University Southern California Trojans
No. 1 USC Wraps Up Regular Season On The Road
November 12, 2008 | Men's Water Polo
Nov. 12, 2008
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THIS WEEK: USC winds down its regular season on the road this week, as the top-ranked Trojans take a trip northward for a nonconference match before closing out MPSF play. USC (22-0, 7-0 MPSF) will first visit UC Santa Cruz on Friday (Nov. 14) in a 4 p.m. game. Then the Trojans square off with No. 3 Stanford (21-3, 5-1) in a battle that could well decide the MPSF Tournament's top seed. That Trojan-Cardinal face-off is set for 2 p.m. on Saturday (Nov. 15) at Stanford's Avery Aquatic Center.
RANKINGS: Undefeated USC took over the top spot in the national poll after claiming the NorCal Tournament title, now ranking No. 1 in the nation for the eighth straight week. UC Santa Cruz is unranked, and Stanford ranks No. 3 in the nation.
LAST WEEK: USC closed out its fourth straight undefeated home season with a pair of wins at McDonald's Swim Stadium. To get to their 33rd straight home win, the Trojans first pinned up a 12-6 win over Pacific behind a hat trick from Shea Buckner and a combined 11 saves between goalies Joel Dennerley and Brett Giery. USC's capper on the home season came against No. 4 California, with the Trojans taking an early lead, staving off a tie-up in the second period, and rolling out to an 11-9 win over the Bears. Kyle Sterling and Matt Sagehorn each had three goals to lead the Trojans to the big win.
UCSC NOTES: The Banana Slugs are 6-17 overall after falling 14-3 to UC Davis last week. USC and UC Santa Cruz last met the 2007 NorCal Tournament when the Trojans posted a 22-0 win over the Slugs.
STANFORD NOTES: The Cardinal is 21-3 overall and 5-1 in MPSF play after taking a conference loss to UC Santa Barbara last week. Janson and Drac Wigo lead Stanford in scoring with 44 and 40 goals, respectively. USC has posted two wins over the Cardinal already this season, posting a 10-3 win in the semifinals of tte NorCal Tournament and an 8-7 overtime win in the championship of the SoCal Tournament.
SEWING UP SOCAL: USC emerged victorious for the sixth straight time at the competitive SoCal Tournament this year, 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 on a game-winning goal from Arjan Ligtenberg in the first period of overtime. The SoCal title made 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. On the first day of tournament play, USC topped Pomona-Pitzer and UC Santa Barbara to move into the semifinal clash with Cal, which was the first meeting between the two teams since the 2007 NCAA championship game.
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 wins over Air Force and 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.
STRIKING SILVER: USC junior J.W. Krumpholz helped spark the United States men's water polo team to a largely unexpected medal finish at the 2008 Olympic Games this summer. The youngest member of Team USA, Krumpholz became one of only two USC men's water polo players to win an Olympic medal. He returned from Beijing just in time for the Trojan season, and has been a powerful force back in collegiate waters, leading USC in scoring with 35 goals so far this year.
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 a count of 33 saves in three games. Dennerley has hauled in at least 10 saves in eight separate games this year, and currently is averaging 8.53 saves and 4.74 goals against per game for the Trojans.
TRIPLE THREAT: On the hands of 20 different scorers, the USC offense has compiled 271 goals through an undefeated 22 games this season. That count almost triples the number of goals allowed by the Trojans, who are outscoring opponents 271-104 so far in 2008 to boast the No. 3 scoring offense in the nation with 12.32 gpg. Defensively, USC's 4.73 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.
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.
HOME POOL ADVANTAGE: USC finished off the 2008 home season holding a 33-game win streak in the home waters of McDonald's Swim Stadium, having gone undefeated at home for four straight seasons.
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 21 goals. Kevin May has added 10 goals; Elliott Samuels has six; and Cem Carak and Matthew Burton have four each.
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.
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
