University Southern California Trojans
No. 2 Trojans Get A Taste Of Home This Weekend
October 05, 2005 | Men's Water Polo
Oct. 5, 2005
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THIS WEEK: The No. 2 Trojans play their first home games of the season this weekend when No. 9 LMU and Brown come to town. USC faces the Lions on Saturday (Oct. 8) at 10 a.m. and the Bears on Sunday (Oct. 9) at noon.
RANKINGS: USC (7-1) moved to No. 2 in the national rankings this week after spending the past two weeks at No. 1. LMU (10-7) is ranked No. 9, and Brown (10-6) is not ranked.
WEEKEND RECAP: The Trojans' undefeated run through their first seven games was snapped by then-No. 6 Pepperdine in a 5-4 loss on Friday (Oct. 1). The Waves outscored USC 4-0 in the second quarter to take a 4-1 lead into halftime. Juraj Zatovic scored three goals for the Trojans, and Juan Delgadillo added one, but a late 4-meter penalty call against USC set Pepperdine's 2004 Olympian Jesse Smith up for the game-winner in the fourth period.
TROJAN-LIONS RIVALRY: USC is 7-0 all-time against LMU, having beated the Lions 10-2 last season in nonconference action.
TROJAN-BEARS RIVALRY: USC is 6-0 all-time against Brown, although the pair have not played each other since 1992.
SHUTTING IT DOWN: When junior goalie Don Ricci took to the cage on Sept. 24 against Occidental, he also took hold of a piece of Trojan history by helping anchor USC to its first shutout victory since a 12-0 win over Cal State Los Angeles in 1988. Ricci posted four saves in the win, a testament to the powerful Trojan defense in field.
SPRINT SPECIALIST: Junior utility Pavol Valovic has yet to lose a starting sprint for the Trojans. The speedster has taken the majority of USC's opening sprints, and has come out ahead on every one. In the SoCal Tournament championship game against Stanford on Sept. 18, Valovic was a perfect 4-for-4 off the lane line. He recently did the same against Pepperdine.
MASS PRODUCTION: Despite the low-scoring output against Pepperdine, the Trojans' overall offensive production and defensive control have become glaringly apparant. In its first seven games, USC averaged 10.1 goals per game, while allowing a mere 4.3 per game to lead the nation. The Trojan defense has not allowed more than five goals in the past five games. LEAPFROG: After five more goals at the Lancer Invitational, Juraj Zatovic launched himself past another big-time former Trojan on the all-time scoring leaderboard. And with Saturday's hat trick, Zatovic now boasts 173 career goals, meaning he needs just six more goals in order to tie for the No. 2 spot. If Zatovic can muster up 17 more goals before season's end, he'll be in the history books for the top mark in USC history.
CAGE FIGHTERS: The red-capped tandem of sophomore Adam Shilling and junior Don Ricci has proven a potent one-two punch for the Trojans. Together, they have 55 saves, and in the SoCal Tournament title game on Sept. 18, the pair shared in the championship effort. When Shilling was ejected in the second quarter, Ricci was able to sub in and make the stop on the Cardinal 6-on-5 attack. Shilling stepped back in at the half, and anchored the Trojans the rest of the way to the win.
LMU NOTES: The Lions (10-7) are coming off a tournament title win at the East Meets West Invitational in Colorado Springs, Colo. LMU beat Brown in the championship game. The Lions snapped a three-game losing streak by pinning up five straight wins at the tournament. Senior Endre Rex-Kiss was named MVP of the tourney.
BROWN NOTES: The Bears (10-6) went 3-2 at the East Meets West Invitational last week in Colorado Springs, Colo., beating Air Force, Iona and Occidental and falling twice to tournament champ LMU.
HOME POOL ADVANTAGE: After battling through regular-season competition, USC will play host to the crucial MPSF tournament (Nov. 25-27), where conference teams will vie for the championship title and an automatic bid into the eight-team NCAA Tournament. All the action is set to go down at McDonald's Swim Stadium.
VAVIC ON DECK: Head coach Jovan Vavic, one of the top water polo coaches in the country, serves a dual role as the head coach of both the USC men's and women's teams and has led both to national championships twice in the same school year (the men in 1998 and 2003 and the women in 1999 and 2004). As he begins his 11th season at the helm of the men's program, Vavic has a 213-51 (.807) record on the men's side after leading the 2004 Trojan squad to a third-place finish in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation and a 22-5 overall mark. He also boasts a winning record against all opponents on the men's side of the game. Vavic pulled a coaching double sweep when he was named 2003 National Coach of the Year and MPSF Coach of the Year for the men and 2004 National Coach of the Year and MPSF Coach of the Year for the women. The 2004 women's team became the first team in NCAA Championship history to go undefeated (29-0) during the regular season.
