Friday, October 27
Irvine, CA
1:30 PM
USC
at
Concordia University (California)
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Photo by: John McGillen
Top-Ranked Trojans Visit Concordia Friday Before Saturday’s Senior Day
October 25, 2017 | Men's Water Polo, Features
USC celebrates its 13-man senior class prior to Saturday’s 1 p.m. home game vs. San José State.
THIS WEEK
The No. 1 Trojans have two tilts on tap this week, with a road trip to Concordia in advance of USC's final regular-season home game. USC (19-1) will head to Irvine on Friday (Oct. 27) to face Concordia at 1:30 p.m. On Sunday (Oct. 29), USC will host No. 11 San José State in a 1 p.m. contest at Uytengsu Aquatics Center. Prior to the matchup with the Spartans, USC will celebrate its 13-man senior class in a Senior Day ceremony at the pool.
RANKINGS
USC started its 2017 journey holding strong at No. 2 in the preseason national rankings. The Trojans wrapped 2016 at No. 2 in the land after reaching the NCAA final for the 12th consecutive season. After standing at No. 2 for the first five weeks of 2017 competition, USC climbed to No. 1 in the nation on Oct. 4. The Trojans were last ranked No. 1 last November entering the 2016 MPSF and NCAA tournaments. This week, USC remains the top-ranked team in the national poll.
SCOUTING CONCORDIA
The Eagles are 9-8 overall after beating Air Force 10-7 last week. USC is 6-0 all-time against Concordia after a 21-2 win at last year's Lancer Invitational.
SCOUTING SJSU
The No. 11 Spartans are 13-8 overall a winning run through the Julian Fraser Memorial Tournament last week, beating Cal Baptist 14-9, Harvard 16-14, Wagner 12-10 and LMU 9-5. San José State will face Pepperdine on Friday before facing the Trojans. Jacob Mercep leads SJSU in scoring with 74 goals entering the week, while goalie Todd Palmer averages 18.4 saves and 10.8 goals-against per game in his 20 appearances. USC is 5-0 all-time against SJSU after an 18-9 win at this year's Mountain Pacific Invitational. Last year, USC beat the Spartans 19-1 in Los Angeles.
LAST ACTION
USC shrugged off an opening goal by No. 6 UC Irvine and manufactured a five-goal scoring surge to take control of last week's nonconference clash at Uytengsu Aquatics Center, finishing off the day with a 13-8 win over the visiting Anteaters. After USC's first attempt off the bar was deemed to be saved before floating fully into the cage, UC Irvine's answering shot also would wind up bobbing into goal territory and was whistled as a goal for the Anteaters. The 1-0 lead for the visitors was short-lived, however, as tireless work from Lachlan Edwards at two-meters got USC up on a power play that saw Matteo Morelli hit Blake Edwards for a ripper that locked it up 1-1 just over a minute later. That would spark a rally for the Trojans, who had goalie McQuin Baron squash a UCI power play before Thomas Dunstan earned and finished off a 6-on-5 series for USC to get the Trojans into the lead to stay. Zach D'Sa made it 3-1 before the close of the first period with an incredible extra effort from underwater. To start the second, Marko Vavic rifled in a blast from distance to make it 4-1, then issued a booming field block to send USC back the other way again. The freshman would find Matteo Morelli soon after for a slick off-speed score, and USC was up 5-1 on the Anteaters. UCI would manage two goals before halftime, but USC had two of their own on tap, as D'Sa continued his antics with a nifty lob before Mihajlo Milicevic rocketed in a score off the bar, and USC held a 7-3 advantage at halftime. Thomas Dunstan was the man of the hour to start the second half, nabbing a steal and then faking and firing in his second goal to net an 8-3 lead for the Trojans. UC Irvine managed back-to-back goals next, but Vavic had back-to-back blasts of his own at the ready. Vavic took a feed from Dunstan to sizzle in a 6-on-5 finish for a 9-5 USC lead, then capped off a USC counterattack with his third goal of the day thanks to a setup from Matteo Morelli and Dunstan. That had USC up 10-5 entering the fourth period. Captain James Walters hammered home his first of the day to kick off the final frame, with Morelli finding Sam Slobodien for a counterattack jam to boost USC ahead 12-5 with 3:12 to go. Will Rubshlager would take over the cage for Baron from there, while freshman Christian Hockenbury joined the scoresheet with a searing skipper that answered a UC Irvine 6-on-5 strike, making it 13-6 with 1:35 left. The Anteaters managed two final goals before the final buzzer, wrapping the game as a 13-8 USC victory. .
