No. 2 Trojans Down UC Irvine 11-5
November 20, 2010 | Men's Water Polo
Nov. 20, 2010
IRVINE, CALIF. -- The No. 2 USC men's water polo team sewed up a second-place finish in the MPSF standings to secure the No. 2 seed into next weekend's MPSF Tournament with today's 11-5 win over No. 6 UC Irvine. The visiting Trojans rolled up an early lead on the host Anteaters in their regular-season finale, and USC finished with four players holding two goals on the day while goalie Joel Dennerley racked up 12 saves. The win boosts USC to a 23-2 overall record and rounds out a 6-2 MPSF record for the Trojans. UC Irvine goes to 16-7, 4-4 and gets the No. 5 seed for the MPSF tourney.
Peter Kurzeka blasted his two goals in the second period of play to help boost the Trojans to a 7-2 halftime lead. By the final whistle, Kurzeka had three other Trojans on record with two goals, as Nikola Vavic, Michael Rosenthal and Mace Rapsey each tallied a pair, with Tobias Preuss, Zayne Belal and Jeremy Davie also getting in on the scoring action. UC Irvine's offense was helped in the second half by a pair of 5-meter penalty shots, but a stingy USC defense anchored by Dennerley in goal kept a safe distance between the Trojans and the Anteaters to lock down the win.
USC now turns its focus on a campaign for the MPSF championship and the automatic berth in the coming NCAA Tournament, as the Trojans aim to go for a third straight national championship. USC opens the MPSF Tournament next weekend in Palo Alto, Calif., with a matchup against No. 7 seed UC Santa Barbara at 11:30 a.m. on Friday (Nov. 26) for a shot at a semifinal spot.
Saturday, Nov. 20 -- Irvine, Calif.
#2 USC 11, #6 UC Irvine 5
USC 3 - 4 - 2 - 2 = 11
UCI 1 - 1 - 1 - 2 = 5
SCORING:
USC -- Nikola Vavic 2, Peter Kurzeka 2, Michael Rosenthal 2, Mace Rapsey 2, Tobias Preuss, Zayne Belal, Jeremy Davie.
UCI -- Doug Lindsey 3, Tom Kruip 2.
SAVES: Joel Dennerley (USC) 12, Matt Johnson (UCI) 8.
Players Mentioned
