Undefeated No. 1 USC Visits No. 10 Long Beach State
October 15, 2008 | Men's Water Polo
Oct. 15, 2008
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THIS WEEK: USC has a lighter load this weekend, coming off a five-game stretch last weekend to face just one MPSF opponent this week. The top-ranked Trojans (17-0, 2-0 MPSF) take their undefeated record to Long Beach for a matchup against the No. 10 49ers (9-9, 0-1) at 12 p.m. on on Saturday (Oct. 18).
RANKINGS: Undefeated USC took over the top spot in the national poll four weeks ago, ranking No. 1 in the nation for the fourth straight week. Long Beach State ranks No. 10 this week.
LAST WEEK: USC emerged victorious for the sixth straight time at the competitive SoCal Tournament last weekend. The Trojans successfully defended their string of tournament titles and kept their undefeated run through the 2008 season intact, topping No. 5 California 12-7 in the semifinal before pulling out an 8-7 overtime win over No. 3 Stanford in the championship game. Senior Arjan Ligtenberg served up the game-winning goal, striking in the first overtime frame to lift USC past the Cardinal for good. The SoCal title makes it three straight tournament wins for the Trojans this season. USC won out at the Triton Invitation to open the year, and then went on to win its fourth consecutive NorCal Tournament championship before claiming another SoCal Tournament crown. Shea Buckner tallied five goals on the second day of action. Freshman goalie Joel Dennerley went the whole way in the cage on day two, getting eight saves against Cal before coming up with 12 big ones against Stanford. USC opened the winning weekend with a nonconference clash against Princeton on Friday, taking down the Tigers 11-4 at home to notch the Trojans' 30th consecutive home victory. On the first day of tournament play, USC topped Pomona-Pitzer 18-1 and then beat UC Santa Barbara 11-4 to move into the semifinal clash with Cal, which was the first meeting between the two teams since the 2007 NCAA championship game. For his four goals and seven earned ejections across USC's games with Cal and Stanford, junior J.W. Krumpholz was named MPSF Co-Player of the Week. He had a hat trick against the Bears and scored a go-ahead goal in the third period against the Cardinal.
SIX IN THE SOUTH: USC kept its undefeated run through 2008 intact with a sweep of competition at the SoCal Tournament last week. The championship win was USC's sixth straight SoCal Torunament title, and marked the Trojans' third tournament crown this season.
FOUR IN THE NORTH: The Trojans' fourth consecutive NorCal crown came as USC allowed a tournament all-time low 10 goals in four games, capped off with a tight 6-5 win over UCLA in the title match. Matt Sagehorn served up the championship-winning strike, scoring with just one second left in regulation against the Bruins to claim victory for the Trojans. USC entered the championship game having allowed only two goals on the first day of tournament play with a 19-1 win over Air Force and a 13-1 win over UC Irvine. In the semifinals, USC registered its biggest win over Stanford since 1996 with a 10-3 victory that put the Trojans up against UCLA. Goalie Joel Dennerley had 29 saves in three games in the cage, with Ben Weil and Brett Giery also seeing time in goal to help back up a stubborn USC defense. Offensively, J.W. Krumpholz led the Trojans with seven goals in the tourney, followed by six from Shea Buckner -- who had two in the championship win over UCLA -- and Kyle Sterling and five from Sagehorn.
DENNERLEY'S DEBUT: USC freshman goalie Joel Dennerley wasted little time making a name for himself at Troy. In his first weekend of competition as a Trojan, Dennerley opened with a shutout effort in three periods played against Pacific on the first day of the Triton Invitational. On the second day, Dennerley had 14 saves in a sudden-death semifinal win over LMU and had nine saves in the championship game -- another overtime effort ending in a win over Pepperdine. For his efforts on the weekend -- gathering 33 saves in three games -- freshman goalie Dennerley was named the MPSF Co-Player of the Week. Dennerley currently is averaging 8.6 saves and 4.5 goals against per game for the Trojans.
TRIPLE THREAT: On the hands of 20 different scorers, the USC offense has compiled 216 goals through 17 games this season. That count almost triples the number of goals allowed by the Trojans, who are outscoring opponents 216-74 so far in 2008 to boast the top scoring offense in the nation with 12.71 gpg. Defensively, USC's 4.35 goals-allowed per game mark ranks the Trojans No. 1 in the nation -- a spot they've monopolized in the previous three seasons as well.
FIRST LOOK: Five USC freshmen are seeing playing time in their first year at Troy, and have already gotten in on the scoring attack as Trojans. Peter Kurzeka leads the way with 16 goals, having scored in all but one game so far this year. Kevin May has added 10 goals; Elliott Samuels has six; and Cem Carak and Matthew Burton have four each.
FINAL WORD: USC has a set of seven players who know nothing but NCAA title match appearances since splashing down at Troy. Seniors Arjan Ligtenberg and Jovan Vranes have been in the pool for the past three national championship games, including the 2005 NCAA Championship victory. Juniors Anthony Artukovich, J.W. Krumpholz, Justin Rappel, Matt Sagehorn, Nico Sardo and Jordan Thompson have done it twice in their two seasons at Troy.
JUNIOR NATION: USC's junior class is a hefty one. Headlined by 2008 Olympic silver medalist J.W. Krumpholz, the group also boasts U.S. Senior Team members Shea Buckner and Matt Sagehorn. Krumpholz and Sagehorn, along with fellow juniors Anthony Artukovich, Justin Rappel and Nico Sardo also served as members of the U.S. Junior National Team at the 2007 FINA Junior World Championships, where Team USA took sixth place. Last year, the group of seven now-juniors including Jordan Thompson provided 55 percent of USC's total offense.
HOME POOL ADVANTAGE: USC now holds a 30-game win streak in the home waters of McDonald's Swim Stadium, having gone undefeated at home for the past three seasons.
REGAINING BALANCE: Helping to lead the Trojan offense to its 19-3 mark last season was a balanced scoring attack. Leading scorers Matt Sagehorn and Shea Buckner are both back as USC's top sharpshooters, having combined for 62 goals last season as sophomores. Senior Jovan Vranes still wields one of the hardest shots in the game, and USC's offensive onslaught is bolstered further by its powerful junior class as well as sophomores Devon Borisoff and Kyle Sterling and newcomers Peter Kurzeka, Kevin May, Cem Carak, Elliott Samuels and Matthew Burton. All told, USC returns 70 percent of its scoring from last season.
CAGE FIGHTERS: As ferocious and deep as USC's offensive firepower has been, the Trojans' staple for years now has been on the defensive end. USC has led the nation defensively in the past three seasons, and that foundation looks equally solid once again. Joel Dennerley joins the Trojan roster as a freshman goalie with experience on the Australian Junior National Team. Senior Ben Weil has served as a capable backup to Shilling, and the goalie corps continues to run deep with Will Cherashore, Tyler McManigal and Brett Giery in the cage.
2007 RECAP: The Trojans pushed through to their third straight appearance in the NCAA championship game after claiming the 2007 MPSF Championship title -- USC's fifth all-time MPSF crown. In the national championship game, USC came up short again of California in an 8-6 loss that left the Trojans with a 19-3 overall record. Six Trojans were named All-Americans at the close of the 2007 season: Tommy Corcoran, Adam Shilling, Matt Sagehorn, J.W. Krumpholz, Shea Buckner and Gabor Sarusi. Shilling also was named a finalist for the Peter J. Cutino Award.
Players Mentioned
