USC
UC Irvine
No. 3 USC Opens NorCal Tourney With Wins
September 18, 2010 | Men's Water Polo
Sept. 18, 2010
BERKELEY, CALIF. - The No. 3 USC men's water polo team has slipped through to the semifinals of the NorCal Tournament once again with a winning first day at the tourney in Berkeley, Calif. The Trojans tipped the scales on Navy and UC Irvine to earn a semifinal slot against host California tomorrow at 10:40 a.m. Jeremy Davie and Matt Burton led the charge offensively for USC with five goals apiece today, helping lead USC to a 15-6 win over Navy and a 14-10 win over UC Irvine to improve the Trojans to 6-0 overall.
In the morning matchup against Navy, the Trojans tacked up a 6-3 first-period advantage and would take an 8-5 lead into halftime. USC had Navy on a third-quarter lockdown next, however, pinning up five more goals while silencing the Midshipmen to jump ahead 13-5. For the first time this season, the Trojans allowed a fourth-period goal to get through, but USC's powerful lead stayed well intact as the Trojans emerged with the 15-6 victory. Four Trojans scored a pair of goals in the win, with seven more getting to the back of the net. Defensively, Joel Dennerley had seven saves through the first three periods of play, and Will Simon had one in his fourth period of play in the cage. Jeremy Davie, Matt Burton, Mace Rapsey and Andrew Reego led USC's scoring push with two goals apiece.
Later this evening, USC went up against No. 5 ranked UC Irvine for the right to move into the tournament semifinals. The Trojans worked their way methodically ahead of the Anteaters to the tune of an 8-4 halftime lead and a 12-6 advantage going into the final frame. UCI would eat into the USC lead in the fourth, but the Trojans were far enough ahead to stay in control on the way to a 14-10 final decision. Again, Davie and Burton were at the top of the scoring heap with a hat trick apiece, and Nikola Vavic added two with six more Trojans scoring in the match.
Tomorrow's semifinal clash with Cal presents the first Trojan-Bear battle of the year. Cal enters the game ranked No. 1 in the nation.
2010 NORCAL TOURNAMENT (Berkeley, Calif.)
GAME 1 - Sept. 18
#3 USC 15, Navy 6
USC 6 - 2 - 5 - 2 = 15
NAVY 3 - 2 - 0 - 1 = 6
SCORING:
USC - Jeremy Davie 2, Matthew Burton 2, Mace Rapsey 2, Andrew Reego 2, Nikola Vavic, Peter Kurzeka, Michael Rosenthal, Connor Virjee, Brian Boswell, Andy Hayes, Max Hurst-Mendoza.
NAVY - Archie Warren 2, Conor Handley 2, Luke Baldwin, Tommy Schofer.
SAVES: Joel Dennerley (USC) 7 [three periods], Will Simon (USC) 1 [four periods], Anthony Gutierrez (Navy) 5 [two periods], Chase Hansen (Navy) 3 [two periods].
GAME 2 - Sept. 18
#3 USC 14, #5 UC Irvine 10
USC 3 - 5 - 4 - 2 = 14
UCI 1 - 3 - 2 - 4 = 10
SCORING:
USC - Jeremy Davie 3, Matthew Burton 3, Nikola Vavic 2, Forest Monroe, Tobias Preuss, Michael Rosenthal, Connor Virjee, Zayne Belal, Andy Hayes.
UCI - Griffin Lerman 4, Sam Figueroa, Kyle Baxter, Tom Kruip, Trent Baxter, Kyle Kruip, Brandon Johnson.
SAVES: Joel Dennerley (USC) 4 [three periods], Will Simon (USC) 2 [one quarter], Matt Johnson (UCI) 6.
Players Mentioned