RECORD-BREAKING BARON
On Sept. 16 in USC's first-ever meeting with MIT, senior goalie McQuin Baron broke USC's all-time career saves record with his fifth save of the game. That notched Baron's 856th save to edge out previous leader Joel Dennerley, who had set the USC record during his senior season on Sept. 18, 2011 — almost exactly six years earlier. Baron already held the USC record for single-season saves, set his freshman year with 288 saves collected in 2014. Now with 968 career saves to his name, Baron looks to bulk up his numbers further as the 2016 Cutino Award winner and Olympian continues to man the cage for the Trojans and keep his team in pursuit of a NCAA championship.
CLIMB ON
While McQuin Baron tops the saves leaderboard at USC with his 968 career stops, a set of All-American senior sharpshooters are charging up the scoring charts. Blake Edwards has climbed to No. 12 all-time with 144 career goals, closely followed by Grant Stein at No. 16 with 135. Just steps behind are Matteo Morelli at No. 18 with 132 goals and Lachlan Edwards at No. 20 in USC history with 130. Meanwhile, on the MPSF career charts, Baron is now locked into the No. 2 spot all-time, hot on the trail of Pacific's Alex Malkis, who holds the MPSF record with 1,057 career saves from 2010-13.
ALL-AMERICAN EDGE
With eight All-Americans back in the water for 2017, USC head coach Jovan Vavic has more All-American talent than he has room for in his starting lineup. In that core group of decorated All-Americans, seven are seniors. Two of them are repeat team captains — James Walters and returning top scorer Blake Edwards — both two-time All-Americans. One is Cutino Award winner McQuin Baron, who will soon be taking over as USC's all-time saves leader. Three more Trojan All-Americans — Matteo Morelli, Lachlan Edwards and Grant Stein — accumulated over 100 combined goals last year. The seventh — standing out as the brains of the group — is NCAA Elite 90 Award winner Mihajlo Milicevic, who stars as a stingy defender for the Trojan cause. The only first-time All-American in the crew is on his way in to his second season at USC, as sophomore Matt Maier returns to the pool as the 2016 MPSF Newcomer of the Year.
BY THE NUMBERS
Now 20 games deep into 2017, the Trojans have displayed widespread scoring ability. Twenty-one Trojans scored on USC's first day of action — a doubleheader at the UCLA Mini Invitational. Since then, senior Blake Edwards stands as the most prolific Trojan to date with 34 goals, followed by freshman Marko Vavic with 33 and senior Grant Stein with 25. Defensively, three goalies have capped up in the cage. McQuin Baron has appeared in 19 games, with double-digit saves eight games. He's averaging 10.01 saves and 5.23 goals-against per game. Will Rubschlager and Simon Wu have shared time in backup roles to Baron, combining for 44 saves. In all, USC has outscored opponents 315-111. As a team, USC ranks No. 1 in the MPSF in offense (15.75 gpg) and is No. 2 in defense (5.55 gapg).
DEPTH CHARGE
As valuable as USC's sizeable senior class is, Jovan Vavic has his eyes on a few other returners as linchpins in this season's efforts. Now sophomores, Olympian Thomas Dunstan, MPSF Newcomer of the Year Matt Maier and FINA Junior World Championship silver medalist Marin Dasic are even more prepared to be impact players for the Trojans. Junior Zach D'Sa and redshirt sophomore Daniel Leong both had breakout seasons last year and are primed for major playing time in 2017. Redshirt junior Tim Leong has also maneuvered his way into an increased role, while redshirt sophomore Sam Slobodien, too, made major strides last season and during the summer, lining himself up for extra duty at the two-meter mark along with fellow centers Maier, James Walters and Lachlan Edwards. In all, the Trojans return 90 percent of their scoring production from last season as well as their entire goalkeeping corps.
