Friday, September 22
Los Angeles, CA
1:00 PM
USC
18
vs
9
San Jose State
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's Water Polo
DR
/ Men's Water Polo
DR
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UT
/ Men's Water Polo
DR
/ Men's Water Polo
UT
/ Men's Water Polo
DR
/ Men's Water Polo
2M
/ Men's Water Polo
UT
/ Men's Water Polo
DR
/ Men's Water Polo
DR
/ Men's Water Polo
G
/ Men's Water Polo
2M
/ Men's Water Polo
DR
/ Men's Water Polo
DR
/ Men's Water Polo
Total Team Effort Takes No. 2 Trojans To Next Step In Mountain Pacific Invitational
September 22, 2017 | Men's Water Polo, Features
USC’s 18-9 win over San José State advances Trojans in tournament play.
LOS ANGELES, CALIF. — The No. 2 USC men's water polo team scored the first seven goals of the game 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 today. 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 victory advances USC in the tournament bracket, now set for an 11:30 a.m. clash with UC Irvine tomorrow (Sept. 23) to fight for a spot in the evening's semifinals.
In today's opening game, USC squared off with San José State in bracket play at the Trojans' home pool. Marin Dasic and Grant Stein would each plug in two goals apiece to fuel USC's seven-goal surge out of the gates. Senior goalie McQuin Baron manned the cage for the first period, shutting out the Spartans while USC crafted a 4-0 lead after eight minutes of action. Will Rubschlager would take over the cage for the second and third frames.
To open the second, Matt Maier found Sam Slobodien for a blast that made it 5-0 early in the frame. A minute later, USC gripped a 7-0 lead on goals from Stein and Dasic. San José State would strike off the foul later to break its silence, with hot-handed Spartan Jacob Mercep hammering home his first of six goals on the day to make it 7-1. Blake Edwards would issue a response from the Trojan on a well-executed 6-on-5 series that saw Matteo Morelli hit Marko Vavic for the setup to Edwards, who delivered a searing crosscage score. A goal from SJSU in the final minute made it an 8-2 halftime score in USC's favor.
That gave way to a busy third frame, as USC scored six goals to outpace the Spartans' increased offensive output of four goals in that stretch. With USC leading 14-6 on Bryce Herman's goal to close the third, Simon Wu took over in goal for the last period of play. SJSU managed a three-goal surge in the last half of the fourth, but thanks in part to the Leong brothers — Danny and Tim — pumping in their second goals of the day and the first career goal as a Trojan for redshirt freshman Luka Karaman, USC was able to stay in full control to close out an 18-9 final decision.
For complete tournament results and schedule, visit the Mountain Pacific Invitational tournament central page.
2017 MOUNTAIN PACIFIC INVITATIONAL
#2 USC 18, San José State 9
Sept. 22, 2017 | Uytengsu Aquatics Center (Los Angeles, Calif.)
USC 4 - 4 - 6 - 4 = 18
SJSU 0 - 2 - 4 - 3 = 9
SCORING:
USC — Grant Stein 2, Marin Dasic 2, Sam Slobodien 2, Bryce Hoerman 2, Daniel Leong 2, Tim Leong 2, Marko Vavic, Lazar Pasuljevic, Blake Edwards, Mihajlo Milicevic, Luka Karaman, Chas Hornecker.
SJSU — Jacob Mercep 6, Justin Pickering, Ben Hauschild, Stefan Petkovic.
SAVES: McQuin Baron (USC) 3 [1st period], Will Rubschlager (USC) 5 [2 periods], Simon Wu (USC) 3 [4th period], Todd Palmer (SJSU) 8 [1st half], Conrad Gordon (SJSU) 3 [1+ periods], Corey Valencia (SJSU) 1 [last 4:20].
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