USC
Pacific
No. 1 USC Passes Up Pacific For Semifinal Slot
November 25, 2011 | Men's Water Polo
Nov. 25, 2011
WESTWOOD, CALIF. -- The top-seeded and top-ranked USC men's water polo team surged out ahead of No. 8 seeded Pacific to dash any upset hopes held by the Tigers and claim an 11-7 win in the MPSF Tournament opener today in Westwood. After trailing 6-5 late in the second period of play, the Trojans rallied with a six-goal run that included a third-frame shutout by USC to put Pacific well out of reach. The victory is the 12th straight for USC, and improves the Trojans to 21-2 overall with a date set for tomorrow's MPSF Semifinals against either Stanford or UC Santa Barbara at 1:30 p.m.
The Trojans are in hot pursuit of claiming their second straight MPSF Tournament title after making an undefeated run through the conference regular season this year. An automatic berth in the coming NCAA Championships is on the line this weekend, with USC looking to make their seventh straight trip to the NCAA tourney and aiming to win an unprecedented fourth straight national championship.
But to even bring that opportunity to the horizon, the Trojans had to face an upset-minded Pacific squad today in the MPSF first round. The Tigers would answer an early 4-2 USC lead in the first frame with a push to spice up the second period of play. USC went up 5-3 on a 6-on-5 strike from Jeremy Davie midway through the second, but the Tigers rallied back with three straight scores to take a 6-5 lead before halftime. The Trojans evened it up 6-6 for the break, setting off a spark of scoring that would leave the Tigers in USC's wake the rest of the way. Pacific would score just one final goal in the fourth period while the Trojans piled up six in a row, including a 4-0 effort in the third period of play that included two goals from Peter Kurzeka and one each from Stephen Siri and Connor Virjee.
Nikola Vavic led the pack with four goals in the game, including two in the first frame to help lift USC to a 4-2 lead out of the gates. Kurzeka was next with his pair of goals, while Davie, Siri, Virjee, Kostas Genidounias and Michael Rosenthal also tallied goals to aid the Trojan cause. In the cage, Joel Dennerley pinned up eight saves to back up the Trojan defense.
2011 MPSF Tournament (Westwood, Calif.)
First Round - Nov. 25, 2011
[1] USC 11, [8] Pacific 7
USC 4 - 2 - 4 - 1 = 11
PAC 2 - 4 - 0 - 1 = 7
SCORING:
USC -- Nikola Vavic 4, Peter Kurzeka 2, Michael Rosenthal, Kostas Genidounias, Jeremy Davie, Stephen Siri, Connor Virjee.
PAC -- Balazs Erdelyi 2, Tom Koning 2, Balazs Szabo, Daniel Lungu, Joey Doyle.
SAVES: Joel Dennerley (USC) 8, Alex Malkis (PAC) 7.
Players Mentioned
