University Southern California Trojans
Top-Ranked Trojans Take On Two This Weekend
November 09, 2006 | Men's Water Polo
Nov. 9, 2006
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THIS WEEK: After a string of road games, the Trojans return to their home waters of McDonald's Swim Stadium for an afternoon game against Cal Baptist on Saturday (Nov. 11) at 4:30 p.m. They'll hit the road the following day, however, for an MPSF visit to Pepperdine, where USC heads back to the site of their only 2005 loss when the Trojans face the Waves at 1 p.m. on Sunday (Nov. 12).
RANKINGS: The Trojans (20-0, 6-0 MPSF) are still standing tall in the national rankings as they hold tight in their eighth straight week as the nation's top-ranked team after spending three weeks at No. 2. USC spent the last seven weeks of 2005 as the top-ranked team but was displaced in 2006 by California. The Trojans have since beaten the Bears twice in tournament championship games to lay claim to the No. 1 position. Cal Baptist (23-9) is ranked No. 20 this week, and Pepperdine (12-15, 1-4 MPSF) is in the top-10 at No. 9.
WEEKEND RECAP: The Trojans got it done once again last weekend, dropping two more teams during a Northern California road trip to get to 20-0 on the season and extend that growing win streak to 39 straight. First, USC put away UC Santa Clara 20-3 behind four goals from Thomas Hale and hat tricks from Drew Vyn, Stephen Lacy and Jovan Vranes. The Trojans' stifling defense carried over full-force to the following day's game -- a 2005 NCAA championship rematch with Stanford. After a tight first three quarters, USC put a vice grip on the Cardinal and rolled ahead of its hosts with three unanswered goals to post a 6-2 victory. Pavol Valovic and Juan Delgadillo each punched in a pair of goals in the win, while goalie Adam Shilling was a wall in the cage once again with a career-high 12 saves against the Cardinal.
STREAK SMARTS: OK... everyone is wondering where the Trojans' current 39-game winning streak stands. By hitting win No. 35 with its win over UCLA, the team passed up the USC football program's storied win streak, which was snapped in the 2005 national championship game just a month after the USC water polo team claimed the 2005 NCAA title. Water polo's 39-game run has well overtaken the program's previous best winning streak of 17 games, but it is still 14 wins short of the all-time longest men's water polo winning streak in the country -- held at 51 by Stanford (1985-1987). Check in this time next year to see if the Trojans are in line to take over the Cardinal's 51-0 claim to fame. At Troy, USC women's volleyball put up a 52-match winning streak across the 2002-03-04 seasons. USC's game winning streak was built in part by a prestigious tournament win streak. The recent SoCal Tournament title marked the sixth consecutive tournament win for the Trojans (2005 SoCal, 2005 NorCal, 2005 MPSF, 2005 NCAA, 2006 NorCal and 2006 SoCal). At home, USC has won the past 20 games at McDonald's Swim Stadium.
SHUTDOWN STREET: It's become a trend of sorts. USC opponents who may catch a glimpse of hanging with the Trojans have on almost every occasion been dealt a big ZERO in at least one period of play. With last week's defensive domination of Stanford, the USC defense has now silenced 12 different opponents in at least one regulation frame. Only six teams have avoided a shutout period from the Trojans, and even then USC was able to match or better the single goal those opponents put up in their lowest-scoring quarter to ensure its winning edge.
THE REPLACEMENTS: Replacing a player like all-time scoring leader Juraj Zatovic is impossible. What the Cutino Award winner brought to the pool is unmatched, which is why it's taken more than one guy to help fill the scoring hole Zatovic left. Enter this year's incoming class of Trojans. Six freshmen and two JC transfers have gotten to the back of the net this season, racking up 119 goals between them to account for 45 percent of USC's scoring. Freshman J.W. Krumpholz leads them all with 32 goals.
CAL BAPTIST NOTES: Cal Baptist (23-9) beat Chapman 16-9 last week behind six goals from Aaron Abellano. Goalie Jon Miller also tacked up his 250th save of the season in the win.
TROJANS-LANCERS RIVALRY: USC is 4-0 all-time against Cal Baptist after posting an 11-5 win at the Lancer Invitational last season.
PEPPERDINE NOTES: Pepperdine (12-15, 1-4 MPSF) lost 12-11 to Long Beach State last week.JP MacDonell is the Waves' leading scorer this season.
TROJANS-WAVES RIVALRY: USC is 47-19-2 all-time against Pepperdine. The Waves were the only team to beat USC in 2005, marking the last loss for the Trojans before their current winning streak. USC beat Pepperdine 14-7 earlier this year.
