USC
UC Santa Barbara
No. 1 USC Holds Strong At UC Santa Barbara
October 29, 2009 | Men's Water Polo
Oct. 29, 2009
SANTA BARBARA, CALIF. - The No. 1 USC men's water polo team served up some stingy defense once again, holding No. 9 UC Santa Barbara to just four goals as the Trojans pinned up a 6-4 win over the host Gauchos in an MPSF game on Thursday. USC's first-half offensive push gave way to a quiet second half, but the Trojans' strength on the defensive end sealed things. The win over the Gauchos improves USC's overall record to 19-1 and its MPSF mark to 5-0.
UC Santa Barbara put the pressure on the top-ranked Trojans to open the game, as the Gauchos got on the board first to force USC to play catchup. Down 1-0, USC had Kyle Sterling deliver back-to-back goals to push USC into the lead, but UCSB's Milos Golic answered with his second to tie things back up 2-2 at 2:51. Matthew Burton punched in the next one for the Trojans, and USC had a 3-2 lead.
The Trojans would remain at least a step ahead the rest of the way. J.W. Krumpholz boosted USC ahead 4-2 when he converted on a 5-meter penalty shot in the second period, and although UCSB scored on a 6-on-5 on its next possession, Justin Rappel bumped the USC lead to 5-3 on the way into halftime. The second half slowed on the scoring front at both ends. Joel Dennerley put up three of his final six saves during the third frame, as the Gauchos managed another 6-on-5 score before USC did the same with a conversion from Shea Buckner to make it a 6-4 USC advantage in the third. The fourth period passed scorelessly for both, leaving the Trojans on top to emerge victorious with the 6-4 decision.
USC's next competition comes next week with a visit to crosstown rival UCLA. The Trojans face the Bruins at 7 p.m. on Saturday (Nov. 7) at UCLA's new Spieker Aquatic Center.
#1 USC 6, #9 UCSB 4
USC 3 - 2 - 1 - 0 = 6
UCSB 2 - 1 - 1 - 0 = 4
SCORING:
USC - Kyle Sterling 2, Justin Rappel, J.W. Krumpholz, Matthew Burton, Shea Buckner.
UCSB - Milos Golic 2, Noah Smith, Sean Castillo.
SAVES: Joel Dennerley (USC) 6, Myles Christian (UCSB) 6
Players Mentioned
