USC
Stanford
Seesaw Battle Sees Trojans Swamp Stanford In Overtime
October 03, 2015 | Men's Water Polo
LOS ANGELES, CALIF. -- The No. 3 USC men's water polo team served up some sweet revenge for its lone loss of the year in riding out a wild game to beat No. 2 Stanford with a winning overtime surge. After the Cardinal made a five-goal rally to force OT, USC regrouped and silenced Stanford down the stretch to pull out a 12-8 victory this morning at Uytengsu Aquatics Center. USC improves to 11-1 overall and to 2-0 in MPSF play with the key conference win over the Cardinal, which goes to 12-2, 0-1.
Backed up by a ferocious stand in the cage by goalie McQuin Baron, the Trojans were able to keep reloading for strikes against Stanford. Five of Baron's final 18 saves came in overtime, while USC's offense poured on four goals to break free of the 8-8 lockup that the Cardinal had forced by the close of regulation. In the first OT frame, it was junior Nick Bell who lit the lamp off a feed from Matteo Morelli to punch up a 6-on-5 score that took the Trojans to a 9-8 advantage. In the next stretch, Baron slammed down four Stanford shots to keep the Cardinal out of the net. Meanwhile, an early steal from Morelli sent USC the other way, seeing James Walters hit Mihajlo Milicevic for a blast from the top that made it 10-8 Trojans. A minute later, after Baron and the USC defense put a stop to a Stanford power play, Milicevic found Lachlan Edwards for a turn and rocket that tallied the sophomore's third impressive goal of the game. Two more Baron saves came next, and then Bell put the finishing touches on the win with one final score to wrap the 12-8 USC victory over the visiting Cardinal.
The game opened up neck-and-neck, with the Trojans and Cardinal taking turns reeling each other in and both goalies standing tall in the cage. Grant Stein was the first to break through, notching a goal for USC on the opening possession. Four minutes later, Stanford broke its silence with a 6-on-5 strike to equalize and then broke through again in the final minute to take the lead 2-1. With 30 seconds to go, USC pieced together a smooth passing series, working the ball from Nick Silvers to Bryce Hoerman to freshman Zach D'Sa for a searing score that pulled things even again. Stanford's lead lasted all of 19 seconds.
The game would snarl up at 3-3 early in the third as Stanford answered a booming backhand from Edwards. But Edwards fired right back, issuing another unstoppable strike out of set for a 4-3 Trojan lead that prompted a scoring surge for USC. Blake Edwards, D'Sa, Stein and Hoerman all busted out goals in the next nine minutes of play, crafting a powerful 8-3 lead for USC.
The seemingly insurmountable margin was no deterrent for the Cardinal, however. Stanford would hammer in three goals in the final 2:15 of the third period to close the gap down to two. In the fourth, USC's offense came up empty, and Stanford was able to punch in another two late goals. Adam Abdulhamid went nearside to cut it to a one-goal game, down 8-7 with 1:18 left in regulation. And with 29 ticks to go, Bret Bonanni scored from distance to level it at 8-8 and bring up overtime.
OT is where the Trojans took back control, with Bell's goal in the first overtime standing as the game-winner as USC muscled its way to a 12-8 final victory.
USC continues its MPSF push tomorrow (Oct. 4) at Uytengsu Aquatics Center with a 1 p.m. matchup against San Jose State -- marking the first time since 1979 that the two programs have faced off. The Spartans have reactivated their men's water polo program this season, back in action after being discontinued in 1981.
#3 USC 12, #2 Stanford 8 (OT)
Oct. 3, 2015 - Uytengsu Aquatics Center (Los Angeles, Calif.)
USC 2 - 4 - 2 - 0 -- 1 - 3 = 12
STAN 2 - 1 - 3 - 2 -- 0 - 0 = 8
SCORING:
USC -- Lachlan Edwards 3, Grant Stein 2, Zach D'Sa 2, Nick Bell 2, Blake Edwards, Bryce Hoerman, Mihajlo Milicevic.
STAN -- Adam Abdulhamid 2, Connor Stapleton 2, Bret Bonanni 2, Mitchell Mendoza, BJ Churnside.
SAVES: McQuin Baron (USC) 18, Drew Holland (STAN) 12.
