University Southern California Trojans
No. 2 USC Aims To Defend NorCal Tournament Titles
September 17, 2008 | Men's Water Polo
Sept. 17, 2008
Complete Release in PDF Format 
THIS WEEK: The Trojans are prepped for more tournament action this weekend, taking an undefeated record into the 2008 edition of the Northern California Tournament, where USC has won the past three titles. Hosting NorCal competition this year is Pacific, as 16 teams splash down in Stockton, Calif., for games running Sept. 20-21. No. 2 USC (6-0) is in a bracket with No. 7 UC Irvine, No. 10 UC Santa Barbara and No. 20 Air Force. The Trojans will open with an 8 a.m. game against Air Force on Saturday (Sept. 20) and then face either UC Irvine or UC Santa Barbara later in the day. Wins there would put USC in the semifinals at noon on Sunday (Sept. 21) with the championship game rounding out the weekend's competition at 5:20 p.m. (Full schedule available AS A PDF HERE)
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RANKINGS: Although selected No. 1 in the MPSF Preseason Coaches Poll, the Trojans sit at No. 2 in the nation in the early goings of the 2008 season.
LAST WEEK: USC got its second look of the season against LMU last week, paying the Lions a visit on Friday for a rematch of a sudden-death USC win from the previous week's Triton Invitational. This time, USC got ahead and stayed there, working out to an 8-4 win behind a pair of goals from J.W. Krumpholz and Kyle Sterling. On Saturday, USC went home for its first game of the year at McDonald's Swim Stadium. After trailing by one in the first period, USC's offense found its groove and powered ahead of visiting Long Beach State. Krumpholz, Shea Buckner and Matt Sagehorn all had hat tricks for the Trojans in an eventual 15-8 win that extended USC's home win streak to 28 straight.
NORCAL TOURNEY NOTES: The Northern California Tournament has traditionally offered one of the best early looks at the nation's top teams. This year proves to be the same. Including tournament host Pacific, all nine Mountain Pacific Sports Federation teams will be included, along with competitive teams from around the country. Non-California-based powers No. 20 Air Force and No. 13 Navy are making the trip to Stockton, along with No. 17 Cal Baptist, No. 9 UC San Diego, No. 6 LMU, No. 15 Santa Clara and No. 11 UC Davis. All told, the top 11 ranked teams in the nation will be in the mix, with all 16 teams ranked in the top-20. Last year, USC won the tournament title, beating Stanford 9-5 in the semifinals and topping host California 9-8 in the championship game in Berkeley. The Trojans had opened with a 22-0 win over Santa Clara and a 10-5 win over Long Beach State. This year, USC is bracketed with Air Force, UC Irvine and UC Santa Barbara.
DENNERLEY'S DEBUT: USC freshman goalie Joel Dennerley wasted little time making a name for himself at Troy. In his first weekend of competition as a Trojan, Dennerley opened with a shutout effort in three periods played against Pacific on the first day of the Triton Invitational. On the second day, Dennerley had 14 saves in a sudden-death semifinal win over LMU and had nine saves in the championship game -- another overtime effort ending in a win over Pepperdine. For his efforts on the weekend -- gathering 33 saves in three games -- freshman goalie Dennerley was named the MPSF Co-Player of the Week.
FINAL WORD: USC has a set of seven players who know nothing but NCAA title match appearances since splashing down at Troy. Seniors Arjan Ligtenberg and Jovan Vranes have been in the pool for the past three national championship games, including the 2005 NCAA Championship victory. Juniors Anthony Artukovich, J.W. Krumpholz, Justin Rappel, Matt Sagehorn, Nico Sardo and Jordan Thompson have done it twice in their two seasons at Troy.
JUNIOR NATION: USC's junior class is a hefty one. Headlined by 2008 Olympic silver medalist J.W. Krumpholz, the group also boasts U.S. Senior Team members Shea Buckner and Matt Sagehorn. Krumpholz and Sagehorn, along with fellow juniors Anthony Artukovich, Justin Rappel and Nico Sardo also served as members of the U.S. Junior National Team at the 2007 FINA Junior World Championships, where Team USA took sixth place. Last year, the group of seven now-juniors including Jordan Thompson provided 55 percent of USC's total offense.
REGAINING BALANCE: Helping to lead the Trojan offense to its 19-3 mark last season was a balanced scoring attack. Leading scorers Matt Sagehorn and Shea Buckner are both back as USC's top sharpshooters, having combined for 62 goals last season as sophomores. Senior Jovan Vranes still wields one of the hardest shots in the game, and USC's offensive onslaught is bolstered further by its powerful junior class as well as sophomores Devon Borisoff and Kyle Sterling and newcomers Peter Kurzeka, Kevin May, Cem Carak, Elliott Samuels and Matthew Burton. All told, USC returns 70 percent of its scoring from last season.
CAGE FIGHTERS: As ferocious and deep as USC's offensive firepower has been, the Trojans' staple for years now has been on the defensive end. USC has led the nation defensively in the past three seasons, and that foundation looks equally solid once again. Joel Dennerley joins the Trojan roster as a freshman goalie with experience on the Australian Junior National Team. Senior Ben Weil has served as a capable backup to Shilling, and the goalie corps continues to run deep with Will Cherashore, Tyler McManigal and Brett Giery in the cage.
2007 RECAP: The Trojans pushed through to their third straight appearance in the NCAA championship game after claiming the 2007 MPSF Championship title -- USC's fifth all-time MPSF crown. In the national championship game, USC came up short again of California in an 8-6 loss that left the Trojans with a 19-3 overall record. Six Trojans were named All-Americans at the close of the 2007 season: Tommy Corcoran, Adam Shilling, Matt Sagehorn, J.W. Krumpholz, Shea Buckner and Gabor Sarusi. Shilling also was named a finalist for the Peter J. Cutino Award.
