03-04 seasons. USC's game winning streak was built in part by a prestigious tournament win streak. The recent SoCal Tournament title marked the sixth consecutive tournament win for the Trojans (2005 SoCal, 2005 NorCal, 2005 MPSF, 2005 NCAA, 2006 NorCal and 2006 SoCal). At home, USC has won the past 20 games at McDonald's Swim Stadium.
SHUTDOWN STREET: It's become a trend of sorts. USC opponents who may catch a glimpse of hanging with the Trojans have on almost every occasion been dealt a big ZERO in at least one period of play. The USC defense has silenced 11 different opponents in at least one regulation frame. Only five teams -- UCLA, Cal, Pacific, UC San Diego and St. Francis -- have avoided a shutout period from the Trojans, and even then USC was able to match or better the single goal those opponents put up in their lowest-scoring quarter to ensure its winning edge.
THE REPLACEMENTS: Replacing a player like all-time scoring leader Juraj Zatovic is impossible. What the Cutino Award winner brought to the pool is unmatched, which is why it's taken more than one guy to help fill the scoring hole Zatovic left. Enter this year's incoming class of Trojans. Six freshmen and two JC transfers have gotten to the back of the net this season, racking up 105 goals between them to account for 48 percent of USC's scoring. Freshman J.W. Krumpholz leads them all with 30 goals.
UC IRVINE NOTES: No. 11 UC Irvine (6-13, 0-2 MPSF) lost its first two MPSF matches last week, falling 15-3 to California and then 6-5 in overtime to Pacific. Colin Mello leads UCI in scoring this season with 53 goals, standing as the MPSF leader in goals per game with 3.12 gpg. Goalie Matt Garcia leads the conference in saves per game with 10.26 spg.
TROJANS-ANTEATERS RIVALRY: USC is 54-23 all-time against UC Irvine, having won two meetings with the Anteaters this season -- first 10-4 in the season opener and then 14-3 in the SoCal Tournament. USC has won the past six games with UCI, last losing 9-7 on Oct. 30, 2004.
ADD `EM UP: Junior goalie Adam Shilling has proven himself a wall in the cage again this season. He tallied 10 saves in the NorCal final game against Cal to help the Trojans to a 10-7 championship win, and then put up a career-high 12 saves against the Bears once more to help get USC the SoCal Tournament title with a 10-9 victory. He finished the NorCal tourney with 22 saves in three games, and added another 36 at the SoCal Tournament. He now boasts a 2006 total of 101 saves with a goals-against average of 5.1 and saves average of 6.7. For his immense effort in the cage at the SoCal Tournament, Shilling was named the MPSF Mikasa Player of the Week for the second time in his career.
ON LOCKDOWN: USC has averaged just over one goal against each period this season, pinning up solid scores to outweigh opponents 220-100 so far in 2006. USC was No. 1 in the nation in team defense last year, averaging 5.0 goals against per game, and the Trojans are now in a three-way tie for the No. 1 spot in the nation this year with 5.9 goals allowed per game. Aside from the goal-fest that was USC's 23-12 win over Pacific, no team has scored in double figures against the Trojans this year.
FULL ARSENAL: The Trojans have an offensive balance this season that has the glaring ability to swamp opponents, with USC averaging eight different scorers per game. USC has maxed out with 13 different scorers in its 23-12 win over Pacific on Oct. 7. Even in USC's lowest scoring outing -- a 7-6 win over UCLA -- the Trojans had five players get on the board. The widespread scoring started early and is likely to remain heated as a grand total of 16 Trojans have found their ways to the back of the net this year. USC averages 12.9 goals per game, but not one player is averaging more than 1.8 goals per game.
THIRD TIME'S A CHARM?: Two Trojan seniors have now claimed two national championships at USC, and are ademately seeking a third. Seniors Thomas Hale and Juan Delgadillo both had a strong hand in the 2003 and 2005 titles. Head coach Jovan Vavic has led the Trojans to the national title three times now (1998, 2003, 2005). Assistant coaches Marko Pintaric and Peter Janov also were both members of that 1998 national champion team.
HOME POOL DOMINATION: USC posted a flawless 2005 record in the waters of McDonald's Swim Stadium. Capping off the season as the tournament host to the MPSF Tournament, USC had some home-pool advantage to go along with that hefty winning streak. The Trojans finished off 2005 with a 9-0 record at home, and they are 11-0 at home so far this year to hold a 20-game win streak in home waters.
DELGADILLO GETS IT DONE: For the second time in his Trojan career, senior driver Juan Delgadillo has earned the honor of MPSF Player of the Week. Delgadillo scored in each game of the Northern California Tournament, finishing the weekend with a team-high 10 goals. His three-goal performance in the championship game against Cal helped USC secure back-to-back NorCal Tournament titles with a 10-7 win over the Bears. He currently leads the Trojans in scoring with 31 goals this season.
2006 PREVIEW: USC head coach Jovan Vavic, the 2005 National and MPSF Coach of the Year, has hauled in an eye-popping crop of fresh talent for the coming year in an effort to bolster the Trojan roster as USC goes in pursuit of back-to-back NCAA and MPSF titles. Eleven new players -- nine newcomers and four former redshirts -- cap up for USC this year, ready to see their first action in the pool as Trojans. Five incoming athletes traveled overseas during the summer as members of the U.S. Junior National Team, including Senior National Team player J.W. Krumpholz. The Trojans are led this year by three highly respected standout seniors, Juan Delgadillo, Thomas Hale and Pavol Valovic. Balance and depth will be prominent for the 2006 USC squad, and the cage will be manned once again by junior NCAA Co-MVP Adam Shilling.
2005 RECAP: USC finished the 2005 season with a program-best 26-1 record and a record 19-game winning streak after beating Stanford 3-2 in the lowest-scoring NCAA championship game in history. The win marked the USC men's program's third NCAA title. En route to the national crown, USC won the two regular-season tournament titles (NorCal and SoCal tournaments) as well as the MPSF Tournament after an undefeated run through the regular conference season. USC's lone loss of 2005 was a 5-4 loss to Pepperdine during nonconference play.
VAVIC ON DECK: Head coach Jovan Vavic, one of the top water polo coaches in the country, serves a dual role as the head coach of both the USC men's and women's teams and has led both to national championships twice in the same school year (the men in 1998 and 2003 and the women in 1999 and 2004). Now in his 12th season at the helm of the men's program, Vavic has improved his career coaching record on the men's side to 239-52 (.821) after leading the Trojans to their third-ever NCAA Championship and a program-best 26-1 record in 2005. In his tenure as men's head coach, Vavic boasts a winning record against all opponents on the men's side of the game, recording only two losses in 11 seasons against teams outside the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. He is 176-50 against MPSF teams since 1995. For his success in guiding USC to the NCAA crown in 2005, Vavic was named the AWPCA Men's Coach of the Year. His Trojans also claimed the 2005 MPSF Championship, and Vavic earned himself MPSF Coach of the Year honors as well. At 26-1, USC posted its most wins in history and broke another record by closing out the year on an 19-game winning streak.
