Saturday, November 4
Berkeley, CA
11:00 AM
USC
3
at
6
California
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's Water Polo
2M
/ Men's Water Polo
UT
/ Men's Water PoloPhoto by: Frank Hoerman
No. 1 Trojans Caught By No. 2 Cal In Berkeley
November 04, 2017 | Men's Water Polo, Features
USC falls 6-3 to the Golden Bears in an MPSF road matchup.
BERKELEY, CALIF. — The No. 1 USC men's water polo team came up against a stubborn No. 2 California defense, which made a stand in the Golden Bears' home pool to turn away the Trojan attack today in Berkeley. Held scoreless in the second and fourth periods, USC was left with a 6-3 loss to Cal. That gives the Trojans a 21-2 overall record and a 1-1 MPSF mark on the year with a trip to Pacific on tap tomorrow (Nov. 5) at 1 p.m.
USC opened up in control, thanks in part to five first-frame saves by senior goalie McQuin Baron to render Cal scoreless. Senior captain James Walters showed relentless effort on the offensive end, firing off a shot, collecting the rebound off the save and delivering the last word with the finish to net a 1-0 lead for the Trojans at 2:25 in the first. In the second period, however, USC's shots were frustratingly off the mark or within reach of Cal's goalie, while the Golden Bears were able to solve the Trojan defense at the other end. Cal leveled it early on with a blast just over a minute into the second, then took the lead and added to it with back-to-back goals. That left USC in a 3-1 hole at halftime, giving the Trojans some work to do in the second half.
USC was able to make adjustments in the third period, with sophomore Matt Maier rifling in a strike from the top to make it a one-goal game. Two more Baron saves would follow, and then it was junior Zach D'Sa who delivered the equalizer when he ripped in a shot that had too much heat on it for the Cal goalie to stop solidly, and the ball trickled across the goal line to make it 3-3 midway through the third. Cal, however, would skid one in in the final seconds of the frame, taking a 4-3 lead with 12 ticks remaining in the third. In the fourth, USC was unable to crack the Cal defense. Cal converted on a 6-on-5 with Baron excluded for the possession, going up 5-3 in the opening minute of the fourth. USC kept firing, but to no avail, while Cal took advantage of a pressing USC defense that saw Baron out of the cage, sailing in the long ball with the goal empty in the final minute for a 6-3 scoreline that would hold down the stretch.
With 15 saves today, Baron now holds 999 career saves as a Trojan. Already USC's career saves leader, he is one save away from breaking the 1,000-save barrier, which has been accomplished by only one other MPSF goalie — Pacific's Alex Malkis, who finished with 1,057 saves in 2013.
USC looks to change its luck tomorrow (Nov. 5) in Stockton, facing Pacific in a nonconference bout at 1 p.m.
#2 California 6, #1 USC 3
Nov. 4, 2017 | Berkeley, Calif.
USC 1 - 0 - 2 - 0 = 3
CAL 0 - 3 - 1 - 2 = 6
SCORING:
USC — James Walters, Matt Maier, Zach D'Sa.
CAL — Spencer Farrar 2, Connor Neumann 2, Johnny Hooper, Odysseas Masmanidis.
SAVES: McQuin Baron (USC) 15, Kevin Le Vine (CAL) 16.
USC opened up in control, thanks in part to five first-frame saves by senior goalie McQuin Baron to render Cal scoreless. Senior captain James Walters showed relentless effort on the offensive end, firing off a shot, collecting the rebound off the save and delivering the last word with the finish to net a 1-0 lead for the Trojans at 2:25 in the first. In the second period, however, USC's shots were frustratingly off the mark or within reach of Cal's goalie, while the Golden Bears were able to solve the Trojan defense at the other end. Cal leveled it early on with a blast just over a minute into the second, then took the lead and added to it with back-to-back goals. That left USC in a 3-1 hole at halftime, giving the Trojans some work to do in the second half.
USC was able to make adjustments in the third period, with sophomore Matt Maier rifling in a strike from the top to make it a one-goal game. Two more Baron saves would follow, and then it was junior Zach D'Sa who delivered the equalizer when he ripped in a shot that had too much heat on it for the Cal goalie to stop solidly, and the ball trickled across the goal line to make it 3-3 midway through the third. Cal, however, would skid one in in the final seconds of the frame, taking a 4-3 lead with 12 ticks remaining in the third. In the fourth, USC was unable to crack the Cal defense. Cal converted on a 6-on-5 with Baron excluded for the possession, going up 5-3 in the opening minute of the fourth. USC kept firing, but to no avail, while Cal took advantage of a pressing USC defense that saw Baron out of the cage, sailing in the long ball with the goal empty in the final minute for a 6-3 scoreline that would hold down the stretch.
With 15 saves today, Baron now holds 999 career saves as a Trojan. Already USC's career saves leader, he is one save away from breaking the 1,000-save barrier, which has been accomplished by only one other MPSF goalie — Pacific's Alex Malkis, who finished with 1,057 saves in 2013.
USC looks to change its luck tomorrow (Nov. 5) in Stockton, facing Pacific in a nonconference bout at 1 p.m.
#2 California 6, #1 USC 3
Nov. 4, 2017 | Berkeley, Calif.
USC 1 - 0 - 2 - 0 = 3
CAL 0 - 3 - 1 - 2 = 6
SCORING:
USC — James Walters, Matt Maier, Zach D'Sa.
CAL — Spencer Farrar 2, Connor Neumann 2, Johnny Hooper, Odysseas Masmanidis.
SAVES: McQuin Baron (USC) 15, Kevin Le Vine (CAL) 16.
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