USC
Stanford
No. 1 USC Secures Sixth Straight SoCal Crown
October 12, 2008 | Men's Water Polo
Oct. 12, 2008
MALIBU, CALIF. - The No. 1 USC men's water polo team emerged victorious for the sixth straight time at the competitive SoCal Tournament this weekend. The Trojans successfully defended their string of tournament titles and kept their undefeated run through the 2008 season intact, topping No. 5 California 12-7 in today's semifinal before pulling out an 8-7 overtime win over No. 3 Stanford in the championship game. USC now boasts a 17-0 record on the year.
The SoCal title makes it three straight tournament wins for the Trojans this season. USC won out at the Triton Invitation to open the year, and then went on to win its fourth consecutive NorCal Tournament championship before claiming this week's sixth straight SoCal Tournament crown. Top-ranked USC was led in scoring today by Shea Buckner, who tallied five goals in USC's two big wins in the action at Pepperdine. Freshman goalie Joel Dennerley went the whole way in both wins, getting eight saves against Cal before coming up with 12 big ones against Stanford.
In the championship game with the Cardinal, USC fell behind 2-0 on a pair of goals from Janson Wigo. Anthony Artukovich got USC on the board at 2:25 in the first, and Jovan Vranes followed up another Stanford strike with one of his own to make it a 3-2 Stanford lead going into the second period. There, USC freshman Peter Kurzeka leveled things with a score just a minute in. Stanford would go ahead again later in the frame, only to have Shea Buckner lock things up with two minutes left in the half, tying things 4-4. Stanford got the go-ahead goal before halftime, however, scoring at 1:23 to make it 5-4 Stanford entering the second half of action.
In the third, the Trojans hit a groove, tacking up two to take over the lead. Buckner's second of the day took USC back into a tie, with J.W. Krumpholz hitting home to give USC its first lead of the game, up 6-5 with 1:24 to go in the third. Matt Sagehorn then added to the Trojan tally with a score to open the fourth period, making it 7-5 USC. Stanford would end the scoring run with a goal to pull the Cardinal within one at 7-6 with 4:33 to go. With just three seconds left in regulation, however, Stanford managed the equalizer, forcing overtime on a goal from Schwimmer to leave it at 7-7 in regulation.
In the first stretch of overtime, USC senior Arjan Ligtenberg pumped in the go-ahead goal for the Trojans at the 1:45 mark of the frame. Up 8-7 going into the second overtime period, the Trojan defense held strong the rest of the way. Goalie Joel Dennerley had two saves during the first overtime and came up with a stop on a Stanford 6-no-5 during the second to stand tall with 12 saves in the match for the Trojans. With Dennerley's backup, the USC defense shut out the Cardinal through both frames of overtime, standing up Ligtenberg's strike as the game-winner to claim the game and the tournament title with the 8-7 decision for the Trojans.
In the teams' first clash since the 2007 NCAA championship game, USC came out firing early and effectively against California in this morning's semifinal match. The Trojans took the first lead with a 6-on-5 score from Shea Buckner, only to have the Bears equalize on an even strike on Cal's next possession. From there, however, it was all USC. The Trojans lit up the Bears for the next seven straight scores. Justin Rappel started the run with a power play goal at 5:09 to get USC up 2-1. Jovan Vranes struck next to make it 3-1, and Kyle Sterling pumped one in at 2:17 to make it 4-1 USC entering the second period. USC opened the second frame with four straight goals, first from Nico Sardo followed by Buckner and Vranes' second each and then one from J.W. Krumpholz, who made it an 8-1 USC advantage with three minutes to go before halftime. Cal would manage a pair of scores before halftime, and then cut the lead to 8-4 with a penalty shot score to open the second half.
But USC answered with back-to-back strikes - another from Rappel on a man advantage and then an even score from Krumpholz, which put USC up 10-4 with the fourth period coming up. USC's daunting six-goal lead was too great for the Bears in the fourth. Cal got an early power play to go through to make it 10-5, and then the teams traded penalties to take the score to 11-6. Cal tallied a 6-on-5 score with just over three minutes to go, making it 11-7, only to have Krumpholz punch in his third of the day with 2:50 remaining to put the finishing touches on the 12-7 decision in favor of the Trojans. USC goalie Joel Dennerley turned away eight Cal shots in the match to help secure USC's trip to the SoCal Tournament championship game against Stanford.
SEMIFINAL
USC 12, California 7
CAL 1 - 2 - 1 - 3 -- 7
USC 4 - 4 - 2 - 2 -- 12
SCORING: USC - J.W. Krumpholz 3, Shea Buckner 3, Justin Rappel 2, Jovan Vranes 2, Kyle Sterling, Nico Sardo.
CAL - Reynolds 3, Calder, Rodman, Sample, Pearson.
SAVES: Joel Dennerley (USC) 8, McIntosh (CAL) 6.
CHAMPIONSHIP
USC 8, Stanford 7 (OT)
STAN 3 - 2 - 0 - 2 -- 7 - 0 - 0 --- 7
USC 2 - 2 - 2 - 1 -- 7 - 1 - 0 --- 8
SCORING: USC - Shea Buckner 2, Anthony Artukovich, Jovan Vranes, Peter Kurzeka, J.W. Krumpholz, Matt Sagehorn, Arjan Ligtenberg.
STAN - J. Wigo 2, Wiesen 2, Sefton, Smith, Schwimmer.
SAVES: Joel Dennerley (USC) 12, Sandman (STAN) 6.
