Saturday, November 23
Berkeley, Calif.
11:00 AM
USC
9
at
12
California
Players Mentioned
DR
/ Men's Water Polo
2M
/ Men's Water Polo
DR
/ Men's Water Polo
G
/ Men's Water Polo
2M
/ Men's Water Polo
Photo by: Catharyn Hayne
Top-Ranked Trojans Fall In MPSF Semifinal At Cal
November 23, 2019 | Men's Water Polo, Features
A 12-9 loss to the Bears sends USC to the third-place game tomorrow in Berkeley.
BERKELEY, CALIF. — The top-ranked and top-seeded USC men's water polo team had a four-game win streak interrupted by No. 4 seeded host California today in the semifinal game of the MPSF Tournament in Berkeley, Calif. Playing in the Bears' home waters for the second straight weekend, USC fought through eight ties but was unable to replicate the fourth-quarter comeback win it registered last week in Berkeley. Instead, Cal turned a 9-9 tie with 3:05 left to play into a final 12-9 victory for the Bears. USC goes to 13-5 overall with the loss and heads into tomorrow's 1 p.m. third-place game against No. 3 seed UCLA.
USC gripped one-goal leads on three occasions in the first half, but was forced to play catchup the rest of the way when Cal finished off the half with back-to-back scores to go up 6-5 for halftime. USC senior Sam Slobodien struck twice in the second period to get USC a lift while also working his way to his 100th career goal.
In the second half, USC's Jake Ehrhardt would deliver equalizers at the start of the third and fourth frames, only to see Cal answer with go-ahead scores each time. The Trojans were in a two-goal hole in the third before Marin Dasic delivered his first goal. Ehrhardt followed with his third to open the fourth, snarling it a 8-8. Cal found the top corner next to take back the lead at 9-8, and after a series of offensive fouls on both ends, Jacob Mercep hammered home his third goal to make it 9-9 with 3:05 to go. USC got looks the rest of the way, but could not break through, while Cal got a 6-on-5 finish and then converted its second 5-meter penalty shot of the game to get ahead 11-9 with 1:53 remaining. Another Cal goal would seal it with 1:01 to go, as USC misfired in the final stretch to wind up on the losing end of the 12-9 scoreline in Berkeley.
USC can help its chances of earning one of the two up-for-grabs NCAA at-large berths with a solid game and victory tomorrow (Nov. 24) in the MPSF third-place game. Currently ranked No. 1 in the nation after toppling then-No. 1s Stanford and UCLA this month, USC is 13-5 overall and looking to stretch its unprecedented run of NCAA appearances to 15 in a row. The 2019 NCAA bracket is scheduled to be released tomorrow evening at NCAA.com.
2019 MPSF TOURNAMENT
SEMIFINALS
[4] California 12, [1] USC 9
Nov. 23, 2019 | Spieker Aquatics Complex (Berkeley, Calif.)
USC 1 - 4 - 2 - 2 = 9
CAL 2 - 4 - 2 - 4 = 12
SCORING:
USC — Jacob Mercep 3, Jake Ehrhardt 3, Sam Slobodien 2, Marin Dasic.
CAL — Jordan Hoover 3, Safak Simsek 2, Nikolaos Papanikolaou 2, Jack Deely 2, Marko Valecic, Nikos Delagrammatikas, Sam Untrecht.
SAVES: Nic Porter (USC) 9, Adrian Weinberg (CAL) 13.
USC gripped one-goal leads on three occasions in the first half, but was forced to play catchup the rest of the way when Cal finished off the half with back-to-back scores to go up 6-5 for halftime. USC senior Sam Slobodien struck twice in the second period to get USC a lift while also working his way to his 100th career goal.
In the second half, USC's Jake Ehrhardt would deliver equalizers at the start of the third and fourth frames, only to see Cal answer with go-ahead scores each time. The Trojans were in a two-goal hole in the third before Marin Dasic delivered his first goal. Ehrhardt followed with his third to open the fourth, snarling it a 8-8. Cal found the top corner next to take back the lead at 9-8, and after a series of offensive fouls on both ends, Jacob Mercep hammered home his third goal to make it 9-9 with 3:05 to go. USC got looks the rest of the way, but could not break through, while Cal got a 6-on-5 finish and then converted its second 5-meter penalty shot of the game to get ahead 11-9 with 1:53 remaining. Another Cal goal would seal it with 1:01 to go, as USC misfired in the final stretch to wind up on the losing end of the 12-9 scoreline in Berkeley.
USC can help its chances of earning one of the two up-for-grabs NCAA at-large berths with a solid game and victory tomorrow (Nov. 24) in the MPSF third-place game. Currently ranked No. 1 in the nation after toppling then-No. 1s Stanford and UCLA this month, USC is 13-5 overall and looking to stretch its unprecedented run of NCAA appearances to 15 in a row. The 2019 NCAA bracket is scheduled to be released tomorrow evening at NCAA.com.
2019 MPSF TOURNAMENT
SEMIFINALS
[4] California 12, [1] USC 9
Nov. 23, 2019 | Spieker Aquatics Complex (Berkeley, Calif.)
USC 1 - 4 - 2 - 2 = 9
CAL 2 - 4 - 2 - 4 = 12
SCORING:
USC — Jacob Mercep 3, Jake Ehrhardt 3, Sam Slobodien 2, Marin Dasic.
CAL — Jordan Hoover 3, Safak Simsek 2, Nikolaos Papanikolaou 2, Jack Deely 2, Marko Valecic, Nikos Delagrammatikas, Sam Untrecht.
SAVES: Nic Porter (USC) 9, Adrian Weinberg (CAL) 13.
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