USC
Princeton
Trojans Top Princeton 14-3
October 09, 2009 | Men's Water Polo
Oct. 9, 2009
LOS ANGELES, CALIF. - The No. 3 USC men's water polo team pinned up a powerful win over visiting No.14 Princeton to gather some extra momentum on the way into this weekend's competitive UCI Invitational. At home on Friday afternoon, the Trojans handed the Tigers a 14-3 decision in favor of USC thanks in large part to a five-goal day from senior J.W. Krumpholz. Eight different Trojans got to the back of the net in the win, as goalies Joel Dennerley and Will Simon split time in the cage with Dennerley pitching a first-half shutout. The win records USC's 35th straight home victory at McDonald's Swim Stadium, and takes the Trojans out to a 12-1 overall record. Princeton goes to 7-6 with the loss.
The Trojans steamrolled the Tigers in the first half, taking a 4-0 lead and ballooning it to an 11-0 advantage by halftime. J.W. Krumpholz got the opening goal for USC when he finished off a pass from Matt Burton, and Shea Buckner delivered back-to-back assists for scores from Peter Kurzeka and Kyle Sterling. Sterling returned the favor before the close of the period with a pass off to Buckner that the senior buried for a 4-0 USC lead.
In the second, the Trojans peeled out farther ahead on four blasts from Krumpholz to get the senior to match his career high with a five-goal game. Nico Sardo, Kurzeka and Burton would also add goals to the Trojan tally in the frame while Dennerley held court in the cage to preserve a shutout effort in the half and keep USC ahead 11-0 at halftime.
In the second half, USC made it 12-0 on a strike from Jordan Thompson, while Princeton finally got on the board with a goal from Billy Tifft at 3:41 in the third. Thompson followed that by earning a 5-meter penalty shot for the Trojans at the other end, and Justin Rappel slammed it home to make it 13-1 USC. Thompson punched in his second of the day and what would be USC's final goal of the game as Princeton answered with two goals in the fourth to leave it as a 14-3 USC victory.
After the Princeton win, the Trojans hit the pool for an exhibition game against Golden West College for a chance for the younger Trojans to flex their muscles. USC got a 9-6 win in the game with two-goal efforts coming from Brian Boswell, Zayne Belal and Michael Rosenthal. Also in on the scoring action for the Trojans were Jeff Giery, Forest Monroe and Kyle Wootten. Manning the cage in the match was Brett Giery in the first half and Kevin Coyne in the second. USC got the first goal of the game but wound up in a 3-2 hole in the first period and pulled up to tie 3-3 at half. Five USC goals were punched through in the third period, however, generating a move into the lead to stay as USC led 8-3 entering the fourth period. The Trojans got one more to go in the third, and although Golden West managed three scores in the final period, USC had the advantage and finished ahead 9-6.
The Trojans now journey down to Irvine to play in the annual SoCal tournament - the 2009 UCI Invitational - with their opening game against Bucknell at 11:10 a.m. on Saturday (Oct. 10).
#3 USC 14, #14 Princeton 3
USC 4 - 7 - 3 - 0 = 14
PU 0 - 0 - 1 - 2 = 3
SCORING:
USC - J.W. Krumpholz 5, Peter Kurzeka 2, Jordan Thompson 2, Kyle Sterling, Nico Sardo, Shea Buckner, Matt Burton, Justin Rappel.
PU - Billy Tifft, Tim Wenzlau, Peter Schulam.
SAVES: Joel Dennerley (USC) 4, Will Simon (USC) 7, Scotty Hvidt (PU) 1, Henry Fyfe (PU) 2.
Exhibition Match:
USC 9, Golden West 6
USC 2 - 1 - 5 - 1 = 9
GWC 3 - 0 - 0 - 3 = 6
SCORING:
USC -- Brian Boswell 2, Zayne Belal 2, Michael Rosenthal 2, Jeff Giery, Forest Monroe, Kyle Wootten.
GWC - Colin McKibbin 2, Nate Castillo 2, Winston Newland 2.
Players Mentioned