ADD `EM UP: Junior goalie Adam Shilling has proven himself a wall in the cage again this season, just recently hitting an even 300 career saves after last weekend's career-high 12 saves against Stanford. He also has tallied 10 saves in the NorCal final game against Cal to help the Trojans to a 10-7 championship win, and then put up a career-high 12 saves against the Bears once more to help get USC the SoCal Tournament title with a 10-9 victory. He finished the NorCal tourney with 22 saves in three games, and added another 36 at the SoCal Tournament. He now boasts a 2006 total of 124 saves with a goals-against average of 4.6 and saves average of 6.9. For his immense effort in the cage at the SoCal Tournament, Shilling was named the MPSF Mikasa Player of the Week for the second time in his career.
ON LOCKDOWN: USC has averaged just over one goal against each period this season, pinning up solid scores to outweigh opponents 236-106 so far in 2006. USC was No. 1 in the nation in team defense last year, averaging 5.0 goals against per game, and the Trojans remain the nation's top team once again, ranked No. 1 with 5.55 goals allowed per game. Aside from the goal-fest that was USC's 23-12 win over Pacific, no team has scored in double figures against the Trojans this year.
FULL ARSENAL: The Trojans have an offensive balance this season that has the glaring ability to swamp opponents, with USC averaging eight different scorers per game. USC has maxed out with 13 different scorers in its 23-12 win over Pacific on Oct. 7. Even in USC's lowest scoring outing -- a 6-2 win over Stanford -- the Trojans had four different players get on the board. The widespread scoring started early and is likely to remain heated as a grand total of 16 Trojans have found their ways to the back of the net this year. USC averages 13.1 goals per game, but Juan Delgadillo is the only player averaging two goals a game.
THIRD TIME'S A CHARM?: Two Trojan seniors have now claimed two national championships at USC, and are ademately seeking a third. Seniors Thomas Hale and Juan Delgadillo both had a strong hand in the 2003 and 2005 titles. Head coach Jovan Vavic has led the Trojans to the national title three times now (1998, 2003, 2005). Assistant coaches Marko Pintaric and Peter Janov also were both members of that 1998 national champion team.
HOME POOL DOMINATION: USC posted a flawless 2005 record in the waters of McDonald's Swim Stadium. Capping off the season as the tournament host to the MPSF Tournament, USC had some home-pool advantage to go along with that hefty winning streak. The Trojans finished off 2005 with a 9-0 record at home, and they are 11-0 at home so far this year to hold a 20-game win streak in home waters.
DELGADILLO GETS IT DONE: For the second time in his Trojan career, senior driver Juan Delgadillo has earned the honor of MPSF Player of the Week. Delgadillo scored in each game of the Northern California Tournament, finishing the weekend with a team-high 10 goals. His three-goal performance in the championship game against Cal helped USC secure back-to-back NorCal Tournament titles with a 10-7 win over the Bears. He currently leads the Trojans in scoring with 36 goals this season.
2006 PREVIEW: USC head coach Jovan Vavic, the 2005 National and MPSF Coach of the Year, has hauled in an eye-popping crop of fresh talent for the coming year in an effort to bolster the Trojan roster as USC goes in pursuit of back-to-back NCAA and MPSF titles. Eleven new players -- nine newcomers and four former redshirts -- cap up for USC this year, ready to see their first action in the pool as Trojans. Five incoming athletes traveled overseas during the summer as members of the U.S. Junior National Team, including Senior National Team player J.W. Krumpholz. The Trojans are led this year by three highly respected standout seniors, Juan Delgadillo, Thomas Hale and Pavol Valovic. Balance and depth will be prominent for the 2006 USC squad, and the cage will be manned once again by junior NCAA Co-MVP Adam Shilling.
2005 RECAP: USC finished the 2005 season with a program-best 26-1 record and a record 19-game winning streak after beating Stanford 3-2 in the lowest-scoring NCAA championship game in history. The win marked the USC men's program's third NCAA title. En route to the national crown, USC won the two regular-season tournament titles (NorCal and SoCal tournaments) as well as the MPSF Tournament after an undefeated run through the regular conference season. USC's lone loss of 2005 was a 5-4 loss to Pepperdine during nonconference play.
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). Now in his 12th season at the helm of the men's program, Vavic has improved his career coaching record on the men's side to 239-52 (.821) after leading the Trojans to their third-ever NCAA Championship and a program-best 26-1 record in 2005. In his tenure as men's head coach, Vavic boasts a winning record against all opponents on the men's side of the game, recording only two losses in 11 seasons against teams outside the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. He is 176-50 against MPSF teams since 1995. For his success in guiding USC to the NCAA crown in 2005, Vavic was named the AWPCA Men's Coach of the Year. His Trojans also claimed the 2005 MPSF Championship, and Vavic earned himself MPSF Coach of the Year honors as well. At 26-1, USC posted its most wins in history and broke another record by closing out the year on an 19-game winning streak.
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