Saturday, December 2
Los Angeles, CA
5:15 PM
USC
12
vs
11
Semifinal: Cal vs. USC
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's Water Polo
DR
/ Men's Water Polo
DR
/ Men's Water Polo
DR
/ Men's Water Polo
2M
/ Men's Water Polo
DR
/ Men's Water Polo
DR
/ Men's Water Polo
DR
/ Men's Water Polo
UT
/ Men's Water PoloPhoto by: John McGillen
Trojans Storm Back To NCAA Title Match With 12-11 Semifinal Win Over Cal
December 02, 2017 | Men's Water Polo, Features
USC overcomes a three-goal deficit to beat the Golden Bears and advance to the Trojans’ 13th straight NCAA final.
LOS ANGELES, CALIF. — The USC men's water polo team emerged victorious in an NCAA semifinal marked by huge momentum shifts, as the Trojans defended their home waters with a 12-11 win over California to advance to the national championship game for the 13th straight season. Up against the Golden Bears tonight in front of a sell-out crowd at Uytengsu Aquatics Center, USC saw a three-goal lead melt away in the first half before climbing out of a three-goal hole in the second half. With 2:32 to go, senior Grant Stein sliced in what would stand as the game-winner after a string of stubborn defensive stands by the Trojans to finish out the win and punch that ticket to the title match. USC will square off against crosstown rival UCLA in the 2017 National Collegiate Championship at 3 p.m. at the Trojans' own Uytengsu Aquatics Center.
Tonight's NCAA semifinal between USC and Cal marked a rematch of last year's final, which the Golden Bears won in overtime in their home pool. This time, the Trojans held the home-pool advantage, although USC did have to shrug off that three-goal deficit that Cal put the hosts in during the third period. Down 10-7 with 2:37 on the clock in the third, USC would score four consecutive goals to take an 11-10 lead with 5:47 left in the fourth. Marko Vavic lit the fuse for the Trojans with a solo shot that made it 10-8, then grabbing a steal and going on to fire off another huge goal to cut the deficit to 10-9 in the final minute of the third. In the fourth, Marin Dasic would interrupt the Cal offense with back-to-back steals. The second saw the sophomore streak away on the counterattack, with Thomas Dunstan hitting Dasic for the finish to lock up the game at 10-10 with 6:34 on the clock. Vavic would deliver a key field block to shut down a Cal 6-on-5 next, and then goalie McQuin Baron would sail a pass to Zach D'Sa for a sizzling strike that nudged USC into the lead, up 11-10 at 5:47.
Cal would level it again with a nice score out of set, snarling it at 11-11 with 3:50 to go. James Walters nabbed a steal soon after to send USC back on the attack, where Blake Edwards earned the 6-on-5 for the Trojans. That's where Stein stepped in and zipped in a sidearm sling to tug the Trojans to a 12-11 advantage with 2:32 remaining. Edwards caused more trouble for the Bears in keying two more takeaways with help from Matt Maier, and Walters came up with a big field block with 35 seconds to go and USC was able to keep control the rest of the way to lock up the semifinal win and launch the Trojans on to yet another NCAA final.
USC had opened up the game seemingly in control of things, crafting a 4-1 lead on goals from Maier, Stein, D'Sa and Matteo Morelli. Cal got a buzzer-beater to go to close the first quarter with USC's lead at 4-2, but Dunstan rifled in a goal off an Edwards setup to take USC ahead 5-2 early in the second. Stein sailed in a perfect lob to hold USC ahead 6-3 midway through the second, but Cal was undeterred and fired off a three-goal rally to lock the game even at 6-6 by halftime. After Vavic blasted his first of three goals in the third, Cal benefited from a momentum shift in the Bears' favor next. Two quick Cal goals made it a one-goal game, and then the Bears equalized on a 5-meter penalty shot before finishing off a 6-on-5 that had Cal enjoying that 10-7 lead. That's where the Trojans buckled back in, allowing just one more Cal goal while piling up five of their own to maneuver to victory.
In the first semifinal game today at Uytengsu Aquatics Center, top-seeded UCLA fought back to beat Pacific 11-9 to advance to the title match against USC. Again, the 2017 national championship game is set for 3 p.m. tomorrow (Dec. 3) at USC's Uytengsu Aquatics Center.
2017 NATIONAL COLLEGIATE CHAMPIONSHIP (Uytengsu Aquatics Center | Los Angeles, Calif.)
NCAA SEMIFINALS
USC 12, California 11
Dec. 2, 2017 (Uytengsu Aquatics Center | Los Angeles, Calif.)
USC 4 - 2 - 3 - 3 = 12
CAL 2 - 4 - 4 - 1 = 11
SCORING:
USC — Grant Stein 3, Marko Vavic 3, Zach D'Sa 2, Matt Maier, Matteo Morelli, Thomas Dunstan, Marin Dasic.
CAL — Safak Simsek 4, Nick Carniglia 2, Ryan Hurst, Pedro Stellet, Luca Cupido, Vassilis Tzavaras, Nikos Delagrammatikas.
SAVES: McQuin Baron (USC) 8, Kevin Le Vine (CAL) 10.
UCLA 11, Pacific 9,
Dec. 2, 2017 (Uytengsu Aquatics Center | Los Angeles, Calif.)
