Thursday, September 6
Los Angeles, CA
5:00 PM
USC
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Concordia University (California)
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Top-Ranked Trojans Have Home Opener Thursday Before Trip To Inland Empire Classic
September 05, 2018 | Men's Water Polo, Features
USC-Concordia Live StatsWeekly Release (PDF)SATURDAY IEC LIVE STREAMSUNDAY IEC LIVE STREAMIEC CENTRAL PAGE
USC hosts Concordia at 5 p.m. on Thursday, then has four more games set for this weekend.
THIS WEEK
The No. 1 Trojans will play five games in a three-day span as they seek to build early momentum in their 2018 campaign. After a 2-0 start, USC has its home opener on tap in hosting Concordia at 5 p.m. on Thursday (Sept. 6) at Uytengsu Aquatics Center. This weekend, the Trojans have four games slated at the Inland Empire Classic. On Saturday (Sept. 8) in Redlands, Calif., USC will face host Redlands at 10:20 a.m. before a 12 p.m. clash with Claremont-Mudd-Scripps. On Sunday (Sept. 9) in La Verne, Calif., the Trojans square off against Concordia once again in a 10:20 a.m. neutral-site matchup before playing host La Verne at 12 p.m. to wrap this week's busy stretch of competition.
RANKINGS
USC started its 2018 journey holding strong at No. 2 in the preseason national rankings, and after one week of work the Trojans have bumped up into a tie at No. 1 in the nation (as of Sept. 5). The Trojans wrapped 2017 at No. 2 in the land after reaching the NCAA final for the 13th consecutive season.
SCOUTING CONCORDIA
The Eagles are 2-2 overall after losses to Cal (19-3) and Air Force (8-7) and wins over La Verne (15-13) and Redlands (11-8) last week. Patrik Zsiros leads Concordia in scoring with 13 goals to date. USC is 7-0 all-time against the Eagles after posting a 25-3 win when the teams last met in 2017.
SCOUTING REDLANDS
The Bulldogs are 1-3 overall after losses to UC Santa Barbara (18-6), LMU (15-5) and Concordia (11-8) and a 9-6 win over Chapman last week. USC is 9-0 all-time against Redlands after a 16-5 win when the teams met last year.
SCOUTING CMS
The Stags open their 2018 season this weekend at the Inland Empire Classic. USC is 14-0 all-time against Claremont-Mudd-Scripps after a 20-1 win when the teams met last year.
SCOUTING LA VERNE
The Leopards are 0-4 overall after losses to UC San Diego (25-8), UC Irvine (22-5), Concordia (15-13) and Chapman (15-5) last week. Chucky Ortega is La Verne's top scorer with 13 goals to date. USC is 4-0 all-time against La Verne after a 26-2 win when the teams last met in 2016.
LAST ACTION
USC exploded out of the gates of the 2018 season in nabbing two communing victories in the Trojans' first official action of the season last weekend. Out at the UCLA Mini Invitational, USC pinned up a 16-1 win over No. 17 Pomona-Pitzer in the morning before delivering a 25-4 victory over Whittier. In building out a 2-0 start to the year, 12 players registered their first stats as Trojans. Six newcomers scored their first career goals, and four goalies notched their first career saves capped up as Trojans. In the opener, senior captain Zach D'Sa opened the Trojans' account, lighting the fuse on an 11-0 scoring rally in the first half by USC against No. 17 Pomona-Pitzer. During that surge, newcomers Hannes Daube, Jacob Mercep and Orestis Apergi punched up their first goals as Trojans while freshman goalie Sam Krutonog had an eight-save haul in his USC debut during the first half. In the second half, redshirt freshman goalie Matt Moran-Flores checked in for his first official minutes in the cage, backing up a stingy USC defense that allowed just a single Sagehen score down the stretch. Meanwhile, two more USC newcomers — Jake Ehrhardt and James Kolenda — pumped in their first USC goals to help the Trojans along to a final 16-1 victory. Mercep's hat trick had him as the scoring leader for the Trojans in this one, leading a pack of 10 USC scorers. Hours later, the Trojans were right back to it, taking on Whittier for game two of the season. This one saw another pair of new USC goalies share time in the cage, with freshman Nic Porter getting the start and transfer Vaios Vlahotasios coming in for the second half of action. Porter would pick up three saves, and Vlahotasios tallied six in his first 16 minutes of work as a Trojan. On the offensive end, relative veterans Marin Dasic and Daniel Leong led the charge with four goals apiece, topping a group of 12 Trojans to get to the back of the net in the 25-4 win. Along the way, freshman Alexander Lansill knocked in his first USC goal, becoming the sixth Trojan newcomer to score on the day.
