University Southern California Trojans
No. 3 USC Set To Defend SoCal Tourney Title
September 14, 2005 | Men's Water Polo
Sept. 14, 2005
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THIS WEEK: The Trojans get their first tournament action of the 2005 season with another trip to Orange County for the Southern California Tournament, hosted by UC Irvine. USC is in a bracket with Long Beach State, Pacific and Redlands, and the Trojans open tournament play against Redlands at 10:20 a.m. at Corona del Mar High School. A win there will put them against the winner of the Long Beach State-Pacific match at 4:10 p.m., while a loss will put them against the losers of that same bracket match at 3 p.m. The winner's bracket continues at UC Irvine on Sunday, with consolation play at Corona del Mar.
RANKINGS: USC (1-0) is ranked No. 3 in the most recent national poll, and Redlands is No. 15. Their bracket-mates Long Beach State and Pacific are ranked No. 6 and No. 12, respectively.
WEEKEND RECAP: The No. 3 Trojans battled through a tight first half and dominated the second half of play to win their season opener 8-5 at No. 8 UC Irvine last weekend. Juraj Zatovic led all scorers witha four-goal outburst, including three straight 6-on-5 scores in the third quarter. The Trojan defense held the Anteaters silent in that frame as well to secure the victory.
SOCAL TOURNAMENT PREVIEW: USC comes into this weekend's Southern California Tournament as the defending champions. At last year's tourney, the host then-No. 2 Trojans worked their way to the title match against then-No. 1 Stanford. Juraj Zatovic notched four goals for the Trojans on the way to a 8-6 win. California claimed third place with a 10-9 win over UCLA. For 2005, the Trojans received the top seed in their bracket, as did the other top-ranked teams in the nation, UCLA, California and Stanford. The 16-team tournament runs across two days, with semifinals set for Sunday (Sept. 18) at 10:30 and 11:45 a.m. at UC Irvine. The championship game is set for 4:45 p.m. also at UCI.
THAT'S THREE: Senior two-meter defender Juraj Zatovic kicked off the 2005 men's water polo season with a bang. For his outstanding four-goal effort in Week One of the Trojans' 2005 campaign, Zatovic was named Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Player of the Week. The honor marks Zatovic's third such weekly award in his career at Troy.
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.
BACK ON THE ATTACK: Four of USC's top seven 2004 scorers are back in the lineup for 2005 -- having accounted to 124 goals amongst them last season. That attack is led by leading scorer senior Juraj Zatovic, who was an All-American and All-MPSF selection last season, leading USC with 46 goals to put him at 152 career goals. Add to that the wiley left-handed arm of junior Thomas Hale, junior Juan Delgadillo and sophomore Tommy Corcoran, and the Trojans bring back a balanced set of offensive options.
CAGE FIGHTERS: The Trojans return their reliable tandem in the goal with junior Don Ricci and sophomore Adam Shilling back and capped up in red for 2005. Also slotted in the No. 1 cap are junior Justin McCain and redshirt freshmen Ronnie Giery and Benjamin Weil.
INTERNATIONAL WATERS: Vavic's recruiting class bumps the Trojans to an impressive grand total of 12 USC players with national team experience. Aksel left his Oregon home to spent the summer training with the U.S. Junior National Team, while Ligtenberg also prepped for his Trojan career in international waters with the U.S. Youth National Team. Also fresh to the USC deck comes Valovic, who spent time in the Slovakian national team system before joining the ranks at Golden West College.
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.
