USC
California Baptist
No. 1 USC Wins At Lancer Invitational
September 24, 2010 | Men's Water Polo
Sept. 24, 2010
RIVERSIDE, CALIF. -- The No. 1 USC men's water polo team flexed some Friday muscle in a trip to Riverside for the Lancer Invitational today. The Trojans kicked things off by trouncing Fresno Pacific 21-4 before taking on tournament host Cal Baptist and beating the No. 16 Lancers 11-7. Now holding a 10-0 overall record, USC will open MPSF play tomorrow at No. 9 Pepperdine for a 12 p.m. clash in Malibu.
In today's first match against Fresno Pacific, USC opened up a 12-0 lead, with Brian Boswell plugging in a career-high four goals during that run. Fresno Pacific got on the board with a score with 1:19 to go in the first half, making it a 12-1 Trojan lead at halftime. Jimmy Friedrich took over the cage for Joel Dennerley after the first period of play. A tighter third frame saw Fresno State stay more or less in stride with USC as the Trojans were up 15-3 going into the final period of play. There, USC rattled off six more goals -- three of which came from the hands of freshman Connor Virjee -- to close out a 21-4 decision. Twelve Trojans would get to the back of the net in the game, with Virjee and Mace Rapsey each adding to Boswell's four-goal tally with hat tricks. Jeremy Davie and Nicola Vavic had a pair apiece.
USC followed up on that performance with a quick turnaround in taking on No. 16 Cal Baptist. Back-to-back goals from Stephen Siri helped pump USC up to a 4-0 lead before the Lancers struck later in the first period. The Trojans struck out on another 4-0 run into the second frame to go up 8-1, and USC would hold a 10-2 halftime lead thanks to Mace Rapsey's blast with 12 seconds left in the half. Joel Dennerley continued to man the cage through the third period, allowing just a single goal each frame while the USC offense piled up an 11-3 lead going into the fourth. That's where the Lancers ate into the Trojan lead, but there would be no chance to pull closer than the 11-7 final score, as USC emerged with the win to hold the Trojans undefeated on the year. Matt Burton scored in each of the first three periods to finish with a hat trick in the match to go with Siri and Rapsey's two-goal efforts.
LANCER INVITATIONAL (Riverside, Calif.)
GAME 1
#1 USC 21, Fresno Pacific 4
USC 9 - 3 - 3 - 6 = 21
FPU 0 - 1 - 2 - 1 = 4
SCORING:
USC -- Brian Boswell 4, Mace Rapsey 3, Connor Virjee 3, Jeremy Davie 2, Nikola Vavic 2, Peter Kurzeka, Matthew Burton, Stephen Siri, Jon Leopold, Andrew Reego, Mason Hawthorne, Rex Butler.
FPU -- Evan Baird 2, Trevor Kolb, Krisztian Kovacs.
SAVES: Joel Dennerley (USC) 2 [one period], Jimmy Friedrich (USC) 2 [three periods], Riley Warner (FBU) 1 [two periods], Jake Finney (FBU) 3 [two periods].
GAME 2
#1 USC 11, #16 Cal Baptist 7
USC 5 - 5 - 1 - 0 = 11
CBU 1 - 1 - 1 = 4 = 7
SCORING: USC -- Matt Burton 3, Stephen Siri 2, Mace Rapsey 2, Jeremy Davie, Nikola Vavic, Forest Monroe, Zayne Belal.
CBU -- Aaron Steiger 2, Alan Ogden 2, Scott Gleason 2, Jeremy Atkinson.
SAVES: Joel Dennerley (USC) 8 [three periods], Jimmy Friedrich (USC) 2 [one period], Austin Ramer (CBU) 11.
Players Mentioned