BY THE NUMBERS
Two games deep into the 2018 season, USC is exhibiting great depth and balance. The Trojans have outscored opponents 41-5, averaging 20.5 goals per game and allowing just 2.5 goals-against per game. Leading the offensive charge so far is junior Marin Dasic with six goals, while six other Trojans have punched in four apiece. On the defensive end, USC has utilized four goalies, with freshman Sam Krutonog boasting eight saves and no goals allowed in two periods of work. Sophomore transfer Vaios Vlahotasios hauled in six saves and gave up just one goal in his two periods in the cage last weekend. Freshman Nic Porter and redshirt freshman Matt Moran-Flores each captured three saves in their respective two periods of work. In all, USC has had 14 Trojans score goals to date, with six USC newcomers in that mix.
10 IN TWENTY?
As USC water polo prepares to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the program's first national championship, the 2018 Trojans are looking to add a 10th NCAA title to the storied program's collection of championship trophies. Under the guidance of head coach Jovan Vavic, who has been on-hand for all nine of the USC men's NCAA titles and all six of the USC women's national championships, the Trojan men are riding an unprecedented streak of 13 consecutive NCAA finals reached as they kick off this 2018 campaign.
ATTACKING BACK
Leading the charge for the Trojans is an arsenal of offensive firepower that is, in a word, daunting. USC's five returning members of the 2017 NCAA roster — Zach D'Sa, Marin Dasic and Sam Slobodien, two-time All-American Matt Maier and All-American and 2017 top scorer Marko Vavic — combined for 158 goals, which was 35 percent of USC's total scoring output on the year. But wait, there's more. For this 2018 campaign, USC has added in two high-powered transfers that help balloon that tally to 274. Last season as a true freshman at San José State, Jacob Mercep whipped up 93 goals and earned All-American honors. Sawyer Rhodes delivered 23 while at Stanford before both he and Mercep changed course to Troy.
CAGE FIGHTERS
After Cutino Award winner and Olympian McQuin Baron manned the cage almost single-handedly for the past four seasons, the Trojans are loaded up with goalies this year. Having five capable goalies in the mix lifts the level of competition in practice and forces the USC shooters to continually recalibrate their strategies for hitting the back of the net. As the season openers quickly approach, Vavic has his eyes on Australian Nic Porter and local product Sam Krutonog as his frontrunners. But he's been impressed, too, with the abilities of Matt Moran-Flores, Paul Matt and Vaios Vlahotasios.
FIFTEEN FRESH FACES
USC's goalkeeping corps boasts four newcomers, who comprise just a corner of the 15-man class of incoming Trojans for 2018. Transfers Jacob Mercep and Sawyer Rhodes offer an instant dose of experience, but this new crew most certainly contains a number of impact freshmen as well. Most notably, USC gets a sizable boost from U.S. National Team members Hannes Daube and Jake Ehrhardt. Looming at 6-foot-5 and 6-foot-6, respectively, Daube and Ehrhardt are a double dose of danger for opposing teams. Add to that the even more international experience from Greece's Orestis Apergi and Aussies Corey Allan and James Kolenda, and the Trojan depth charge becomes even more apparent. Further, the Trojan freshman talent pool grows ever deeper with the addition of California products Mason Farley, Alexander Lansill and Bennett Winther.
LAST SEASON
Last year, the USC men finished 27-4 overall, winning the 2017 MPSF Tournament and reaching the NCAA final for the 13th straight year. That USC roster would see six 2017 All-Americans play their final seasons, including senior first-teamers McQuin Baron and Lachlan Edwards. USC had two underclassmen earn All-America status last year, with freshman Marko Vavic picking up a second team selection and sophomore Matt Maier earning honorable mention. •
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