USC
Long Beach State
No. 1 USC Skips Into SoCal Semis
October 02, 2010 | Men's Water Polo
Oct. 2, 2010
WESTWOOD, CALIF. - The top-ranked USC men's water polo team took hold of two more wins today to open up the SoCal Tournament. Now riding a 13-game win streak, the Trojans make the leap into tomorrow's semifinals against No. 6 UC Santa Barbara at 10:40 a.m. It will be the first face-off of the year for USC against the Gauchos, who beat No. 4 Stanford this afternoon in group play to move into the semis.
In today's group play matches, the Trojans left no doubt about their ability to contend for an eighth straight SoCal Tournament championship. With the past seven tourney titles under their belts, the Trojans pinned up a 22-5 win over Redlands this morning before taking down No. 8 Long Beach State 17-5 in the afternoon to punch a ticket to the semis.
Against Redlands for the second time this season, USC piled up a 10-1 lead by halftime, with Redlands getting its lone first-half goal on a 5-meter penalty shot vs. goalie Joel Dennerley. Dennerley would give way to Will Simon in the cage for the second half. Two Trojans tallied career highs in the match, with newcomers Tobias Preuss and Rex Butler blasting four goals apiece to lead a Trojan offensive charge of 12 different scorers. USC took that 10-1 halftime advantage and built it into an 18-3 lead entering the final frame thanks to an eight-goal third period push. Four more USC goals came in the fourth, and the Trojans held a 22-5 victory for momentum into the afternoon.
Heading into their second look at Long Beach State of the year, the Trojans pitched another first-frame shutout in going up 4-0 and then holding a 9-2 lead at the half. Once again, USC continued to expand its edge on its opponents, up 11-4 after the third on the way to a 17-5 final. Joel Dennerley presided over the cage throughout and gathered up eight saves. Meanwhile, the Trojans spread out their scoring among 13 different players. Michael Rosenthal led the way with a hat trick, while Jeremy Davie and Stephen Siri each tallied two while the rest of the scoring was rounded out by scores from 10 other Trojans. Nikola Vavic extended his scoring streak to his 13th straight game with a goal in the win over the 49ers, as the freshman has scored in every game to date.
2010 SOCAL TOURNAMENT (Westwood, Calif.)
GAME 1 - Saturday, Oct. 2
#1 USC 22, Redlands 5
USC 5 - 5 - 8 - 4 = 22
RED 0 - 1 - 2 - 2 = 5
SCORING:
USC -- Tobias Preuss 4, Rex Butler 4, Nikola Vavic 2, Peter Kurzeka 2, Connor Virjee 2, Brian Boswell 2, Matthew Burton, Michael Rosenthal, Zayne Belal, Andrew Reego, Andy Hayes, Max Hurst-Mendoza.
RED -- Brendan Meaney 2, Blake vanHartesvelt, Andrew Smith-Jones, John Nietzel.
SAVES: Joel Dennerley (USC) 2 [first half], Will Simon (USC) 4 [second half], Jesse Gunther (RED) 8 [first half], Tyler Abbott (RED) 1 [third period], Jacob Cook (RED) 1 [fourth period].
GAME 2 - Saturday, Oct. 2
#1 USC 17, #8 Long Beach State 5
USC 4 - 5 - 4 - 4 = 17
LBSU 0 - 2 - 2 - 1 = 5
SCORING:
USC - Michael Rosenthal 3, Jeremy Davie 2, Stephen Siri 2, Tobias Preuss, Rex Butler, Nikola Vavic, Peter Kurzeka, Brian Boswell, Zayne Belal, Andrew Reego, Andy Hayes, Mace Rapsey, Forest Monroe.
LBSU - Dan Matulis 2, Nick Rascon, Patrick van der Linde, Carter Taylor.
SAVES: Joel Dennerley (USC) 8, Matthew Kubeck 4.
Players Mentioned
