Saturday, October 13
Stanford, CA
8:00 AM
USC
14
vs
8
Long Beach State
Players Mentioned
DR
/ Men's Water Polo
DR
/ Men's Water Polo
2M
/ Men's Water Polo
DR
/ Men's Water Polo
UT
/ Men's Water Polo
G
/ Men's Water Polo
2M
/ Men's Water Polo
DR
/ Men's Water Polo
G
/ Men's Water Polo
DR
/ Men's Water Polo
2M
/ Men's Water Polo
DR
/ Men's Water Polo
G
/ Men's Water Polo
Photo by: Catharyn Hayne
No. 3 USC Punches Ticket To Mountain Pacific Invite Title Match
October 13, 2018 | Men's Water Polo, Features
Trojans take out Long Beach State and Cal with balanced victories in Palo Alto.
PALO ALTO, CALIF. — The No. 3 USC men's water polo team issued two decisive takedowns on day two at the Mountain Pacific Invitational today, topping No. 9 Long Beach State 14-8 this morning before whipping up a resounding 13-6 win over No. 4 California in the afternoon's semifinal. Now 21-1 overall, the Trojans turn to the tournament title match tomorrow (Oct. 14) against No. 1 host Stanford at Avery Aquatic Center in Palo Alto, Calif.
To get that spot in the semifinals, USC had to have a strong showing in a morning matchup with No. 9 Long Beach State. The early start saw the Trojans deliver the first four goals of the game to establish early control. While Nic Porter made a stand in the cage, Jake Ehrhardt, Marin Dasic, Hannes Daube and Zach D'Sa each got to the back of the net before Long Beach State stopped the run in the second period. USC issued a swift response, however, as Jacob Mercep and Sam Slobodien went back-to-back to tug the Trojans ahead 6-1. The 49ers got another to go, only to see Matt Maier and Daube punch up goals for the USC cause before halftime to lead it 8-2 at the break.
Daube had his hat trick in place early in the third, and D'Sa and Mercep each added their second to keep USC on a winning pace. Mercep would earn USC a second 5-meter penalty shot — the first converted by Dasic in the first frame and the next topped off by Marko Vavic to make it a 12-4 USC lead by the end of the third. In the fourth, Sam Krutonog stepped into the cage on the defensive end. Two new USC scorers got on the board before the final buzzer as Christian Hockenbury and Danny Leong both struck for the Trojans to help round out a final 14-8 victory that sent USC on to the afternoon's semis.
In a must-win match for a ticket to the final, the Trojans squared off against the Golden Bears for the first time this season. The semifinal bout had the makings of a close one in the first period, with USC and Cal staying largely in stride. The Bears had an answer for Marko Vavic and Luka Karaman's scores, but Sawyer Rhodes bumped USC back into the lead with a sizzling bar-in blast that made it 3-2 Trojans. Goalie Nic Porter made his presence known in the cage with some early key stops, and in the second period there was no doubt that the Aussie goalie was on his game. After Jacob Mercep had zipped in three goals to follow Matt Maier's second-period opening strike, Porter put a stop to a Cal 5-meter penalty attempt that would have brought it back to a one-goal game by halftime.
Instead, USC's 7-5 halftime advantage would grow to 11-5 as the Trojans rattled off the first four goals of the third. Sam Slobodien dumped in the opening score of the second half, then earned a 5-meter penalty shot that Mercep hammered home. Vavic scored soon after for a 10-5 lead that was preserved by some savvy defense from Rhodes. Then the Bears missed on their next 5-meter chance, and Mercep followed with his fifth of the day on a Trojan power play. Up 11-5, USC surrendered a Cal goal before the end of the third to carry an 11-6 lead into the fourth. Again, Cal misfired on a penalty attempt, and then USC converted a blast from the post by Maier to double its lead to 12-6. Christian Hockenbury had the last word for USC, scoring to make 13-6 late in the fourth before Porter gave way to Vaios Vlahotasios for the final minute-plus of the game. Vlahotasios added a save of his own to Porter's count of 13 stops, and USC was well on its way to the championship match with the 13-6 win over Cal.
USC will face No. 1 Stanford at 2:30 p.m. tomorrow (Oct. 14) in the championship game at the Mountain Pacific Invitational. The game sets up a rematch of the Trojans' only loss taken this season -- an MPSF defeat in Stanford's home pool two weeks ago.
2018 MOUNTAIN PACIFIC INVITATIONAL
GAME TWO
#3 USC 14, #9 Long Beach State 8
Oct. 13, 2018 | Avery Aquatic Center (Palo Alto, Calif.)