NEW CREW
Among the talented Trojan youth movement, Vavic taps redshirt freshmen Luke Wyatt, Chas Hornecker and Luka Karaman and true freshmen Marko Vavic and Christian Hockenbury as the brightest stars who are seeing the benefits of their hard work and skills developed in the run-up to this 2017 campaign. At 6-foot-6 and with U.S. National Team experience, Vavic stands to be a quick and powerful fit into his father's gameplan. Marko is the third of head coach Jovan Vavic's children to cap up at USC, following in the footsteps of older brother Nikola and sister Monica, who won a combined five NCAA Championships as Trojans.
OPENING DAY
Twenty-one Trojans got on the scoresheets in USC's season-opening action at the UCLA Mini Invitational. Fifteen Trojans logged goals in each game as USC posted a 27-3 win over Claremont-Mudd-Scripps followed by a 24-3 win over Pomona-Pitzer. Along the way, five Trojans — Marko Vavic, Troy Furniss, Christian Emerson, Christian Hockenbury and Chas Hornecker — registered their first career goals at USC.
TROJAN TRAVELS
In July, the Trojans took a trip through international waters, soaking up some sun while splashing down in seas, pools and rivers across France, Italy, Croatia and Montenegro. The Trojans set up camp in Nice (France), Recco (Italy), Split (Croatia) and Herceg Novi (Montenegro) while scrimmaging local teams and training for the upcoming 2017 season back in the USA. That European adventure brought the entire USC squad together as a team, offering up invaluable opportunities to gel in the water and out. In fact, the last three USC teams to take a similar summer training trip to Europe came back to the USA and won the national championship that same year. It's a theme that bodes well for the 2017 Trojans, who boast a senior class that is 13 Trojans strong and who have 11 redshirt freshmen and newcomers lined up for their first official action this season.
AND NOW, THIS
Now in his 23rd year at the helm of the USC water polo program, Jovan Vavic has guided the Trojans to the NCAA title match every season for the past 12 years. He's captured seven championships during that stretch. Last season, USC manufactured a 24-2 overall record, losing just one road game during the regular season, winning the MPSF Championship and then falling in a frustrating NCAA final that went to overtime in its opponent's home pool. This year, the Trojans are lined up as host of the 2017 NCAA Tournament, set for Dec. 2-3 at USC's own Uytengsu Aquatics Center. The last time the Trojans hosted the national championship, they capped it off by hoisting the 2012 championship trophy. This year, USC aims to once again successfully defend the Trojans' home waters while adding a 10th NCAA trophy to the men's collection of championships.
MOUNTAIN PACIFIC INVITATIONAL RECAP
USC scored the first seven goals to keep the Trojans in the driver's seat in the first game of the day at the 2017 Mountain Pacific Invitational at Uytengsu Aquatics Center. Twelve Trojans scored in the win, while three USC goalies logged time in the cage to help notch an 18-9 win over San José State. The next day, USC shrugged off a three-goal deficit in the quarterfinals and a two-goal hole in the semis to claim two tight comeback wins. The Trojans had to get down to business for a fourth-quarter comeback to beat No. 10 UC Irvine 10-9 in the morning's quarterfinals. That set up a rematch with No. 3 Stanford in the evening's semifinals, where USC showed it still had some fight left to make a late move to beat the Cardinal 11-10. The Anteaters were up 9-6 on the Trojans entering the final eight minutes of regulation. After McQuin Baron settled in a made a key power play save, Blake Edwards earned a 5-meter penalty shot that Matteo Morelli promptly deposited into the back of the net to make it 9-7 UC Irvine with 4:49 to go. Marko Vavic would force an Anteater turnover next, and Edwards took it back the other way for the finishing touch to get USC within one. Another Baron save keyed another USC attack. Morelli found Vavic for the searing strike that equalized the game for the first time since the 3:44 mark of the first period. After a Lachlan Edwards field block