Saturday, September 16
Davis, CA
9:00 AM
USC
vs
California Baptist
Players Mentioned
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2M
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UT
/ Men's Water Polo
DR
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DR
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2M
/ Men's Water Polo
UT
/ Men's Water Polo
DR
/ Men's Water Polo
G
/ Men's Water Polo
2M
/ Men's Water Polo
2M
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DR
/ Men's Water Polo
DR
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UT
/ Men's Water Polo
DR
/ Men's Water Polo
Photo by: John McGillen
No. 2 USC Flies North For Action At Aggie Roundup
September 13, 2017 | Men's Water Polo, Features
Trojans will face Cal Baptist, MIT, Santa Clara and Long Beach State during weekend of work in Davis.
THIS WEEK
No. 2 USC packs up its 5-0 record to take along on the Trojans' first real road trip of the year. USC heads north to Davis, Calif., for four games at the Aggie Roundup this weekend. On Saturday (Sept. 16), USC's work begins with a 9 a.m. clash against No. 15 Cal Baptist at Schaal Aquatics. USC will head to nearby Woodland Community Swim Center to face MIT at noon that same day. On Sunday, USC plays two more games in Davis, first up against Santa Clara at 12 p.m. and then wrapping the trip with a 3:30 p.m. faceoff against No. 6 Long Beach State.
RANKINGS
USC started its 2017 journey holding strong at No. 2 in the preseason national rankings. The Trojans wrapped 2016 at No. 2 in the land after reaching the NCAA final for the 12th consecutive season. Entering the third week of 2017 competition, USC remains ranked at No. 2 in the nation.
LAST WEEK
USC snagged three more wins last week, starting with a key MPSF victory over No. 3 Stanford in the Trojans' home opener at Uytengsu Aquatics Center. Two seniors and two underclassmen tallied goals for the Trojans while the USC defense fended off the Cardinal when it mattered to register the home-opening victory. Senior goalie McQuin Baron tacked up 12 saves as he continues to climb the USC career saves ladder, moving 19 saves shy of the program record held by leader Joel Dennerley at 855. Meanwhile, USC had true freshman Marko Vavic plug in two goals along with a pair apiece from seniors Blake Edwards and Matteo Morelli and single strikes from sophomores Matt Maier and Marin Dasic. The Cardinal got within a goal late in the first and second periods, but the Trojans turned it on with a goal from Maier before halftime and then plugged in two more goals for a three-goal run to lead it by four late in the third to keep USC in control down the stretch. Two days later out at the Inland Empire Classic in Redlands, the Trojans peeled out to a 12-0 lead against Claremont-Mudd-Scripps and then tallied the first eight goals of the matchup against Redlands to exert control in both games. By day's end, USC had posted a 20-1 victory over the Stags and a 16-5 win over the host Bulldogs to bulk up the Trojans' 2017 record to 5-0 overall. Bryce Hoerman was the first to double up on his scoring count today, taking a 7-0 USC lead on goals from seven different Trojans to tally his second and make it an 8-0 lead on the Stags. Murphy Slater and Zach D'Sa would join the scoring party by halftime, building a 10-0 USC advantage at the break on the hands of nine different USC scorers. By the final buzzer, the USC defense had surrendered just a single goals, with goalies McQuin Baron and Will Rubschlager sharing time in the cage. Thirteen different Trojans would score in the win, led by hat tricks by D'Sa and Matteo Morelli and a pair apiece from Hoerman, Blake Edwards and Matt Maier. After a couple hours' break, the Trojans splashed back down to take on host Redlands. There, Morelli would strike twice during a USC surge to an 8-0 advantage. A 5-meter penalty shot from the Bulldogs broke up the run before Hoerman sizzled in a score before halftime to make it a 9-1 USC lead. Simon Wu would step into the cage for the second half to spell Baron as USC remained in control. Marko Vavic would deliver a hat trick in the third period of play while D'Sa finished off his second hat trick of the day during that same frame. D'Sa's third goal took the Trojans to a 15-3 lead entering the final frame as USC set up for the final push to an eventual 16-5 victory over Redlands to wrap the day's work.
CLIMB ON
USC senior McQuin Baron is poised to take over as USC's most prolific goalie. With 844 saves collected to date, Baron is just 12 saves away from becoming USC's all-time saves leader. Baron is chasing current leader Joel Dennerley's 855 career saves mark. Dennerley has been the program record holder since setting it early in his 2011 senior season. Also charging up the career charts are a set of All-American senior sharpshooters. After two weeks of work in 2017, Matteo Morelli has climbed to No. 22 all-time with 121 career goals, followed by Blake Edwards with 119, Grant Stein with 118 and Lachlan Edwards with 114 so far.
