Saturday, September 28
Los Angeles, Calif.
12:00 PM
USC
15
vs
16
Pacific
Players Mentioned
DR
/ Men's Water Polo
DR
/ Men's Water Polo
2M
/ Men's Water Polo
2M
/ Men's Water Polo
DR
/ Men's Water Polo
G
/ Men's Water Polo
2M
/ Men's Water Polo
G
/ Men's Water Polo
DR
/ Men's Water Polo
Sam Slobodien had hat tricks in both games today for USC.
Photo by: Katie Chin
No. 5 USC Falls To No. 4 Pacific, Tops No. 8 Long Beach State At SoCal Invite
September 28, 2019 | Men's Water Polo, Features
Trojans will play for fifth place tomorrow morning against No. 7 Cal.
WESTWOOD, CALIF. — The No. 5 USC men's water polo team wound up with a Saturday split in SoCal Invitational action today at Spieker Aquatics Center in Westwood. The No. 5 Trojans had a tough noon showdown with No. 4 Pacific, with the Tigers edging out USC in a high-scoring affair. The 16-15 loss put the Trojans out of the running to defend their tournament title collected at last season's event. But USC would rebound for a 9-6 win over Long Beach State later this afternoon to move into the fifth-place game. There, USC will face No. 7 California at 10 a.m. tomorrow (Sept. 29) at Spieker Aquatics Center.
Against the No. 4 Tigers, USC opened its account with back-to-back goals from Hannes Daube. But a two-goal Trojan lead dissipated with a three-goal Pacific surge that turned a 4-2 USC advantage into a 5-4 deficit by the close of the first. Jake Ehrhardt punched up equalizers on two occasions in the second, knotting it a 6-6 before the Tigers bit back again. USC was in an 8-6 hole for almost three minutes before Ehrhardt etched his third of the day and Marin Dasic leveled things at 8-8 before halftime. USC would get another rocket from Dasic to take a 9-8 lead out of the gates of the third, and another shootout ensued. Pacific knocked in back-to-back goals to take back the lead, but Sam Slobodien locked things even again with a strike to make it 10-10 midway through the third. Slobodien sliced in another equalizer a minute later, snarling it at 11-11 with 2:50 to go in the third. In the final minute, though, Pacific found a spark. The Tigers tore in two goals in the last 50 seconds of the frame to go up 13-11, then hammered home two more to open the fourth. That had USC in a four-goal hole, down 15-11 with 5:46 to go. Even after Matt Maier mashed in a 6-on-5 score, Pacific built back its four-goal advantage. USC stared down a 16-12 deficit with 4:30 remaining, and carved into it with three straight scored from Daube. But the Trojans would run out of time, with Daube's fifth goal of the day making it 16-15 with just seven seconds left to play, and Pacific emerged victorious.
In USC's second face-off of the year against Long Beach State, the Trojans had to fight out of an early tight contest. Tangled up even at 2-2 after eight minutes of action, USC exploded with four unanswered goals in the second period. Slobodien slammed in two for the Trojan cause, with Dasic and Jacob Mercep adding to the count while the USC defense silenced the 49ers with Nic Porter manning the cage in this one. Porter would go on to collect 12 saves in the game, and Daube delivered a second-half hat trick to match Slobodien's three-goal outing and keep USC on pace to victory. By the final buzzer, USC had the padding it needed to close out a win on a 9-6 decision that sends USC on to the fifth-place game tomorrow (Sept. 29) against No. 7 California.
2019 SOCAL INVITATIONAL
#4 Pacific 16, #5 USC 15
Sept. 28, 2019 | Spieker Aquatics Center (Westwood, Calif.)
USC 4 - 4 - 3 - 4 = 15
PAC 5 - 3 - 5 - 3 = 16
SCORING:
USC — Hannes Daube 5, Sam Slobodien 3, Jake Ehrhardt 3, Marin Dasic 2, Matt Maier, Luke Wyatt.
PAC — Jeremie Cole 5, Engin Ege Colak 4, Luke Pavillard 4, Bogdan Djerkovic, Andrea De Nardi, Matthew Hosner.
