USC
Pacific
No. 1 USC Pushes Past No. 7 Pacific In OT
November 13, 2011 | Men's Water Polo
Nov. 13, 2011
STOCKTON, CALIF. -- The No. 1 USC men's water polo team came up against a tough No. 7 Pacific squad and pulled out an overtime win against the host Tigers behind two OT goals from Tobias Preuss for an 11-10 MPSF win. The Trojans bring back a 10-game winning streak after the tight trip to Stockton, holding a 19-2 overall record and standing undefeated in MPSF play with a 7-0 mark.
The Tigers wound up in their fifth one-goal game in their past six contests when the Trojans came to town today. Pacific took the lead with 3:42 to go in regulation, but USC earned a 5-meter penalty shot with 1:54 to go and Peter Kurzeka leveled things with this penalty blast at 9-9. That would bring up overtime, where USC's Tobias Preuss struck twice in the first OT period to take the Trojans ahead 11-9. Pacific was awarded a penalty shot with midway through the frame, but USC goalie Joel Dennerley came up with a huge save against the 5-meter shot to hold USC's lead intact before Preuss made it a two-goal advantage with 52 seconds to go. During the next three minutes, Pacific scored on a 6-on-5 to make it 11-10, but USC's defense would hold on to its advantage and lock in on the win, with Dennerley making two more stops in the last stretch to finish with nine saves on the day. Preuss and Nikola Vavic each finished with two goals in the match to lead the Trojan offense.
During regulation, USC got ahead by two during the second period of play, leading 5-3 on a score from Forest Monroe at the 5-minute mark. Pacific fought back to even it, and Mace Rapsey gave USC a 6-5 lead with a goal in the final minute of the half. Pacific would again lock it up twice more in the third, and the Tigers grabbed back the lead with 1:25 on the clock. With 5 ticks to go in the third, however, USC evened the score once again at 8-8 on a goal from Jack Plagato bring up the fourth period. That's where Kurzeka's penalty shot equalizer would set up the Trojans for their overtime heroics.
USC's 11-10 victory makes it 10 straight wins for the Trojans, who are now set up for a crosstown showdown against rival UCLA next week. The Trojans and the Bruins are tied up at No. 1 in the nation this week, and will face off in a bigtime MPSF collision at 7 p.m. on Friday (Nov. 18) at UCLA's Spieker Aquatic Center in Westwood.
Nov. 13, 2011 -- Stockton, Calif.
#1 USC 11, #7 Pacific 10
USC 2 - 4 - 2 - 1 -- 2 - 0 =11
PAC 2 - 3 - 3 - 1 -- 0 - 1 = 10
SCORING:
USC -- Nikola Vavic 2, Tobias Preuss 2, Jeremy Davie, Brian Boswell, Michael Rosenthal, Kostas Genidounias, Mace Rapsey, Jack Plaga, Peter Kurzeka.
PAC -- Balazs Erdelyi 2, Tom Koning 2, Goran Tomasevic 2, Daniel Lungu 2, Jasper Visser, Tyler Reardon.
SAVES: Joel Dennerley (USC) 9, Alex Malkis (PAC) 14.
Players Mentioned
