USC
California
No. 1 USC Overpowers No. 4 Cal 11-9
November 08, 2008 | Men's Water Polo
Nov. 8, 2008
LOS ANGELES, CALIF. -- The top-ranked USC men's water polo team held tight to its undefeated run through the 2008 season and secured its fourth consecutive undefeated season at home, taking down rival California 11-9 on Saturday afternoon at McDonald's Swim Stadium. Now the proud owners of a 33-game home winning streak, USC can boast flawless home seasons since 2005. Matt Sagehorn and Kyle Sterling led the Trojans in scoring on the day, punching in three goals apiece as USC improved to 22-0 overall and a perfect 7-0 in MPSF play. Cal moves to 14-6, 1-3 with the loss.
In a game of surges, the Trojans won out thanks to powerful first and third periods of play. USC swamped the Bears in the opening frame. Goalie Joel Dennerley turned away Cal's first three attacks on goal, while the Trojans blasted scores from Jovan Vranes and Matt Sagehorn on 6-on-5 strikes to take a 2-0 lead. Cal would get one to go next, only to see Kyle Sterling knock in a pass from Nico Sardo on another USC power play. Another Dennerley stop was followed by Sagehorn's second of the quarter, as the junior laced in a slider with six seconds remaining to take USC ahead 4-1.
Cal cut into things to open the second, however. The Bears managed three goals in a minute's span to lock the game up 4-4. After a takeaway from Shea Buckner, Peter Kurzeka slammed home a skipper before the shot clock to put USC back on top 5-4. Cal would equalize again on a 6-on-5 score from Trent Calder at 2:56, only to see the Trojans work back out ahead. J.W. Krumpholz generated a power move at set for the go-ahead score, and Sagehorn added to the Trojan advantage with a crosscage blast for a 7-5 USC lead going into halftime.
In the second half, USC pulled farther ahead. Dennerley made another save for the Trojans and fed a pass down pool to a streaking Sterling. Sterling went one-on-one with Cal goalie Jacob McIntosh and iced his shot to take USC ahead 8-5. Buckner and Sagehorn put a stop to a Cal counterattack next, and then Kurzeka rifled in his second of the day at 5:54 to make it 9-4 USC. From there, the game was stop-and-go thanks to 10 ejections called and a pair of 5-meters. Each goalie had stops against their respective 5-meter penalty shots faced.
Cal pushed a 6-on-5 score through at the 5:20 mark of the third period to make it 9-6. Just seconds later, Sterling made quick work of a USC 6-on-5 for the sophomore's third goal of the day, and at 3:22 USC worked the ball around on a power play that Devon Borisoff put the finishing touches on to give USC its largest lead of the game at 11-6.
To close down the game, Cal managed a scored with 20 second left in the third period and cashed in on two more 6-on-5 chances during the fourth period to make it 11-9. The Trojan defense took care of the rest to preserve the lead and hold tight to the 11-9 win.
USC will close down the regular season next weekend when the Trojans take their undefeated record to Northern California. USC will first visit UC Santa Cruz for a nonconference match at 4 p.m. on Friday (Nov. 15) before taking a trip to Palo Alto for a shot at Stanford -- also undefeated in MPSF play -- in a 1:30 p.m. clash on Saturday (Nov. 15).
#1 USC 11, #4 California 9
CAL 1 - 4 - 2 - 2 -- 9
USC 4 - 3 - 4 - 0 -- 11
SCORING:
USC -- Matt Sagehorn 3, Kyle Sterling 3, Peter Kurzeka 2, Jovan Vranes, J.W. Krumpholz, Devon Borisoff.
CAL -- Trent Calder 2, Spencer Warden 2, Ivan Rackov, Zach Greenwood, Thomas Pearson, Frank Reynolds, Luka Saponjic.
SAVES: Joel Dennerley (USC) 8, Jacob McIntosh 11.
