University Southern California Trojans
Men's Water Polo Hosts Stanford On Saturday
October 19, 1999 | Men's Water Polo
Oct. 19, 1999
LOS ANGELES - The defending NCAA champion USC men's water polo team (14-1 overall, 3-0 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation for second place), riding a nine-game winning streak, hosts Stanford (12-2, 2-1) in an important MPSF match on Saturday (Oct. 23) at the McDonald's Swim Stadium at 10 a.m. (2 1/2 hours before the Trojan-Cardinal football game). Then, on Sunday (Oct. 24), USC visits UC Irvine (6-9 - plays Long Beach State and UC Santa Barbara this week) for a non-conference contest at noon.
RANKINGS - USC was ranked No. 1 in the Oct. 13 U.S. Water Polo Top 20 Poll. Stanford was No. 3 and UC Irvine was No. 7.
OPPONENTS - Stanford leads the series with USC, 48-21 (since 1979). Each of the last four meetings have gone into overtime, with both sides winning twice. The Trojans won the most important of the four, the 1998 NCAA championship game. This season, Stanford won in the final of the So-Cal Tournament, while USC won in the semifinals of the Nor-Cal Tournament ... USC leads the series with UC Irvine, 35-23 (since 1979) and has won 11 in a row.
LAST WEEKEND - USC posted a pair of victories in Northern California last weekend. On Friday (Oct. 15), the Trojans pounded No. 20 UC Davis, 14-6, as Jordan Hewko scored four goals. On Saturday (Oct. 16), the Trojans beat No. 6 Pacific, 11-4, as Richard McEvoy tied a season high with 15 saves and Ivan Babic scored four points.
JOVAN VAVIC - After serving as co-head coach for the last four seasons, Jovan Vavic takes over as head coach in 1999. The last year has been a good one for Vavic, as he helped the USC men to the 1998 NCAA championship, then led the USC women to the 1999 national championship as their head coach. Entering this season, Vavic's record as co-head coach was 89-18 (.832).
RICHARD McEVOY - After earning All-American third team status the last two seasons, Richard McEvoy (Pembroke Pines, FL/Cooper City HS) may very well be the best goalie in the country as a 1999 senior. He has made 141 saves (first in the MPSF) in 1999, 9.4 per game, and is allowing just 5.7 points per game (third in the MPSF). He ranks fourth on USC's career save list with 533. McEvoy made the All-Southern California Tournament second team.
ALLEN BASSO - One of USC's most veteran players, senior driver Allen Basso (Lake Forest/El Toro HS) is off to an extraordinary start. He has scored an MPSF-best 36 points, a career high, the best on the team and nearly twice as many as the team's No. 2 scorer. He has connected on a team-high six two-pointers. He made the All-Southern California Tournament first team. He has been named MPSF Player of the Week twice already. The first honor came after scoring five points in the season opener against Long Beach State. The second came after he scored 12 points in four games to help USC to the Nor-Cal Tournament championship. Last season Allen made All-American honorable mention and scored 25 points.
GEORGE CSASZAR - USC's leading scorer in 1998, George Csaszar is off to another good start as a 1999 junior driver. A native of Hungary, he is second on USC with 18 points this season. He made the All-Southern California Tournament first team. Last year he made the All-American second team and scored 60 points.
OTHERS - In addition to McEvoy, Csaszar and Basso, the Trojans feature three other All-Americans from a year ago ... Senior 2-meter man James Castle (Hacienda Heights/Wilson HS), an All-American second teamer in 1998, was slowed by injury to start the 1999 season. But he has rebounded to score 14 points ... Senior 2-meter man Peter Janov (Bratislava, Slovakia) is considered USC's ironman because of the amount of minutes he plays. An All-American honorable mention last season, he has scored 14 points this season ... Sophomore utility player Ivan Babic (Belgrade, Yugoslavia) is another standout who also made All-American honorable mention last season. He has 15 points in 1999.
LAST SEASON - The Trojans captured the 1998 NCAA championship by beating Stanford, 9-8, in overtime in the title game. USC finally won an elusive championship after finishing second six times, including four of the previous five years. Marko Pintaric, who hit the game-winning two-pointer against Stanford, was named the NCAA Player of the Year. The Trojans finished with a school-record 25-3 mark.
