Saturday, September 23
Los Angeles, CA
11:30 AM
USC
10
vs
9
UC Irvine
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's Water Polo
DR
/ Men's Water Polo
DR
/ Men's Water Polo
2M
/ Men's Water Polo
UT
/ Men's Water Polo
2M
/ Men's Water Polo
UT
/ Men's Water Polo
DR
/ Men's Water Polo
DR
/ Men's Water Polo
DR
/ Men's Water Polo
Photo by: Dan Avila
No. 2 Trojans Win Two Comeback Nailbiters To Reach Mountain Pacific Invite Title Match
September 23, 2017 | Men's Water Polo, Features
USC tangles with rival UCLA in the final at 2:30 p.m. Sunday at Uytengsu Aquatics Center.
LOS ANGELES, CALIF. — The No. 2 USC men's water polo team shrugged off a three-goal deficit in the quarterfinals and a two-goal hole in the semis to claim two tight comeback wins in a busy day of action at the Mountain Pacific Invitational. Hosts of this year's competitive tourney, the Trojans had to get down to business for a fourth-quarter comeback to beat No. 10 UC Irvine 10-9 in the morning's quarterfinals. That set up a rematch with No. 3 Stanford in tonight's semifinals, where USC showed it still had some fight left to make a late move to beat the Cardinal 11-10. The Trojans will now line up against crosstown rival No. 4 UCLA in the championship match tomorrow (Sept. 24) at 2:30 p.m. at USC's Uytengsu Aquatics Center.
USC wound up in a tricky spot in its second match of the tourney, seeing an early 2-1 lead melt away as the Anteaters had the USC defense figured out in making a 5-1 scoring run to put the hosts behind 7-4 early in the second period. By halftime, that hole was still three goals deep for the Trojans, who trailed UC Irvine 8-5 at the break. A slow third quarter saw USC still in a tough spot as the Anteaters were up 9-6 on the Trojans entering the final eight minutes of regulation. Finally, the Trojans were able to find a groove. After McQuin Baron settled in a made a key power play save, Blake Edwards earned a 5-meter penalty shot that Matteo Morelli promptly deposited into the back of the net to make it 9-7 UC Irvine with 4:49 to go. Marko Vavic would force an Anteater turnover next, and Edwards took it back the other way for the finishing touch to get USC within one. Another Baron save keyed another USC attack. Morelli found Vavic for the searing strike that equalized the game for the first time since the 3:44 mark of the first period. After a Lachlan Edwards field block squashed UC Irvine's next offensive series, Matt Maier unleashed an incredible nearside score to lift USC ahead 10-9 with 2:30 to go. USC's defense would step up for the rest, and the Trojans averted a dire situation to claim the comeback victory and advance to the evening's semifinals.
Up against No. 3 Stanford for the second time this season, USC was looking to replicate its solid win over the Cardinal from a few weeks earlier. Stanford, it turned out, had a different outcome in mind as a seesaw battle ensued. USC gripped a 3-1 lead in the first period of play, only to see Stanford rattle off four goals in the second around a single strike from the Trojans. That had the Cardinal ahead 5-4 at halftime, and in the third Stanford made a power move out to a 7-5 advantage. USC responded with back-to-back 6-on-5 scores — from Maier and Vavic — to lock even at 7-7. But Stanford struck again on a 6-on-5 of its own just 30 seconds later, and USC was behind 8-7 entering the fourth.
Yet another USC power play helped the Trojans equalize, as Morelli found Dunstan for the rocket that leveled it at 8-8 early in the fourth. A takeaway from Dunstan later helped get USC back on the attack, and it was Lachlan Edwards who finally got his just reward for earning countless ejections from his 2-meter spot. On this 6-on-5, Vavic hit Edwards for a booming dunk at the post to nudge USC ahead 9-8 with 5:09 on the clock. Stanford was clearly not going away, however, and the Cardinal scored off the foul next to snarl up the score once more. Again, a convincing USC 6-on-5 did the trick for the Trojans, who had Morelli set up another teammate for the go-ahead blast. Blake Edwards delivered this one, netting his second goal of the game and a 10-9 USC lead with 3:05 to go. Stanford would fire off another equalizer not 20 seconds later, and although the next USC power play would be stopped by Stanford goalie Drew Holland, Morelli would take matters in his own hands in the final minute. The Italian let loose a laser that put USC on top 11-10 with 28 ticks to go. Baron would come up big with a late save, and USC was able to hang on for the crucial comeback victory.
Now, USC faces UCLA in the 2:30 p.m. championship game tomorrow (Sept. 24) at Uytengsu Aquatics Center, preceded by a 1 p.m. third-place game between Cal and Stanford.
For complete tournament results and schedule, visit the Mountain Pacific Invitational tournament central page.
2017 MOUNTAIN PACIFIC INVITATIONAL
QUARTERFINAL
#2 USC 10, #10 UC Irvine 9
Sept. 23, 2017 | UYtengsu Aquatics Center (Los Angeles, Calif.)
USC 4 - 1 - 1 - 4 = 10
UCI 6 - 2 - 1 - 0 = 9
SCORING:
USC — Matteo Morelli 2, Grant Stein 2, Marko Vavic 2, Zach D'Sa, Bryce Hoerman, Blake Edwards, Matt Maier.
UCI — Fynn Schuetze 3, Lovre Milos 2, Antoine Lena 2, Robby Stiefel, Kyle Trush.
SAVES: McQuin Baron (USC) 9, Matej Matijevic (UCI) 12.
SEMIFINAL
#2 USC 11, #3 Stanford 10
Sept. 23, 2017 | UYtengsu Aquatics Center (Los Angeles, Calif.)
USC 3 - 1 - 3 - 4 = 11
STAN 1 - 4 - 3 - 2 = 10
SCORING:
USC — Matt Maier 2, Blake Edwards 2, Thomas Dunstan 2, Mihajlo Milicevic, Bryce Hoerman, Marko Vavic, Lachlan Edwards, Matteo Morelli.
STAN — Connor Stapleton 3, Cody Smith 2, Ben Hallock 2, Blake Parrish 2, Dylan Woodhead.
SAVES: McQuin Baron (USC) 10, Drew Holland (STAN) 17.
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