Undefeated USC Sets Up Camp At Home
October 04, 2006 | Men's Water Polo
Oct. 4, 2006
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THIS WEEK: With a 28-game winning streak under their caps, the Trojans are all set to dig deeper into Mountain Pacific Sports Federation action this week. USC hosts two top-10 foes -- UC Santa Barbara and Pacific -- for a chance to extend that winning stretch and increase its hold on the top of the national and conference standings. The Trojans face the Gauchos at 5 p.m. on Friday (Oct. 6) and square off with the Tigers at 10 a.m. on Saturday (Oct. 7) at McDonald's Swim Stadium.
RANKINGS: The Trojans (9-0, 1-0 MPSF) are standing tall in their third 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 before beating the Bears to win the Northern California Tournament. UC Santa Barbara (11-10) is ranked No. 9, and Pacific (10-5) ranks No. 5.
WEEKEND RECAP: The Trojans pinned up two more decisive 2006 victories to roll on with their winning ways, bumping their overall winning streak to 28 games and improving their home win streak to 12 games. USC shut out both Pepperdine and Pomona-Pitzer in the third periods of its doubleheader, en route to a 14-7 win over the Waves and a 12-2 win over the Sagehens. The Trojans avenged their only loss of 2005 with the resounding victory over Pepperdine. The Waves had edged USC 5-4 last season, but USC made sure there would be no letdown when it clashed with Pepperdine this year. Juan Delgadillo had three goals for the Trojans to lead nine different scorers in the first win of the day. Against Pomona, newcomers J.W. Krumpholz and Drew Vyn each had three goals, while redshirt freshman goalie Ben Weil anchored USC in the cage with nine saves, allowing only two goals in the second period as the Trojans shut down the Sagehens in the other three frames.
UC SANTA BARBARA NOTES: No. 9 UC Santa Barbara (11-10) went 2-1 last weekend, losing 11-9 to UC San Diego before beating UC Irvine 10-6 and Pepperdine 11-10. Ross Sinclair leads the Gauchos in scoring with 39 goals.
TROJANS-GAUCHOS RIVALRY: USC is 47-12-2 all-time against UC Santa Barbara, having won the past 29 meetings with the Gauchos. UC Santa Barbara last beat the Trojans on Oct. 21, 1990 in an 11-8 decision.
PACIFIC NOTES: Pacific boasts one of the most significant upset wins of the year with its 11-10 overtime victory over Stanford on Sept. 23 -- the Tigers' first win over the Cardinal since 2000. Most recently, Pacific beat UC Davis 10-9 to improve to 10-5 overall. Duje Kaurloto and Dragan Bakic lead Pacific in scoring with 39 and 34 goals, respectively.
TROJANS-TIGERS RIVALRY: USC is 31-7 all-time against the Tigers, having won the past four contests. Pacific last beat the Trojans in an 8-7 decision during the 2002 SoCal Tournament.
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.
THE FRESHMAN 17: At the NorCal Tournament, four USC freshmen combined for 17 goals to help the Trojans to their second straight NorCal crown. J.W. Krumpholz led the charge with seven goals, joined by four apiece from Matt Sagehorn and Justin Rappel and two from Anthony Artukovich.
ADD `EM UP: Junior goalie Adam Shilling has proved himself a wall in the cage again this season. He tallied a season-high 10 saves in the NorCal championship game against Cal to help the Trojans to a 10-7 win. He finished the tourney with 22 saves in three games, and has since ballooned his season total to 39 saves with a goals-against average of 4.57 and saves average of 5.6.
THE REAL SOCAL: USC will play host to the competitive Southern California Tournament this season. The tournament has bounced around between various Southern California universities, and settles this year in the home waters of USC. All nine MPSF squads will be joined by three other top teams from around the country for the 2006 edition of the esteemed SoCal Tournament. The action is set for Oct. 14-15 in Los Angeles. Seedings and schedule are located on the last page of this release, and online.
ON LOCKDOWN: USC has averaged just over one goal against each period in its first seven games of 2006, pinning up solid scores to outweigh opponents 112-42 in the early goings of the season. USC was No. 1 in the nation in team defense last year, averaging 5.0 goals against per game, and the Trojans are No. 1 in the nation so far this year with 4.67 goals allowed per game.
FULL ARSENAL: The Trojans have an offensive balance this season that has the glaring ability to swamp opponents. Already this season, USC has maxed out with 10 different scorers in a 13-1 win over LMU at the NorCal Tournament. 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 15 Trojans have already found their ways to the back of the net in USC's first seven games.
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.
GETTING STREAKY: USC ended the 2005 season on a 19-game winning streak to set a new record for the longest win streak in program history. The Trojans' MPSF championship victory extended their streak to 17 straight games, tying a win streak that spanned the 2003 and 2004 seasons. The streak is now 28 wins long.
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.
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 3-0 at home so far this year to hold a 12-game win streak in home waters.
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.
