No. 1 USC Goes Up Against The Gauchos
October 28, 2009 | Men's Water Polo
Oct. 28, 2009
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THIS WEEK: Top-ranked USC gets back to MPSF play this week with some rare Thursday action. The Trojans (18-1, 4-0 MPSF) head over to No. 9 UC Santa Barbara (9-8, 0-1) this week for a 4 p.m. game against the Gauchos on Thursday (Oct. 29).
RANKINGS: USC is at the No. 1 spot in the nation for the third consecutive week after having been at No. 3 for three weeks. Top-ranked USC opened the year at No. 1 and resumed the position last week. UC Santa Barbara is ranked No. 9 this week.
SCOUTING UCSB: The No. 9 Gauchos are 9-8 overall and 0-1 in MPSF play after taking an 11-10 overtime loss to Long Beach State last week. Milos Golic is second in the conference in scoring with 2.5 goals per game, and goalie Fraser Bunn also leads the MPSF with 9.7 saves per game while the UCSB defense allows 9.1 goals against per game. USC is 55-12-2 all-time against the Gauchos, having pulled the Trojans' win streak vs UCSB out to 37 straight with 16-5 and 17-3 wins this season in tournament play.
LAST WEEK: USC grabbed a nonconference win last week as the Trojans took their home win streak out to 37 straight with an 11-4 victory over No. 6 LMU. USC scored on three of their first four possessions on the afternoon, and Shea Buckner and Matt Sagehorn led the way with a pair of hat tricks in the game.
SEWING UP SOCAL: In the 2009 edition of the SoCal Tournament -- this year hosted by UC Irvine as the UCI Invitational -- USC worked its way to its seventh straight SoCal crown. USC first topped Bucknell 21-4, and then Shea Buckner tallied four goals in USC's second game of the day -- a 17-3 win over UC Santa Barbara to move into Sunday's semifinals. In the semi, USC went up against crosstown rival UCLA, which had dealt the Trojans their lone loss of the season earlier in the year. USC exacted revenge over the Bruins this time, staying a step ahead thanks in part to three goals from Justin Rappel on the way to a 9-8 win for a spot in the title match. There, USC faced Cal, and the Trojans again never trailed on the way to a 7-6 win over the Bears to win the tournament crown and claim USC's seventh consecutive SoCal title. For his key role in pushing USC toward the title with four goals and four assists on the second day at UCI, senior Justin Rappel picked up his first career selection as MPSF Player of the Week, becoming one of four Trojans to win the honor this season.
YOUNG GUNS: Although the stellar senior class of Trojans seem to get the bulk of the attention, the season's first MPSF honors have gone to a pair of player with some extra eligibility in the books. Sophomore Peter Kurzeka grabbed his first career honor as an MPSF Player of the Week after leading USC in scoring with eight goals as the Trojans successfully defended their title at the Triton Invitational. Kurzeka served up three multiple-goal games at the tournament, including two goals in the championship win over #7 UC Santa Barbara and two vs. #6 LMU to help push USC into the final, making it a four-goal day on the last day of competition in San Diego. More recently, redshirt junior Kyle Sterling picked up his first career conference honor as the MPSF Player of the Week after a career-high three-goal effort and an added assist in USC's 14-8 win over Pepperdine.
CENTURY CLUB AND CLIMBING: USC seniors J.W. Krumpholz and Matt Sagehorn have not only chiseled their place in USC history as national champions and All-Americans, the two Trojans also have passed the century mark in career goals. Both recently busted into the all-time top-20, with Krumpholz now tied at No. 13 with 124, and Sagehorn just steps behind at No. 18 with 119. Early this year, both players leapt over current assistant coach Marko Pintaric's total of 103.
BETTER BALANCE: For an example of the Trojans' widespread scoring prowess, look no further than USC's 8-6 win over Cal at the NorCal Tournament. Eight different Trojans scored in the game -- one apiece for a USC squad that has seen 19 players score on the year and five different Trojans holding at least 20 goals so far. Through the first 12 games of the year, no one had scored more than three goals in a single game, until J.W. Krumpholz hit five against Princeton and Shea Bucker had four against UC Santa Barbara. In total, six different Trojans can attest to at least one hat trick to date.
