USC
Pacific
Trojans Stay Strong For 3-0 MPSF Start
October 05, 2009 | Men's Water Polo
Oct. 5, 2009
STOCKTON, CALIF. - The No. 3 USC men's water polo team rolled on to another MPSF road victory as the Trojans took down host Pacific 10-7 on Sunday afternoon in Stockton. A hot opening stretch was key once again for the Trojans, with scoring spread again through several different hands. Justin Rappel, J.W. Krumpholz, Kyle Sterling and Jordan Thompson all emerged with a pair of goals in the win, while goalie Joel Dennerley had eight saves. The win improves the Trojans' overall record to 12-1 and their MPSF mark to 3-0.
USC's opening goal came on a penalty shot stuck by Shea Buckner in the first minute of play, Pacific equalized later, but the Trojans knocked in a stretch of goals to move ahead to stay. Justin Rappel's first came later in the first period to make it 2-1, and then strikes from Peter Kurzeka, Krumpholz and Thompson carried USC up 5-1 before the Tigers were able to stop the run and make it 5-2 at the half.
Kyle Sterling upped the Trojan advantage with back-to-back scores to open the second half and make it 7-2 USC. Pacific cut in and made it 7-4 until Krumpholz's second of the day lifted USC up 8-4. In the fourth period, Pacific and USC again matched each other's scoring effort with two apiece. Thompson and Rappel each registered their second goals as USC finished out the game with the 10-7 win.
USC's next action takes the Trojans to the SoCal Tournament at UC Irvine this weekend. Competition runs Saturday and Sunday (Oct. 10-11) in Irvine.
#3 USC 10, #16 Pacific 7
USC 2 - 3 - 3 - 2 = 10
PAC 1 - 1 - 3 - 2 = 7
SCORING:
USC - Justin Rappel 2, J.W. Krumpholz 2, Kyle Sterling 2, Jordan Thompson 2, Peter Kurzeka, Shea Buckner.
PAC - Lance Morrison 2, Joey Rossi 2, Joey Gullikson, Austin Delong, Tom Koning.
SAVES: Joel Dennerley (USC) 8, David Andrus (PAC) 11.
Players Mentioned
