USC
UCLA
No. 1 USC Slips Past No. 3 UCLA 6-3
November 01, 2008 | Men's Water Polo
Nov. 1, 2008
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LOS ANGELES, CALIF. - The top-ranked USC men's water polo team rolled relatively untouched to their 31st consecutive home victory and 20th straight win of the season, remaining undefeated on the year after pinning up a 6-3 win over No. 3 UCLA for some extra Lexus Gauntlet points in the Trojans' pocket. USC junior J.W. Krumpholz started and finished the USC scoring attack, finishing with three goals on the day, while goalie Joel Dennerley presided over the cage and racked up 10 saves in the victory. The Trojans improve to 20-0 overall and 5-0 in MPSF play with the win over their crosstown rivals, while the Bruins move to 11-5, 3-2.
UCLA had a chance to take the first lead of the game after earning a 5-meter penalty shot against USC goalkeeper Joel Dennerley in the first minute of action. The Bruins' shooter lost his grip on the ball during the attempt, turning the ball back over to the Trojans. While the USC defense continued to clamp down on the UCLA offense, the Trojans broke through at 1:32, as Peter Kurzeka dished a pass to J.W. Krumpholz at set for a ripping backhand and a 1-0 USC lead. The Trojans would never trail the rest of the way. In the final minute of the first period, USC got up on a man advantage and Nico Sardo hit Justin Rappel for a blazing 6-on-5 score that made it 2-0 USC with seven seconds to go in the frame.
USC's defense flexed its muscle further in the second period. Arjan Ligtenberg and Sardo combined forces for a takeaway at set, and Matt Sagehorn and Anthony Artukovich chased down a Bruin breakaway. Dennerley then notched his fifth save of the game at 4:40, although UCLA later managed to get its first goal of the game on a 6-on-5 skip from Krsto Sbutega at 2:59. After a USC 6-on-5 chance went awry, the Trojans got a clutch score from Devon Borisoff, who took the ball in and struck by himself to make it 3-1 USC just seven seconds away from halftime.
Rappel's second of the day made it 4-1 USC, as the lefty finished off a pass from Sagehorn just 45 seconds into the second half. UCLA would get one through on a lob by Scott Swanson at 5:07. Dennerley served as a wall in the cage on a UCLA backhand try out of set later in the frame, and Krumpholz's second goal came next. Krumpholz took advantage of a long UCLA rebound off the bar, winning the ball near half-tank and setting off on the attack, going one-on-one with UCLA goalie Chay Lapin and icing the shot with a blast that made it 5-2 USC with 1:11 on the clock.
Dennerley turned away a UCLA 6-on-5 opportunity early in the fourth, and Sagehorn came up with a heady field block. With 5:41 remaining, USC made it a four-goal advantage as Borisoff found Krumpholz at 2-meters. Krumpholz buried his third for the Trojans to make it 6-2. UCLA would manage one last score after earning and finishing off a 5-meter penalty shot at 4:25. Thanks to some key takeaways at set from Arjan Ligtenberg and a late field block by Artukovich against a UCLA 6-on-5, the Trojan defense reigned supreme and locked away the win.
USC returns to action with a pair of MPSF matches next weekend at home. The Trojans will host Pacific in a 7 p.m. game on Friday (Nov. 7) and then plays California at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday (Nov. 8) at McDonald's Swim Stadium.
#1 USC 6, #3 UCLA 3
UCLA 0 - 1 - 1 - 1 -- 3
USC 2 - 1 - 2 - 1 -- 6
SCORING:
USC - J.W. Krumpholz 3, Justin Rappel 2, Devon Borisoff.
UCLA - Krsto Sbutega 2, Scott Swanson.
SAVES: Joel Dennerley (USC) 10, Chay Lapin (UCLA) 6.
