USC
Stanford (Semifinal)
SoCal Slips From Top-Ranked Trojans
October 02, 2011 | Men's Water Polo
Oct. 2, 2011
LOS ALAMITOS, CALIF. -- The streaking USC men's water polo team stumbled on the second day of action at the SoCal Tournament today. The Trojans' undefeated start to 2011 and hopes of claiming a ninth straight SoCal title were both dashed by two losses in which USC uncharacteristically stalled out in the second half. The Trojans first fell 6-4 to No. 4 Stanford in this morning's semifinals, and then got edged out by No. 2 UCLA in a 7-6 loss in the third-place game to leave the eight-time defending SoCal tourney champs with a fourth-place finish at the 2011 SoCal Tournament. USC now holds a 9-2 overall record on the year.
USC's pursuit of a ninth straight SoCal Tournament championship was first squelched by an offensive stumble against Stanford in the semifinals. USC goalie Joel Dennerley pinned up 12 saves against the Cardinal to help anchor the Trojan defense, but Stanford outscored the Trojans 4-1 in the second half of play to push aside USC's 3-2 halftime lead. The Trojans managed only a 5-meter penalty shot from Peter Kurzeka in the fourth period of play, breaking a 13-minute stretch of scoring silence by the Trojans, who had taken a 3-2 lead in the second period on Kostas Genidounias' second goal of that frame. Kurzeka's penalty strike made it 4-4 with 3:04 remaining in regulation, but Stanford went up 5-4 on its next possession and padded the lead with a score 41 seconds from the finish to snap USC's 22-game win streak that had spanned from last season's run to the MPSF and NCAA Championships.
In the third-place game against UCLA, USC again had a halftime advantage before stumbling in the second half. The Trojans came out strong in the second half, answering the Bruins' first goal with scores from Jeremy Davie and Peter Kurzeka to take a lead. Tobias Preuss and Mace Rapsey would also get to the back of the net in the first frame as USC took a 4-2 advantage after one period of play. Another score from Rapsey preserved that advantage in the second, but the Bruins got one to go late in the second to cut it to a 5-4 USC lead at halftime. In the third, the game snarled up to a 6-6 lockup as UCLA wrapped two goals around a score from Nikola Vavic. And in the fourth, UCLA converted on an early 6-on-5 advantage to take a 7-6 lead. In the remaining time, USC was unable to finish off a 6-on-5 of its own, missing out on an equalizer to force overtime and ending up with the 7-6 loss to the Bruins. Dennerley had another good showing in goal, finishing with nine saves in the game for the Trojans.
Back-to-back losses are hardly a harbinger of doom for the Trojans, however. USC fell to Stanford and Cal last season during MPSF play before kicking out to a 13-game winning streak that carried the Trojans to their third straight NCAA Championship in 2010.
USC now returns home for a stretch of three games at McDonald's Swim Stadium. The Trojans have a doubleheader on tap on Thursday (Oct. 6) with an MPSF battle against Long Beach State at 6 p.m., followed by an exhibition match against Long Beach City College. On Saturday (Oct. 8), the Trojans host Loyola Marymount at 1 p.m.
2011 SoCal Tournament - Long Beach & Los Alamitos, Calif.
THIRD PLACE GAME - Oct. 2
#2 UCLA 7, #1 USC 6
USC 4 - 1 - 1 - 0 = 6
UCLA 2 - 2 - 2 - 1 = 7
SCORING:
USC - Mace Rapsey 2, Jeremy Davie, Peter Kurzeka, Tobias Preuss, Nikola Vavic.
UCLA - Josh Samuels 3, Bret Lathrope 2, Cristiano Mirarchi, Luka Bokavsek.
SAVES: Joel Dennerley (USC) 9, Matt Rapacz (UCLA) 10.
SEMIFINAL - Oct. 2
#4 Stanford 6, #1 USC 4
USC 1 - 2 - 0 - 1 = 4
STAN 1 - 1 - 2 - 2 = 6
SCORING:
USC -- Kostas Genidounias 2, Nikola Vavic, Peter Kurzeka.
STAN -- Forrest Watkins 2, Paul Rudolph, Peter Sefton, Andrew LaForge, Jacob Smith.
SAVES: Joel Dennerley (USC) 12, Brian Pingree (STAN) 7.
GAME ONE - Oct. 1
#1 USC 21, #20 Pomona-Pitzer 1
USC 7 - 4 - 2 - 8 = 21
P-P 0 - 0 - 0 - 0 = 1
SCORING:
USC - Ivan Kustic 4, Michael Rosenthal 3, A.J. MacDonell 3, Jeremy Davie 2, Mace Rapsey 2, Nikola Vavic,Forest Monroe, Kostas Genidounias, Brian Boswell, Marc Vonderweidt, Andrew Reego, Andy Hayes.
P-P - Jarrod Gaut.
SAVES: Ely Bonilla (USC) 6, Tyler Hill (P-P) 2, Austin Strong (P-P) 4.
GAME TWO - Oct. 2
#1 USC 11, #7 UC Irvine 5
USC 3 - 4 - 3 - 1 = 11
UCI 0 - 1 - 2 - 2 = 5
SCORING:
USC - Kostas Genidounias 3, Nikola Vavic, Tobias Preuss, Forest Monroe, Connor Virjee, Brian Boswell,Jeremy Davie, Andrew Reego, Mace Rapsey.
UCI - Mitch Wise 2, Sam Figueroa, Derrik Jarvis, Jacob Mourer.
SAVES: Joel Dennerley (USC) 5 [3 periods], Ely Bonilla (USC) 2 [4th period], Michael Bailey (UCI) 8.
Players Mentioned