squashed UC Irvine's next offensive series, Matt Maier unleashed an incredible nearside score to lift USC ahead 10-9 with 2:30 to go. USC's defense would step up for the rest, and the Trojans averted a dire situation to claim the comeback victory and advance to the evening's semifinals. USC gripped a 3-1 lead in the first period of play, but would fall behind 8-7 entering the fourth. On a 6-on-5, Morelli found Thomas Dunstan for the rocket that leveled it at 8-8 early in the fourth. A takeaway from Dunstan later helped get USC back on the attack, and it was Lachlan Edwards who finally got his just reward for earning countless ejections from his 2-meter spot. On this 6-on-5, Vavic hit Edwards for a booming dunk at the post to nudge USC ahead 9-8 with 5:09 on the clock. Stanford was clearly not going away, however, and the Cardinal scored off the foul next to snarl up the score once more. Again, a convincing USC 6-on-5 did the trick for the Trojans, who had Morelli set up another teammate for the go-ahead blast. Blake Edwards delivered this one, netting his second goal of the game and a 10-9 USC lead with 3:05 to go. Stanford would fire off another equalizer not 20 seconds later, and although the next USC power play would be stopped by Stanford goalie Drew Holland, Morelli would take matters in his own hands in the final minute. The Italian let loose a laser that put USC on top 11-10 with 28 ticks to go. Baron would come up big with a late save, and USC was able to hang on for the crucial comeback victory. Down by three goals with 4:13 left in Sunday's title match vs. UCLA, USC dug deep to carve the deficit down to one with 1:47 on the clock. Dunstan earned a power play for his Trojans, and Morelli served up his seventh assist of the tournament in finding Stein for a ripper that made it 12-10 at 3:07. After turning away the Bruins, USC got back on the attack, with Blake Edwards finding the hot-handed Stein for a sizzling skip that cut it to 12-11. Edwards would come up with a steal next, and USC called timeout with 1:20 to go. The referee's whistle would turn the ball back to the Bruins soon after, however, but Vavic was able to come up with a steal with 37 seconds left. Lachlan Edwards let loose a brilliant backhand, but it slammed the post, and USC's next try to equalize was off the mark. That left the ball in UCLA's hands for the final possession, and the Bruins opted to pad its lead with a last-second strike that finished things as a 13-11 UCLA win for USC's first loss of 2017.
The No. 1 Trojans have two tilts on tap this week, with a road trip to Concordia in advance of USC's final regular-season home game. USC (19-1) will head to Irvine on Friday (Oct. 27) to face Concordia at 1:30 p.m. On Sunday (Oct. 29), USC will host No. 11 San José State in a 1 p.m. contest at Uytengsu Aquatics Center. Prior to the matchup with the Spartans, USC will celebrate its 13-man senior class in a Senior Day ceremony at the pool.
RANKINGS
USC started its 2017 journey holding strong at No. 2 in the preseason national rankings. The Trojans wrapped 2016 at No. 2 in the land after reaching the NCAA final for the 12th consecutive season. After standing at No. 2 for the first five weeks of 2017 competition, USC climbed to No. 1 in the nation on Oct. 4. The Trojans were last ranked No. 1 last November entering the 2016 MPSF and NCAA tournaments. This week, USC remains the top-ranked team in the national poll.
SCOUTING CONCORDIA
The Eagles are 9-8 overall after beating Air Force 10-7 last week. USC is 6-0 all-time against Concordia after a 21-2 win at last year's Lancer Invitational.
SCOUTING SJSU
The No. 11 Spartans are 13-8 overall a winning run through the Julian Fraser Memorial Tournament last week, beating Cal Baptist 14-9, Harvard 16-14, Wagner 12-10 and LMU 9-5. San José State will face Pepperdine on Friday before facing the Trojans. Jacob Mercep leads SJSU in scoring with 74 goals entering the week, while goalie Todd Palmer averages 18.4 saves and 10.8 goals-against per game in his 20 appearances. USC is 5-0 all-time against SJSU after an 18-9 win at this year's Mountain Pacific Invitational. Last year, USC beat the Spartans 19-1 in Los Angeles.