SAVES: Vaios Vlahotasios (USC) 8, Jon Barry (PAC) 13.
#5 USC 9, #8 Long Beach State 6
Sept. 28, 2019 | Spieker Aquatics Center (Westwood, Calif.)
USC 2 - 4 - 1 - 2 = 9
LBSU 2 - 0 -1 - 3 = 6
SCORING:
USC —Sam Slobodien 3, Hannes Daube 3, Jacob Mercep 2, Marin Dasic.
LBSU — Rafael Real Vergara 2, Matt Morris 2, Austin Stewart 2.
SAVES: Nic Porter (USC) 12, Marwan Darwish (LBSU) 20.
Against the No. 4 Tigers, USC opened its account with back-to-back goals from Hannes Daube. But a two-goal Trojan lead dissipated with a three-goal Pacific surge that turned a 4-2 USC advantage into a 5-4 deficit by the close of the first. Jake Ehrhardt punched up equalizers on two occasions in the second, knotting it a 6-6 before the Tigers bit back again. USC was in an 8-6 hole for almost three minutes before Ehrhardt etched his third of the day and Marin Dasic leveled things at 8-8 before halftime. USC would get another rocket from Dasic to take a 9-8 lead out of the gates of the third, and another shootout ensued. Pacific knocked in back-to-back goals to take back the lead, but Sam Slobodien locked things even again with a strike to make it 10-10 midway through the third. Slobodien sliced in another equalizer a minute later, snarling it at 11-11 with 2:50 to go in the third. In the final minute, though, Pacific found a spark. The Tigers tore in two goals in the last 50 seconds of the frame to go up 13-11, then hammered home two more to open the fourth. That had USC in a four-goal hole, down 15-11 with 5:46 to go. Even after Matt Maier mashed in a 6-on-5 score, Pacific built back its four-goal advantage. USC stared down a 16-12 deficit with 4:30 remaining, and carved into it with three straight scored from Daube. But the Trojans would run out of time, with Daube's fifth goal of the day making it 16-15 with just seven seconds left to play, and Pacific emerged victorious.
In USC's second face-off of the year against Long Beach State, the Trojans had to fight out of an early tight contest. Tangled up even at 2-2 after eight minutes of action, USC exploded with four unanswered goals in the second period. Slobodien slammed in two for the Trojan cause, with Dasic and Jacob Mercep adding to the count while the USC defense silenced the 49ers with Nic Porter manning the cage in this one. Porter would go on to collect 12 saves in the game, and Daube delivered a second-half hat trick to match Slobodien's three-goal outing and keep USC on pace to victory. By the final buzzer, USC had the padding it needed to close out a win on a 9-6 decision that sends USC on to the fifth-place game tomorrow (Sept. 29) against No. 7 California.
2019 SOCAL INVITATIONAL
#4 Pacific 16, #5 USC 15
Sept. 28, 2019 | Spieker Aquatics Center (Westwood, Calif.)
USC 4 - 4 - 3 - 4 = 15
PAC 5 - 3 - 5 - 3 = 16
SCORING:
USC — Hannes Daube 5, Sam Slobodien 3, Jake Ehrhardt 3, Marin Dasic 2, Matt Maier, Luke Wyatt.
PAC — Jeremie Cole 5, Engin Ege Colak 4, Luke Pavillard 4, Bogdan Djerkovic, Andrea De Nardi, Matthew Hosner.
SAVES: Vaios Vlahotasios (USC) 8, Jon Barry (PAC) 13.
#5 USC 9, #8 Long Beach State 6
Sept. 28, 2019 | Spieker Aquatics Center (Westwood, Calif.)
USC 2 - 4 - 1 - 2 = 9
LBSU 2 - 0 -1 - 3 = 6
SCORING:
USC —Sam Slobodien 3, Hannes Daube 3, Jacob Mercep 2, Marin Dasic.
LBSU — Rafael Real Vergara 2, Matt Morris 2, Austin Stewart 2.
SAVES: Nic Porter (USC) 12, Marwan Darwish (LBSU) 20.
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