USC
Pepperdine
Undefeated USC Claims Back-to-Back MPSF Titles
November 30, 2008 | Men's Water Polo
Nov. 30, 2008
MALIBU, CALIF. - With USC's undefeated record hanging in the balance and the MPSF Tournament championship on the line, junior Shea Buckner rifled in a buzzer-beater to erase all doubts for the USC men's water polo team. The USC defense had lived up to its billing once again, holding host Pepperdine to just two goals in the conference title match. The Trojan offense, meanwhile, came up with just what it needed exactly when it was needed, as USC edged out the Waves with a 3-2 win today at Pepperdine's Raleigh Runnels Memorial Pool. The tight victory propelled the Trojans to their sixth MPSF championship and secured an automatic berth into the coming NCAA Tournament for the undefeated Trojans, who now boast a 27-0 overall record on the year.
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This 2008 MPSF Championship marks the sixth all-time conference crown for the Trojans. This year, USC has now captured four tournament titles, with one more within reach as the undefeated Trojans are assured a place at next weekend's four-team NCAA Tournament, held Dec. 6-7 at Stanford's Avery Aquatic Center, where USC will be aiming for its fourth national championship. The Trojans have won tournament titles this year at the Triton Invitational, the SoCal Tournament, the NorCal Tournament and now the 2008 MPSF Tournament.
To get to this year's MPSF title, the Trojans had to eke out today's tight win over Pepperdine. After a scoreless first period, Pepperdine took the first lead with a score from Adam Hewko at the 2:25 mark of the second quarter. The Trojans would answer, however, getting a strike from freshman Peter Kurzeka just 1:49 away from haltime, keeping the game locked 1-1 at the half.
In the third, the Waves took the lead once again with Andrew Milcovich's goal at 4:03. The Trojans could not equalize within the frame, however, stuck in a 2-1 hole entering the fourth period of play. As time waned in the title match, USC broke through the scoring drought on a blast from Justin Rappel with 1:23 remaining in regulation.
Stingy play by both goalies seemed to hint at a push into overtime, until Pepperdine was tagged with an exclusion. USC had taken a timeout with 16 seconds to go, and the Trojans drew the kickout with just 5 seconds left on the clock. Shea Buckner took the last-ditch shot for the Trojans and nailed it, beating out the buzzer to capture the crown for USC with the 3-2 decision. Manning the cage in the win for USC was Joel Dennerley, who racked up another double-digit saves effort with 13 stops in the game for the Trojans.
MPSF CHAMPIONSHIP
USC 3, Pepperdine 2
USC 0 - 1 - 0 - 2 -- 3
PEP 0 - 1 - 1 - 0 -- 2
SCORING:
USC -- Peter Kurzeka, Justin Rappel, Shea Buckner.
PEP -- Adam Hewko, Andrew Milcovich.
SAVES: Joel Dennerley (USC) 13, John Hahn (PEP) 12.