LAST ACTION
USC shrugged off an opening goal by No. 6 UC Irvine and manufactured a five-goal scoring surge to take control of last week's nonconference clash at Uytengsu Aquatics Center, finishing off the day with a 13-8 win over the visiting Anteaters. After USC's first attempt off the bar was deemed to be saved before floating fully into the cage, UC Irvine's answering shot also would wind up bobbing into goal territory and was whistled as a goal for the Anteaters. The 1-0 lead for the visitors was short-lived, however, as tireless work from Lachlan Edwards at two-meters got USC up on a power play that saw Matteo Morelli hit Blake Edwards for a ripper that locked it up 1-1 just over a minute later. That would spark a rally for the Trojans, who had goalie McQuin Baron squash a UCI power play before Thomas Dunstan earned and finished off a 6-on-5 series for USC to get the Trojans into the lead to stay. Zach D'Sa made it 3-1 before the close of the first period with an incredible extra effort from underwater. To start the second, Marko Vavic rifled in a blast from distance to make it 4-1, then issued a booming field block to send USC back the other way again. The freshman would find Matteo Morelli soon after for a slick off-speed score, and USC was up 5-1 on the Anteaters. UCI would manage two goals before halftime, but USC had two of their own on tap, as D'Sa continued his antics with a nifty lob before Mihajlo Milicevic rocketed in a score off the bar, and USC held a 7-3 advantage at halftime. Thomas Dunstan was the man of the hour to start the second half, nabbing a steal and then faking and firing in his second goal to net an 8-3 lead for the Trojans. UC Irvine managed back-to-back goals next, but Vavic had back-to-back blasts of his own at the ready. Vavic took a feed from Dunstan to sizzle in a 6-on-5 finish for a 9-5 USC lead, then capped off a USC counterattack with his third goal of the day thanks to a setup from Matteo Morelli and Dunstan. That had USC up 10-5 entering the fourth period. Captain James Walters hammered home his first of the day to kick off the final frame, with Morelli finding Sam Slobodien for a counterattack jam to boost USC ahead 12-5 with 3:12 to go. Will Rubshlager would take over the cage for Baron from there, while freshman Christian Hockenbury joined the scoresheet with a searing skipper that answered a UC Irvine 6-on-5 strike, making it 13-6 with 1:35 left. The Anteaters managed two final goals before the final buzzer, wrapping the game as a 13-8 USC victory. .
RECORD-BREAKING BARON
On Sept. 16 in USC's first-ever meeting with MIT, senior goalie McQuin Baron broke USC's all-time career saves record with his fifth save of the game. That notched Baron's 856th save to edge out previous leader Joel Dennerley, who had set the USC record during his senior season on Sept. 18, 2011 — almost exactly six years earlier. Baron already held the USC record for single-season saves, set his freshman year with 288 saves collected in 2014. Now with 968 career saves to his name, Baron looks to bulk up his numbers further as the 2016 Cutino Award winner and Olympian continues to man the cage for the Trojans and keep his team in pursuit of a NCAA championship.
CLIMB ON
While McQuin Baron tops the saves leaderboard at USC with his 968 career stops, a set of All-American senior sharpshooters are charging up the scoring charts. Blake Edwards has climbed to No. 12 all-time with 144 career goals, closely followed by Grant Stein at No. 16 with 135. Just steps behind are Matteo Morelli at No. 18 with 132 goals and Lachlan Edwards at No. 20 in USC history with 130. Meanwhile, on the MPSF career charts, Baron is now locked into the No. 2 spot all-time, hot on the trail of Pacific's Alex Malkis, who holds the MPSF record with 1,057 career saves from 2010-13.
ALL-AMERICAN EDGE
With eight All-Americans back in the water for 2017, USC head coach Jovan Vavic has more All-American talent than he has room for in his starting lineup. In that core group of decorated All-Americans, seven are seniors. Two of them are repeat team captains — James Walters and returning top scorer Blake Edwards — both two-time All-Americans. One is Cutino Award winner McQuin Baron, who will soon be taking over as USC's all-time saves leader. Three more Trojan All-Americans — Matteo Morelli, Lachlan Edwards and Grant Stein — accumulated over 100 combined goals last year. The seventh — standing out as the brains of the group — is NCAA Elite 90 Award winner Mihajlo Milicevic, who stars as a stingy defender for the Trojan cause. The only first-time All-American in the crew is on his way in to his second season at USC, as sophomore Matt Maier returns to the pool as the 2016 MPSF Newcomer of the Year.