ALL-AMERICAN EDGE
With eight All-Americans back in the water for 2017, USC head coach Jovan Vavic has more All-American talent than he has room for in his starting lineup. In that core group of decorated All-Americans, seven are seniors. Two of them are repeat team captains — James Walters and returning top scorer Blake Edwards — both two-time All-Americans. One is Cutino Award winner McQuin Baron, who will soon be taking over as USC's all-time saves leader. Three more Trojan All-Americans — Matteo Morelli, Lachlan Edwards and Grant Stein — accumulated over 100 combined goals last year. The seventh — standing out as the brains of the group — is NCAA Elite 90 Award winner Mihajlo Milicevic, who stars as a stingy defender for the Trojan cause. The only first-time All-American in the crew is on his way in to his second season at USC, as sophomore Matt Maier returns to the pool as the 2016 MPSF Newcomer of the Year.
BY THE NUMBERS
Now five games deep into 2017, the Trojans have displayed widespread scoring ability. Twenty-one Trojans scored on USC's first day of action — a doubleheader at the UCLA Mini Invitational. From there, it has been Matteo Morelli who stands as the most prolific Trojan to date with 11 goals, having scored at least twice in every game to date. Next, senior Blake Edwards and freshman Marko Vavic weigh in with nine goals apiece, followed by senior Grant Stein (8) and junior Zach D'Sa (7). Defensively, three goalies have capped up in the cage. McQuin Baron has appeared in all five games, with double-digit saves recording in a full game's work vs. Stanford. He's averaging 9.0 saves and 2.7 goals-against per game. Will Rubschlager and Simon Wu, meanwhile, have played four periods apiece, with Rubschlager making eight save and Wu making seven. In all, USC has outscored opponents 95-18. As a team, USC ranks No. 1 in the MPSF in defense (3.6 gapg) and in offense 19.0 (gpg)
DEPTH CHARGE
As valuable as USC's sizeable senior class is, Jovan Vavic has his eyes on a few other returners as linchpins in this season's efforts. Now sophomores, Olympian Thomas Dunstan, MPSF Newcomer of the Year Matt Maier and FINA Junior World Championship silver medalist Marin Dasic are even more prepared to be impact players for the Trojans. Junior Zach D'Sa and redshirt sophomore Daniel Leong both had breakout seasons last year and are primed for major playing time in 2017. Redshirt junior Tim Leong has also maneuvered his way into an increased role, while redshirt sophomore Sam Slobodien, too, made major strides last season and during the summer, lining himself up for extra duty at the two-meter mark along with fellow centers Maier, James Walters and Lachlan Edwards. In all, the Trojans return 90 percent of their scoring production from last season as well as their entire goalkeeping corps.
NEW CREW
Among the talented Trojan youth movement, Vavic taps redshirt freshmen Luke Wyatt, Chas Hornecker and Luka Karaman and true freshmen Marko Vavic and Christian Hockenbury as the brightest stars who are seeing the benefits of their hard work and skills developed in the run-up to this 2017 campaign. At 6-foot-6 and with U.S. National Team experience, Vavic stands to be a quick and powerful fit into his father's gameplan. Marko is the third of head coach Jovan Vavic's children to cap up at USC, following in the footsteps of older brother Nikola and sister Monica, who won a combined five NCAA Championships as Trojans.
OPENING DAY
Twenty-one Trojans got on the scoresheets in USC's season-opening action at the UCLA Mini Invitational. Fifteen Trojans logged goals in each game as USC posted a 27-3 win over Claremont-Mudd-Scripps followed by a 24-3 win over Pomona-Pitzer. Along the way, five Trojans — Marko Vavic, Troy Furniss, Christian Emerson, Christian Hockenbury and Chas Hornecker — registered their first career goals at USC.
TROJAN TRAVELS
In July, the Trojans took a trip through international waters, soaking up some sun while splashing down in seas, pools and rivers across France, Italy, Croatia and Montenegro. The Trojans set up camp in Nice (France), Recco (Italy), Split (Croatia) and Herceg Novi (Montenegro) while scrimmaging local teams and training for the upcoming 2017 season back in the USA. That European adventure brought the entire USC squad together as a team, offering up invaluable opportunities to gel in the water and out. In fact, the last three USC teams to take a similar summer training trip to Europe came back to the USA and won the national championship that same year. It's a theme that bodes well for the 2017 Trojans, who boast a senior class that is 13 Trojans strong and who have 11 redshirt freshmen and newcomers lined up for their first official action this season.
AND NOW, THIS
Now in his 23rd year at the helm of the USC water polo program, Jovan Vavic has guided the Trojans to the NCAA title match every season for the past 12 years. He's captured seven championships during that stretch. Last season, USC manufactured a 24-2 overall record, losing just one road game during the regular season, winning the MPSF Championship and then falling in a frustrating NCAA final that went to overtime in its opponent's home pool. This year, the Trojans are lined up as host of the 2017 NCAA Tournament, set for Dec. 2-3 at USC's own Uytengsu Aquatics Center. The last time the Trojans hosted the national championship, they capped it off by hoisting the 2012 championship trophy. This year, USC aims to once again successfully defend the Trojans' home waters while adding a 10th NCAA trophy to the men's collection of championships.
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