UCLA 2 - 3 - 4 - 2 = 11
PAC 3 - 0 - 3 - 3 = 9
SCORING:
UCLA — Nicolas Saveljic 3, Jack Grover 2, Alex Roelse 2, Max Irving 2, Felix Brozyna-Villim, Austin Rone.
PAC — Luke Pavillard 3, Luis Araya 2, Ben Stevenson 2, Engin Ege Colak, Andres Schmidt.
SAVES: Alex Wolf (UCLA) 5, Alen Osmanovic (PAC) 8, John Hedges (PAC) 0.
Tonight's NCAA semifinal between USC and Cal marked a rematch of last year's final, which the Golden Bears won in overtime in their home pool. This time, the Trojans held the home-pool advantage, although USC did have to shrug off that three-goal deficit that Cal put the hosts in during the third period. Down 10-7 with 2:37 on the clock in the third, USC would score four consecutive goals to take an 11-10 lead with 5:47 left in the fourth. Marko Vavic lit the fuse for the Trojans with a solo shot that made it 10-8, then grabbing a steal and going on to fire off another huge goal to cut the deficit to 10-9 in the final minute of the third. In the fourth, Marin Dasic would interrupt the Cal offense with back-to-back steals. The second saw the sophomore streak away on the counterattack, with Thomas Dunstan hitting Dasic for the finish to lock up the game at 10-10 with 6:34 on the clock. Vavic would deliver a key field block to shut down a Cal 6-on-5 next, and then goalie McQuin Baron would sail a pass to Zach D'Sa for a sizzling strike that nudged USC into the lead, up 11-10 at 5:47.
Cal would level it again with a nice score out of set, snarling it at 11-11 with 3:50 to go. James Walters nabbed a steal soon after to send USC back on the attack, where Blake Edwards earned the 6-on-5 for the Trojans. That's where Stein stepped in and zipped in a sidearm sling to tug the Trojans to a 12-11 advantage with 2:32 remaining. Edwards caused more trouble for the Bears in keying two more takeaways with help from Matt Maier, and Walters came up with a big field block with 35 seconds to go and USC was able to keep control the rest of the way to lock up the semifinal win and launch the Trojans on to yet another NCAA final.
USC had opened up the game seemingly in control of things, crafting a 4-1 lead on goals from Maier, Stein, D'Sa and Matteo Morelli. Cal got a buzzer-beater to go to close the first quarter with USC's lead at 4-2, but Dunstan rifled in a goal off an Edwards setup to take USC ahead 5-2 early in the second. Stein sailed in a perfect lob to hold USC ahead 6-3 midway through the second, but Cal was undeterred and fired off a three-goal rally to lock the game even at 6-6 by halftime. After Vavic blasted his first of three goals in the third, Cal benefited from a momentum shift in the Bears' favor next. Two quick Cal goals made it a one-goal game, and then the Bears equalized on a 5-meter penalty shot before finishing off a 6-on-5 that had Cal enjoying that 10-7 lead. That's where the Trojans buckled back in, allowing just one more Cal goal while piling up five of their own to maneuver to victory.
In the first semifinal game today at Uytengsu Aquatics Center, top-seeded UCLA fought back to beat Pacific 11-9 to advance to the title match against USC. Again, the 2017 national championship game is set for 3 p.m. tomorrow (Dec. 3) at USC's Uytengsu Aquatics Center.
2017 NATIONAL COLLEGIATE CHAMPIONSHIP (Uytengsu Aquatics Center | Los Angeles, Calif.)
NCAA SEMIFINALS
USC 12, California 11
Dec. 2, 2017 (Uytengsu Aquatics Center | Los Angeles, Calif.)
USC 4 - 2 - 3 - 3 = 12
CAL 2 - 4 - 4 - 1 = 11
SCORING:
USC — Grant Stein 3, Marko Vavic 3, Zach D'Sa 2, Matt Maier, Matteo Morelli, Thomas Dunstan, Marin Dasic.
CAL — Safak Simsek 4, Nick Carniglia 2, Ryan Hurst, Pedro Stellet, Luca Cupido, Vassilis Tzavaras, Nikos Delagrammatikas.
SAVES: McQuin Baron (USC) 8, Kevin Le Vine (CAL) 10.
UCLA 11, Pacific 9,
Dec. 2, 2017 (Uytengsu Aquatics Center | Los Angeles, Calif.)
UCLA 2 - 3 - 4 - 2 = 11
PAC 3 - 0 - 3 - 3 = 9
SCORING:
UCLA — Nicolas Saveljic 3, Jack Grover 2, Alex Roelse 2, Max Irving 2, Felix Brozyna-Villim, Austin Rone.
PAC — Luke Pavillard 3, Luis Araya 2, Ben Stevenson 2, Engin Ege Colak, Andres Schmidt.
SAVES: Alex Wolf (UCLA) 5, Alen Osmanovic (PAC) 8, John Hedges (PAC) 0.
Men's Water Polo - USC 15, Princeton 13: Highlights (10/14/25)
Tuesday, October 14
Carson Kranz: Trojans Live 11.25.24
Monday, November 25
Stefan Brankovic | Trojans Live 09.23.24
Monday, September 23
Men's Water Polo - USC 13, UCLA 9: Highlights (11/18/23)
Saturday, November 18
