Sunday, September 30
Los Angeles, CA
1:00 PM
USC
16
vs
2
UC Santa Barbara
Players Mentioned
DR
/ Men's Water Polo
2M
/ Men's Water Polo
G
/ Men's Water Polo
DR
/ Men's Water Polo
2M
/ Men's Water Polo
DR
/ Men's Water Polo
G
/ Men's Water Polo
DR
/ Men's Water Polo
2M
/ Men's Water Polo
DR
/ Men's Water Polo
DR
/ Men's Water Polo
Photo by: Katie Chin
No. 1 USC Dominates No. 5 UC Santa Barbara 16-2
September 30, 2018 | Men's Water Polo, Features
Trojans finish off their fifth opponent in three days with a powerful home victory.
LOS ANGELES, CALIF. — After picking up four wins in two days in Riverside, the No. 1 USC men's water polo team still looked fresh in home waters as the Trojans rolled to a powerful 16-2 victory over visiting No. 5 UC Santa Barbara today at Uytengsu Aquatics Center. After the Gauchos got within one midway through the first period, the Trojans unleashed 11 straight goals to claim complete control over today's contest. The win takes USC to 17-0 overall on the year.
To kick things off for the Trojans, Sawyer Rhodes earned a power play for USC, prompting a pass from Marko Vavic to Hannes Daube for an authoritative blast that nudged the hosts into an early lead. A solo shot from Jacob Mercep followed suit, and USC had a 2-0 advantage. The Gauchos would get on the board and close the gap after putting away a rebound off a save from Sam Krutonog — his first of 12 in just over three periods of work in the cage. From there, however, Krutonog and the Trojan defense would go on high alert, silencing their visitors for the next 16 minutes while the USC offense rattled off 11 consecutive goals.
Jake Ehrhardt, Vavic and Zach D'Sa would drum up the first three of that rally, getting the Trojans a 5-1 lead by the end of the first period. In the second, it was all USC. Daube went back-to-back with a couple massive strikes to get USC"s momentum in high gear. The freshman then set up Matt Maier for a close-range blast that made it 8-1. A field block from Daniel Leong squashed a UC Santa Barbara 6-on-5 next, and then D'Sa would find Vavic on the post to take it to 9-1. Krutonog came up with back-to-back stops against Gaucho power plays next, and then the Trojan D flexed its muscle again as Daube and Mercep combined forces for a takeaway that was capped off by a rocket from Mercep to close out the half with USC up 10-1.
An early Daube interception led to Vavic's third goal of the day out of the gates in the second half. Not a minute later, it was Daube again, hammering home a solo strike for his fourth goal of the game and a 12-1 USC advantage. The Trojan scoring surge continued with a dunk at the post from Maier off a setup from Mercep, then went to an 11th consecutive score as Sam Slobodien finished off a power play that he himself had earned, making it 14-1 USC. In the later stages of the third, UC Santa Barbara would break its silence in converting a 6-on-5, getting it to 14-2 USC as the final frame approached. USC saw success on another 6-on-5 as Luke Wyatt punched up a 15-2 USC lead a minute into the fourth. Nic Porter would take over the cage from there, adding five saves to the 12 that Krutonog had collected. Under Porter's watch, the Gauchos would be rendered scoreless once more, while Wyatt whipped in one last USC goal. A final 6-on-5 save from Porter would seal it, and the Trojans emerged with a decisive 16-2 win over the No. 5 Gauchos.
USC's next action takes the Trojans to Palo Alto for a televised matchup against Stanford. USC and the Cardinal are due to do battle at 2 p.m. on Saturday (Oct. 6), with the game broadcast live on Pac-12 Los Angeles and Pac-12 Bay Area. From there, the Trojans return home to host San José State at 12 p.m. on Sunday (Oct. 7) at Uytengsu Aquatics Center.
#1 USC 16, #5 UC Santa Barbara 2
Sept. 30, 2018 | Uytensgu Aquatics Center (Los Angeles, Calif.)
