USC
California
USC Beats Cal For Another SoCal Crown
October 11, 2009 | Men's Water Polo
Oct. 11, 2009
IRVINE, CALIF. -- UC Irvine was the host of this season's edition of the competitive SoCal Tournament, although USC seems to have taken ownership of the tournament title in winning its seventh straight crown at the tourney with tonight's 7-6 win in the championship match. This year's UCI Invitational offered up a chance for the Trojans to defend a string of wins, and USC came through with a semifinal upset of UCLA earlier in the day before handing the Bears a loss in the title match. The 7-6 championship win pulls the Trojans' overall record to 16-1.
After a 9-8 win over the No. 2 Bruins in the semifinals earlier, the No. 3 Trojans faced No. 4 Cal in the final. A steady push ahead of the Bears carried USC into control in the championship, as USC led 4-2 at halftime and then went up 6-3 on a score from Jordan Thompson in the third period. The Trojans would hold a 6-4 lead going into the final period.
In the fourth, Peter Kurzeka delivered a score that took the Trojans ahead 7-5 with 5:37 on the clock, and stubborn defense on both ends held that advantage intact until Cal's Luka Saponjic punched in a 6-on-5 score with 25 seconds left to make it a one-goal game. The Trojans stayed composed and held the lead to close out the championship win.
Kyle Sterling finished as USC's top scorer in the game with two goals coming from the redshirt junior. The rest of the Trojan score was spread through seniors J.W. Krumpholz, Matt Sagehorn, Justin Rappel and Jordan Thompson and sophomore Peter Kurzeka, whose fourth-period strike stood as the deciding goal in the USC victory.
Now 16-1 overall after having avenged their lone loss of the year with the semifinal win over UCLA, the Trojans now turn to get back to MPSF play. USC is 3-0 in MPSF action so far, with an 11 a.m. game on Saturday (Oct. 17) coming up against Long Beach State.
UCI INVITATIONAL
Championship Game - Oct. 11
#3 USC 7, #4 California 6
USC 2 - 2 - 2 - 1 = 7
CAL 1 - 1 - 2 - 2 = 6
SCORING:
USC: Kyle Sterling 2, J.W. Krumpholz, Matt Sagehorn, Justin Rappel, Jordan Thompson, Peter Kurzeka.
CAL: Luka Saponjic 2, Mason Cox, Ivan Rackov, Spencer Warden, Spencer White.
SAVES: Joel Dennerley (USC) 7, Wil Toppen (Cal) 6
Players Mentioned
