University Southern California Trojans
USC
Long Beach St
Men's Water Polo Defeats Long Beach State, 7-6
September 08, 2001 | Men's Water Polo
Sept. 8, 2001
LOS ANGELES - Senior Ivan Babic's goal at 1:32 of the second overtime period proved to be the game-winner Saturday as the No. 1 USC Trojans defeated the No. 7 Long Beach State 49ers, 7-6, in men's water polo action at McDonald's Swim Stadium. The Trojans (1-0, 1-0) scored twice in the second overtime period and held off a late charge from the 49ers (0-1, 0-1) in the regular season and Mountain Pacific Sports Federation opener for both teams.
Babic and sophomore two-meter Predrag Damjanov scored two goals each to lead the Trojans.
Chris Segesman and Aaron Holloway scored two goals each for the 49ers. Long Beach State also received a tremendous effort from goalie Brett Adolph, who recorded 10 saves.
USC held a 4-3 lead after three periods, but Segesman tied the match at 1:13 of the fourth period. Damjanov scored his first goal at 1:56 of the fourth before Segesman tied the match again at 4:09. Adolph made a huge save on a shot by USC sophomore Erik Healy with over two minutes remaining in regulation.
Neither team scored in the first overtime period, but USC led off the second overtime period on a power-play goal by Damjanov at 0:57 after Segesman was called for the exclusion foul. Babic scored the game-winner before Long Beach scored its lone goal at 2:49 on a power-play by Holloway.
"Ivan did a great job defensively on Segesman, especially in the overtime periods," said USC Head Coach Jovan Vavic. "Predrag (Damjanov) was very disciplined and focused today. This was a great start to our season."
USC will travel to UC Santa Barbara for another MPSF match tomorrow (Sept. 9) at 12 p.m. before returning home to host the 2001 So-Cal Tournament next weekend (Sept. 15-16) at McDonald's Swim Stadium.
1st 2nd 3rd 4th 1st OT 2nd OT Final LBSU 1 1 1 2 0 1 - 6 USC 0 2 2 1 0 2 - 7
USC - Ivan Babic 2, Predrag Damjanov 2, Daniel Lontay, James Shin, Brett Reynolds LBSU - Aaron Holloway 2, Chris Segesman 2, Nathan Allard, Kellyn Carlson
Saves: USC-Bozidar Damjanovic 5, LBSU-Brett Adolph 10
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