USC
UC Irvine
No. 1 USC Pushes Through To NorCal Semis
September 17, 2011 | Men's Water Polo
Sept. 17, 2011
STOCKTON, CALIF. - The No. 1 USC men's water polo team cruised through to a semifinal slot at the NorCal Tournament with a pair of wins on day one in Stockton, Calif., today. The Trojans are aiming to defend the 2010 NorCal crown that the three-peat national champs picked up last season. Today, top-ranked USC topped West Valley JC 20-3 before handing out an 11-4 win over No. 6 UC Irvine to punch a semifinal ticket. USC will face either Stanford or host Pacific tomorrow at 10:40 a.m. in the semifinals.
The Trojans surrendered the first goal of the day to West Valley JC and would allow another in the first to hold just a 4-2 lead after one period of play. West Valley punched in its third goal to make it a 6-3 USC advantage before the Trojans went on a 14-goal bender the rest of the way. USC's defense silenced West Valley for the last 19 minutes of the game, with goalies Joel Dennerley and Ely Bonilla sharing time in the cage. Dennerley hauled in 11 saves, and Bonilla had seven. On the offensive end, newcomer Kosta Genidounias catapulted in four goals to lead the Trojans, while Jack Plaga added a hat trick. In all, 11 players scored for the Trojans in the day's opening win.
Hours later against No. 6 UC Irvine, the Trojans shrugged out of another tight opening that saw the teams locked up 2-2 at halftime. USC struck out on a five-goal run that spanned the third and fourth periods to make some room against the Anteaters. UC Irvine had made it a two-goal game late in the third, down 5-3 to the Trojans before Kosta Genidounias plugged in a score with 22 seconds to go in the third. Four straight USC scores would come to start the fourth, with Mace Rapsey scoring his second of the day to go along with strikes from Jeremy Davie, Jack Plaga and Michael Rosenthal to help wrap up the win for the Trojans. Rapsey was the only multiple-goal scorer in this one, while eight other Trojans ringing up a score apiece for the USC cause. Defensively, Joel Dennerley went the distance in goal for a six-save outing.
2011 NorCal Tournament (Stockton, Calif.)
GAME ONE - Sept. 17
#1 USC 20, West Valley JC 3
USC 4 - 5 - 5 - 6 = 20
WVJC 2 - 1 - 0 - 0 = 3
SCORING:
USC - Kosta Genidounias 4, Jack Plaga 3, Nikola Vavic 2, Peter Kurzeka 2, Stephen Siri 2, Andrew Reego 2, Jeremy Davie, Tobias Preuss, Michael Rosenthal, Mace Rapsey, Brian Boswell.
WVJC - Bojan Hrlec, Diego Aldea, Raphael Krempp.
SAVES: Joel Dennerley (USC) 11 [2.5 periods], Ely Bonilla (USC) 7 [1.5 periods], Meszaros (WV) 5, Maestri (WV) 3.
GAME TWO - Sept. 17
#1 USC 11, #6 UC Irvine 4
USC 1 - 1 - 4 - 5 = 11
UCI 1 - 1 - 1 - 1 = 4
SCORING:
USC -- Mace Rapsey 2, Jeremy Davie, Nikola Vavic, Peter Kurzeka, Forest Monroe, Stephen Siri, Michael Rosenthal, Kosta Genidounias, Brian Boswell, Jack Plaga.
UCI - Alan Robertson, Mitch Wise, Nick Pfeil, Trent Baxter.
SAVES: Joel Dennerley (USC) 6, Michael Bailey (UCI) 15.
Players Mentioned