BY THE NUMBERS
Now 20 games deep into 2017, the Trojans have displayed widespread scoring ability. Twenty-one Trojans scored on USC's first day of action — a doubleheader at the UCLA Mini Invitational. Since then, senior Blake Edwards stands as the most prolific Trojan to date with 34 goals, followed by freshman Marko Vavic with 33 and senior Grant Stein with 25. Defensively, three goalies have capped up in the cage. McQuin Baron has appeared in 19 games, with double-digit saves eight games. He's averaging 10.01 saves and 5.23 goals-against per game. Will Rubschlager and Simon Wu have shared time in backup roles to Baron, combining for 44 saves. In all, USC has outscored opponents 315-111. As a team, USC ranks No. 1 in the MPSF in offense (15.75 gpg) and is No. 2 in defense (5.55 gapg).
DEPTH CHARGE
As valuable as USC's sizeable senior class is, Jovan Vavic has his eyes on a few other returners as linchpins in this season's efforts. Now sophomores, Olympian Thomas Dunstan, MPSF Newcomer of the Year Matt Maier and FINA Junior World Championship silver medalist Marin Dasic are even more prepared to be impact players for the Trojans. Junior Zach D'Sa and redshirt sophomore Daniel Leong both had breakout seasons last year and are primed for major playing time in 2017. Redshirt junior Tim Leong has also maneuvered his way into an increased role, while redshirt sophomore Sam Slobodien, too, made major strides last season and during the summer, lining himself up for extra duty at the two-meter mark along with fellow centers Maier, James Walters and Lachlan Edwards. In all, the Trojans return 90 percent of their scoring production from last season as well as their entire goalkeeping corps.
NEW CREW
Among the talented Trojan youth movement, Vavic taps redshirt freshmen Luke Wyatt, Chas Hornecker and Luka Karaman and true freshmen Marko Vavic and Christian Hockenbury as the brightest stars who are seeing the benefits of their hard work and skills developed in the run-up to this 2017 campaign. At 6-foot-6 and with U.S. National Team experience, Vavic stands to be a quick and powerful fit into his father's gameplan. Marko is the third of head coach Jovan Vavic's children to cap up at USC, following in the footsteps of older brother Nikola and sister Monica, who won a combined five NCAA Championships as Trojans.
OPENING DAY
Twenty-one Trojans got on the scoresheets in USC's season-opening action at the UCLA Mini Invitational. Fifteen Trojans logged goals in each game as USC posted a 27-3 win over Claremont-Mudd-Scripps followed by a 24-3 win over Pomona-Pitzer. Along the way, five Trojans — Marko Vavic, Troy Furniss, Christian Emerson, Christian Hockenbury and Chas Hornecker — registered their first career goals at USC.
TROJAN TRAVELS
In July, the Trojans took a trip through international waters, soaking up some sun while splashing down in seas, pools and rivers across France, Italy, Croatia and Montenegro. The Trojans set up camp in Nice (France), Recco (Italy), Split (Croatia) and Herceg Novi (Montenegro) while scrimmaging local teams and training for the upcoming 2017 season back in the USA. That European adventure brought the entire USC squad together as a team, offering up invaluable opportunities to gel in the water and out. In fact, the last three USC teams to take a similar summer training trip to Europe came back to the USA and won the national championship that same year. It's a theme that bodes well for the 2017 Trojans, who boast a senior class that is 13 Trojans strong and who have 11 redshirt freshmen and newcomers lined up for their first official action this season.
