University Southern California Trojans
USC Kicks Off 2006 At Home This Weekend
September 06, 2006 | Men's Water Polo
Sept. 6, 2006
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THIS WEEK: The No. 2-ranked Trojans are lugging a 19-game winning streak into the 2006 season, putting that run on the line in their home opener against UC Irvine at 12 p.m. on Saturday (Sept. 9) at McDonald's Swim Stadium. The next step in USC's journey toward back-to-back NCAA titles is a road game against LMU set for 12 p.m. on Sunday (Sept. 10).
RANKINGS: USC may be the defending MPSF and NCAA champ, but the Trojans sit at No. 2 in the national rankings as they begin the 2006 season. The Trojans had spent the last seven weeks of the 2005 season ranked No. 1 in the national poll. UC Irvine (2-2) is ranked No. 11 this week, and LMU (3-1) sits at No. 9.
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.
UC IRVINE NOTES: No. 11 UC Irvine went 2-2 at the season-opening Triton Invitational with wins over Pomona Pitzer (14-1) and Redlands (14-7) and overtime losses to UC Davis (9-8) and UC Santa Barbara (8-7). The Anteaters are led in scoring so far by Andrew Dunn, Kyle Baxter and Colin Mello with nine, eight and seven goals, respectively.
TROJAN-ANTEATER RIVALRY: USC is 52-23 all-time against UC Irvine, having won the past four games against the Anteaters. The Trojans' last loss to UCI was a 9-7 loss in MPSF play on Oct. 30, 2004.
LMU NOTES: No. 9 LMU is 3-1 after the Triton Invitational, where the Lions beat Whittier (20-3), Redlands (15-10) and UC Santa Barbara (10-5) and lost to Pacific (13-12). led by Brian McShane, Cutberto Hernandez and Julien Lomant with nine, eight and seven goals, respectively.
TROJAN-LION RIVALRY: USC is 8-0 all-time against LMU since the teams first faced in 2001.
THE REAL SOCAL: USC will play host to the competitive Southern California Tournament this season. The tournament has bounced around between various Southern California universities, and settles this year in the home waters of USC. All nine MPSF squads will be joined by seven other top teams from around the country for the 2006 edition of the esteemed SoCal Tournament. The action is set for Oct. 14-15 in Los Angeles.
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.
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.
GETTING STREAKY: USC ended the 2005 season on a 19-game winning streak to set a new record for the longest win streak in program history. The Trojans' MPSF championship victory extended their streak to 17 straight games, tying a win streak that spanned the 2003 and 2004 seasons.
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.
