No. 3 USC Sets Sights On Seventh SoCal Crown
October 07, 2009 | Men's Water Polo
Oct. 7, 2009
Complete Release in PDF Format 
THIS WEEK: USC takes a break from conference-counting play this weekend, but the plate is still plenty full for the Trojans. No. 3 USC (11-1) goes up against Princeton in a nonconference game and then faces Golden West College in an exhibition game before heading down to the UCI Invitational for four more tough games this weekend. It all begins on Friday (Oct. 9) in a 5 p.m. match against Princeton and then a 6:30 p.m. face-off with Golden West at McDonald's Swim Stadium. The SoCal Tournament kicks off on Saturday (Oct. 10) with the Trojans opening against Bucknell at 11:10 a.m. at Corona del Mar High School. USC's next game will be later in the day against either UC Santa Barbara or UC Davis at the same pool. Semifinals and finals are set to be played at UC Irvine on Sunday (Oct. 11). Two wins on Saturday would put the Trojans in a 9:20 a.m. semifinal on Sunday. The championship game is set for 5:20 p.m. that afternoon, preceded by the third-place game at 4 p.m.
RANKINGS: After three weeks at the No. 1 spot, USC has been at No. 3 for the past two weeks, still No. 3 in the country this week. Including No. 14 Princeton, 15 ranked teams will be competing in this weekend's UCI Invitational.
SCOUTING PRINCETON: The No. 14 Tigers are 7-5 overall and 4-1 in the CWPA Southern on the way into this week's competition in California. Mark Zalewski leads Princeton in scoring with 30 goals so far. Scottie Hvidt and Mike Merlone have shared most of the season in goal. USC and Princeton have faced just once before when the Trojans won 11-4 last season at USC.
SCOUTING GOLDEN WEST: The Rustlers opened the year with an 8-1 overall record, winning the Golden West College Tournament title and taking second at the Cuesta Tournament.
TOURNEY NOTES: This season's edition of the SoCal Tournament has been officially titled the UCI Invitational, and again will include nine Mountain Pacific Sports Federation teams, along with competitive teams from around the country. Non-California-based powers Bucknell, Princeton and Navy are making the trip to Irvine, along with UC Davis, UC San Diego, LMU and Redlands. All told, 11 of the top 12 ranked teams in the nation will be in the mix, with 15 teams ranked in this week's Division I top-20. Last year, USC won its sixth consecutive SoCal tournament title, beating Cal 12-7 in the semifinals and taking down Stanford 8-7 in overtime in the 2008 championship game in Malibu. USC had opened with a 18-1 win over Pomona-Pitzer and an 11-4 win over UC Santa Barbara. This year, USC is bracketed with #17 Bucknell, #6 UC Santa Barbara and #12 UC Davis. Complete schedule included on page 7 of this release.
LAST WEEK: USC surged to two MPSF road wins last weekend. Playing at a packed house in Berkeley to start, the Trojans silenced the crown by getting out to a 6-1 lead on the host Bears, and then warding off any Cal comeback hopes to tack up an 8-6 USC victory. Goalie Joel Dennerley walled up the cage against the Bears for much of the first half on his way to an 11-save day, and USC spread its scoring among six players to get the MPSF win. The next day in Stockton, USC rolled on to another MPSF road victory as the Trojans took down host Pacific 10-7. 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 Dennerley had eight saves.
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. Most 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 at No. 18 with 116, and Sagehorn just a step behind at No. 19 with 115. 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 16 players score on the year and six different Trojans holding at least 10 goals so far. No one has scored more than three goals in a single game, although 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 34 after last week's win over Pepperdine 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. Already this season, the group has generated over half USC's scoring with a combined 83 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. That, by the way, is also in very, very good shape for 2009. True, there's some size missing with the graduation of All-Americans Arjan Ligtenberg and Jovan Vranes. But 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 along with newcomer Zayne Belal. And don't forget, USC 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 is all lined up to anchor that still-dominant Trojan defense. Senior Brett Giery will also make a stand in goal for the Trojans, joined in the USC goalkeeping corps by Kevin Coyne, Jimmy Friedrich and Will Simon. Right now, the Trojan defense has allowed just 60 goals in 12 games for a 5.0 goals-against average -- best in the MPSF once again.
OFFENSIVE ONSLAUGHT: Seniors Rappel, Sagehorn, Buckner and Krumpholz, junior Kyle Sterling and sophomore Peter Kurzeka all scored at least 20 goals for the Trojans in 2008, with similarly powerful production in the cards for that group once again. Krumpholz and fellow senior Jordan Thompson are set up to 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 Artukovich and Sardo, speedy junior Borisoff and newer additions Kyle Wootten and Michael Rosenthal.
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