AND NOW, THIS
Now in his 23rd year at the helm of the USC water polo program, Jovan Vavic has guided the Trojans to the NCAA title match every season for the past 12 years. He's captured seven championships during that stretch. Last season, USC manufactured a 24-2 overall record, losing just one road game during the regular season, winning the MPSF Championship and then falling in a frustrating NCAA final that went to overtime in its opponent's home pool. This year, the Trojans are lined up as host of the 2017 NCAA Tournament, set for Dec. 2-3 at USC's own Uytengsu Aquatics Center. The last time the Trojans hosted the national championship, they capped it off by hoisting the 2012 championship trophy. This year, USC aims to once again successfully defend the Trojans' home waters while adding a 10th NCAA trophy to the men's collection of championships.
MOUNTAIN PACIFIC INVITATIONAL RECAP
USC scored the first seven goals to keep the Trojans in the driver's seat in the first game of the day at the 2017 Mountain Pacific Invitational at Uytengsu Aquatics Center. Twelve Trojans scored in the win, while three USC goalies logged time in the cage to help notch an 18-9 win over San José State. The next day, USC shrugged off a three-goal deficit in the quarterfinals and a two-goal hole in the semis to claim two tight comeback wins. The Trojans had to get down to business for a fourth-quarter comeback to beat No. 10 UC Irvine 10-9 in the morning's quarterfinals. That set up a rematch with No. 3 Stanford in the evening's semifinals, where USC showed it still had some fight left to make a late move to beat the Cardinal 11-10. The Anteaters were up 9-6 on the Trojans entering the final eight minutes of regulation. After McQuin Baron settled in a made a key power play save, Blake Edwards earned a 5-meter penalty shot that Matteo Morelli promptly deposited into the back of the net to make it 9-7 UC Irvine with 4:49 to go. Marko Vavic would force an Anteater turnover next, and Edwards took it back the other way for the finishing touch to get USC within one. Another Baron save keyed another USC attack. Morelli found Vavic for the searing strike that equalized the game for the first time since the 3:44 mark of the first period. After a Lachlan Edwards field block squashed UC Irvine's next offensive series, Matt Maier unleashed an incredible nearside score to lift USC ahead 10-9 with 2:30 to go. USC's defense would step up for the rest, and the Trojans averted a dire situation to claim the comeback victory and advance to the evening's semifinals. USC gripped a 3-1 lead in the first period of play, but would fall behind 8-7 entering the fourth. On a 6-on-5, Morelli found Thomas Dunstan for the rocket that leveled it at 8-8 early in the fourth. A takeaway from Dunstan later helped get USC back on the attack, and it was Lachlan Edwards who finally got his just reward for earning countless ejections from his 2-meter spot. On this 6-on-5, Vavic hit Edwards for a booming dunk at the post to nudge USC ahead 9-8 with 5:09 on the clock. Stanford was clearly not going away, however, and the Cardinal scored off the foul next to snarl up the score once more. Again, a convincing USC 6-on-5 did the trick for the Trojans, who had Morelli set up another teammate for the go-ahead blast. Blake Edwards delivered this one, netting his second goal of the game and a 10-9 USC lead with 3:05 to go. Stanford would fire off another equalizer not 20 seconds later, and although the next USC power play would be stopped by Stanford goalie Drew Holland, Morelli would take matters in his own hands in the final minute. The Italian let loose a laser that put USC on top 11-10 with 28 ticks to go. Baron would come up big with a late save, and USC was able to hang on for the crucial comeback victory. Down by three goals with 4:13 left in Sunday's title match vs. UCLA, USC dug deep to carve the deficit down to one with 1:47 on the clock. Dunstan earned a power play for his Trojans, and Morelli served up his seventh assist of the tournament in finding Stein for a ripper that made it 12-10 at 3:07. After turning away the Bruins, USC got back on the attack, with Blake Edwards finding the hot-handed Stein for a sizzling skip that cut it to 12-11. Edwards would come up with a steal next, and USC called timeout with 1:20 to go. The referee's whistle would turn the ball back to the Bruins soon after, however, but Vavic was able to come up with a steal with 37 seconds left. Lachlan Edwards let loose a brilliant backhand, but it slammed the post, and USC's next try to equalize was off the mark. That left the ball in UCLA's hands for the final possession, and the Bruins opted to pad its lead with a last-second strike that finished things as a 13-11 UCLA win for USC's first loss of 2017.
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