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. That count is up to 37 after last week's win over LMU as the Trojans go in pursuit of its fifth consecutive perfect run at home.
NUMBERS GAME: Not only did the Trojans tack up big digits in 2008 -- a perfect 29-0 record; head coach Jovan Vavic's 300th career victory; and USC's fourth NCAA Championship trophy -- the numbers rolling in for the 2009 season have the Trojans leveling their collective gaze on a feat never before achieved by the program: back-to-back national championships. The formula for success is there. Six starters return from last year's championship team. Five of them are All-Americans. Four were NCAA All-Tournament Team selections. Almost 80 percent of last season's scoring production is back. Both the MPSF Player of the Year and the Newcomer of the Year return to the water. And Coach of the Year Jovan Vavic is back on the deck to lead them.
SENIOR STANDOUTS: USC's vaunted senior class includes an overpowering unit of six players who entered as freshmen in 2006 and have experienced only NCAA and MPSF finals since coming to Troy. J.W. Krumpholz may headline the group as the 2008 Peter J. Cutino Award winner, but fellow seniors Anthony Artukovich, Justin Rappel, Matt Sagehorn, Nico Sardo and Jordan Thompson have also been a key part of that winning formula. The addition of transfer Shea Buckner added another depth charge to that class, rounding out arguably the most talented set of seniors ever to cap up at Troy. This season to date, the group has generated over half USC's scoring with a combined 134 goals between the seven senior field players.
DEFENSE IS BEST: While the Trojans do return almost 80 percent of last year's scoring production, the name of the game for USC teams has always been defense. In the field, senior Shea Buckner is an agile and powerful presence on defense, and junior Devon Borisoff and sophomore Matt Burton also bring their deft defense back to the hole. And sophomore goalie Joel Dennerley still has his wall up in the cage. The All-American and MPSF Newcomer of the Year as a freshman last season once again is anchoring that still-dominant Trojan defense. Recently, Dennerley was named MPSF Player of the Week for his 12-save effort in the cage against Long Beach State, as the sophomore made three 5-on-6 stops and allowed just four goals -- one of which was a 5-meter penalty score. Right now, the Trojan defense has allowed just 94 goals in 19 games for a 4.89 goals-against average -- best in the MPSF and the nation once again.
OFFENSIVE ONSLAUGHT: Seniors Justin Rappel, Matt Sagehorn, Shea Buckner and J.W. Krumpholz, junior Kyle Sterling and sophomore Peter Kurzeka all scored at least 20 goals for the Trojans in 2008. This year, the group is already well within that range, as the Trojans boast one of the most widespread offenses in the country. Krumpholz and fellow senior Jordan Thompson are a potent tag-team at two-meters along with new addition Brian Boswell, while Buckner, Rappel, Sagehorn, Sterling and Kurzeka open up the field as sharpshooters on the perimeter side-by-side with experienced senior drivers Anthony Artukovich and Nico Sardo and speedy junior Devon Borisoff.
2008 RECAP: The 2008 Trojans blasted their way to an undefeated 29-0 season and USC's fourth NCAA championship last season. USC also captured back-to-back MPSF championships and the Trojans' sixth overall MPSF crown en route to head coach Jovan Vavic's seventh MPSF Coach of the Year award and sixth National Coach of the Year honors. The Trojans finished out the program's first undefeated overall year since a 5-0 final record in 1944. USC is the first team in 16 years to go undefeated through an entire season. For the fourth consecutive season, USC led the nation in team defense (4.76 gapg), while the offense saw 20 different players score on the year, averaging a total of 11.7 gpg. All told, USC outscored its opponents 340-138 in 2008. Seven Trojans were named All-Americans, including 2008 Cutino Award winner J.W. Krumpholz.
Players Mentioned