USC 5 - 5 - 4 - 2 = 16
UCSB 1 - 0 - 1 - 0 = 2
SCORING:
USC — Hannes Daube 4, Marko Vavic 3, Jacob Mercep 2, Matt Maier 2, Luke Wyatt 2, Jake Ehrhardt, Zach D'Sa, Sam Slobodien.
UCSB — Jacob Halle, Tommy Fellner.
SAVES: Sam Krutonog (USC) 12 [3 periods], Nic Porter (USC) 5 [4th period], Tiago Bonchristiano (UCSB) 8, Conner Macdonald (UCSB) 1, Ben Miller (UCSB) 4.
To kick things off for the Trojans, Sawyer Rhodes earned a power play for USC, prompting a pass from Marko Vavic to Hannes Daube for an authoritative blast that nudged the hosts into an early lead. A solo shot from Jacob Mercep followed suit, and USC had a 2-0 advantage. The Gauchos would get on the board and close the gap after putting away a rebound off a save from Sam Krutonog — his first of 12 in just over three periods of work in the cage. From there, however, Krutonog and the Trojan defense would go on high alert, silencing their visitors for the next 16 minutes while the USC offense rattled off 11 consecutive goals.
Jake Ehrhardt, Vavic and Zach D'Sa would drum up the first three of that rally, getting the Trojans a 5-1 lead by the end of the first period. In the second, it was all USC. Daube went back-to-back with a couple massive strikes to get USC"s momentum in high gear. The freshman then set up Matt Maier for a close-range blast that made it 8-1. A field block from Daniel Leong squashed a UC Santa Barbara 6-on-5 next, and then D'Sa would find Vavic on the post to take it to 9-1. Krutonog came up with back-to-back stops against Gaucho power plays next, and then the Trojan D flexed its muscle again as Daube and Mercep combined forces for a takeaway that was capped off by a rocket from Mercep to close out the half with USC up 10-1.
An early Daube interception led to Vavic's third goal of the day out of the gates in the second half. Not a minute later, it was Daube again, hammering home a solo strike for his fourth goal of the game and a 12-1 USC advantage. The Trojan scoring surge continued with a dunk at the post from Maier off a setup from Mercep, then went to an 11th consecutive score as Sam Slobodien finished off a power play that he himself had earned, making it 14-1 USC. In the later stages of the third, UC Santa Barbara would break its silence in converting a 6-on-5, getting it to 14-2 USC as the final frame approached. USC saw success on another 6-on-5 as Luke Wyatt punched up a 15-2 USC lead a minute into the fourth. Nic Porter would take over the cage from there, adding five saves to the 12 that Krutonog had collected. Under Porter's watch, the Gauchos would be rendered scoreless once more, while Wyatt whipped in one last USC goal. A final 6-on-5 save from Porter would seal it, and the Trojans emerged with a decisive 16-2 win over the No. 5 Gauchos.
USC's next action takes the Trojans to Palo Alto for a televised matchup against Stanford. USC and the Cardinal are due to do battle at 2 p.m. on Saturday (Oct. 6), with the game broadcast live on Pac-12 Los Angeles and Pac-12 Bay Area. From there, the Trojans return home to host San José State at 12 p.m. on Sunday (Oct. 7) at Uytengsu Aquatics Center.
#1 USC 16, #5 UC Santa Barbara 2
Sept. 30, 2018 | Uytensgu Aquatics Center (Los Angeles, Calif.)
USC 5 - 5 - 4 - 2 = 16
UCSB 1 - 0 - 1 - 0 = 2
SCORING:
USC — Hannes Daube 4, Marko Vavic 3, Jacob Mercep 2, Matt Maier 2, Luke Wyatt 2, Jake Ehrhardt, Zach D'Sa, Sam Slobodien.
UCSB — Jacob Halle, Tommy Fellner.
SAVES: Sam Krutonog (USC) 12 [3 periods], Nic Porter (USC) 5 [4th period], Tiago Bonchristiano (UCSB) 8, Conner Macdonald (UCSB) 1, Ben Miller (UCSB) 4.
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