USC
Loyola Marymount
Buckner Blasts Four In USC Debut Win
September 08, 2007 | Men's Water Polo
Sept. 8, 2007
LOS ANGELES, CALIF. - In his first career game as a Trojan, USC two-meter man Shea Buckner drilled in four goals to help push USC past visiting Loyola Marymount for a 9-4 win on Saturday at McDonald's Swim Stadium. Buckner was one of several Trojans to tally their first career stats at Troy, as top-ranked USC opened up its 2007 campaign with a nonconference victory that extends its home winning streak to 23 straight and starts USC's year with a 1-0 record.
Buckner, who transferred to USC last season from Cal, saw his first official competition at Troy on Saturday and wasted little time making an impact. The junior rifled in a pair of 6-on-5 strikes in the first period to keep USC a step ahead of the No. 12 Lions. When LMU pulled back into a tie on a 6-on-5 score from Tibor Forai in the second period, the Trojans regrouped, found a spark and went on a four-goal scoring surge. Swift passing in the final three minutes of the half generated a trio of sophomore goals for USC. First, Nico Sardo served up a slick pass to Justin Rappel for a 3-2 USC edge. Just over a minute later, USC went off on a counterattack, where freshman Devon Borisoff worked the ball across to Jovan Vranes, who slipped a pass to sophomore Jordan Thompson at the left post. Up 4-2, USC made another smooth charge downpool, as Gabor Sarusi hit Sardo for a lightning-quick strike just 13 seconds before the buzzer to USC ahead 5-2.
USC's fourth straight goal would come midway through the third period. An early LMU ejection sent USC off another counter. This time, senior Drew Vyn dished up a pass to Buckner, who completed his hat trick for a 6-2 USC lead at the 4:40 mark of the third. LMU would grab a 6-on-5 score of its own minutes later with a score from Andrew Aki, but that would be answered shortly by the Trojans. Sardo nabbed a steal and fed a counter pass to Arjan Ligtenberg, who got the ball to Rappel on the right side for a crosscage bullet that pushed USC ahead 7-3 as the fourth period arrived.
In the fourth, sophomore goalie Will Cherashore capped up for his first time in the cage, spelling senior Adam Shilling after three periods and eight saves. Soon after USC took an 8-3 lead on Buckner's fourth goal of the match - a perfectly-placed lob - Cherashore was faced with a charging LMU attacker for a one-on-one strike. Cherashore came up big with a booming save on the shot for his first career save. On LMU's next possession, Adam McCall put up a strong field block that sent USC off on another counterattack. Ryan Cummins sailed a cross to Garrett Hayes, who finished off the assist with Hayes' first career goal to get the Trojans ahead 9-3 with 2:32 remaining. LMU converted on one last 6-on-5 opportunity at the 1:15 mark as Aki notched his second score of the game, leaving USC on top 9-4 for the Trojans' first win of the season.
USC now turns to face competition at the competitive NorCal Tournament, hosted by California on Sept. 15-16. The Trojans have won the NorCal championship the past two seasons.
#1 USC 9, #12 LMU 4
LMU 1 - 1 - 1 - 1 -- 4
USC 2 - 3 - 2 - 2 -- 9
GOALS:
USC - Shea Buckner 4, Justin Rappel 2, Jordan Thompson, Nico Sardo, Garrett Hayes.
LMU - Tibor Forai 2, Andrew Aki 2.
SAVES: Adam Shilling (USC) 8, Will Cherashore (USC) 1, Andy Stevens (LMU) 10.
Players Mentioned