USC 2 - 6 - 4 - 2 = 14
LBSU 0 - 2 - 2 - 4 = 8
SCORING:
USC — Hannes Daube 3, Zach D'Sa 2, Jacob Mercep 2, Jake Ehrhardt, Sam Slobodien, Marko Vavic, Marin Dasic, Matt Maier, Danny Leong, Christian Hockenbury.
LBSU — Garrett Zaan 2, Aaron Arias 2, Johnathan Wong, Max Cusator, Matt Morris, Joshua Spence.
SAVES: Nic Porter (USC) 6 [3 periods], Sam Krutonog (USC) 3 [4th period], Marwan Darwish (LBSU) 7, Kyle Alhart (LBSU) 5.
SEMIFINAL
#3 USC 13, #4 California 6
Oct. 13, 2018 | Avery Aquatic Center (Palo Alto, Calif.)
USC 3 - 4 - 4 - 2 = 13
CAL 2 - 3 - 1 - 0 = 6
SCORING:
USC — Jacob Mercep 5, Marko Vavic 2, Matt Maier 2, Luka Karaman, Sawyer Rhodes, Sam Slobodien, Christian Hockenbury.
CAL — Safak Simsek 4, Spencer Farrar, Johnny Hooper.
SAVES: Nic Porter (USC) 13 [30:30], Vaios Vlahotasios (USC) 1 [1:30], Bernardo Carelli (CAL) 8.
To get that spot in the semifinals, USC had to have a strong showing in a morning matchup with No. 9 Long Beach State. The early start saw the Trojans deliver the first four goals of the game to establish early control. While Nic Porter made a stand in the cage, Jake Ehrhardt, Marin Dasic, Hannes Daube and Zach D'Sa each got to the back of the net before Long Beach State stopped the run in the second period. USC issued a swift response, however, as Jacob Mercep and Sam Slobodien went back-to-back to tug the Trojans ahead 6-1. The 49ers got another to go, only to see Matt Maier and Daube punch up goals for the USC cause before halftime to lead it 8-2 at the break.
Daube had his hat trick in place early in the third, and D'Sa and Mercep each added their second to keep USC on a winning pace. Mercep would earn USC a second 5-meter penalty shot — the first converted by Dasic in the first frame and the next topped off by Marko Vavic to make it a 12-4 USC lead by the end of the third. In the fourth, Sam Krutonog stepped into the cage on the defensive end. Two new USC scorers got on the board before the final buzzer as Christian Hockenbury and Danny Leong both struck for the Trojans to help round out a final 14-8 victory that sent USC on to the afternoon's semis.
In a must-win match for a ticket to the final, the Trojans squared off against the Golden Bears for the first time this season. The semifinal bout had the makings of a close one in the first period, with USC and Cal staying largely in stride. The Bears had an answer for Marko Vavic and Luka Karaman's scores, but Sawyer Rhodes bumped USC back into the lead with a sizzling bar-in blast that made it 3-2 Trojans. Goalie Nic Porter made his presence known in the cage with some early key stops, and in the second period there was no doubt that the Aussie goalie was on his game. After Jacob Mercep had zipped in three goals to follow Matt Maier's second-period opening strike, Porter put a stop to a Cal 5-meter penalty attempt that would have brought it back to a one-goal game by halftime.
Instead, USC's 7-5 halftime advantage would grow to 11-5 as the Trojans rattled off the first four goals of the third. Sam Slobodien dumped in the opening score of the second half, then earned a 5-meter penalty shot that Mercep hammered home. Vavic scored soon after for a 10-5 lead that was preserved by some savvy defense from Rhodes. Then the Bears missed on their next 5-meter chance, and Mercep followed with his fifth of the day on a Trojan power play. Up 11-5, USC surrendered a Cal goal before the end of the third to carry an 11-6 lead into the fourth. Again, Cal misfired on a penalty attempt, and then USC converted a blast from the post by Maier to double its lead to 12-6. Christian Hockenbury had the last word for USC, scoring to make 13-6 late in the fourth before Porter gave way to Vaios Vlahotasios for the final minute-plus of the game. Vlahotasios added a save of his own to Porter's count of 13 stops, and USC was well on its way to the championship match with the 13-6 win over Cal.
USC will face No. 1 Stanford at 2:30 p.m. tomorrow (Oct. 14) in the championship game at the Mountain Pacific Invitational. The game sets up a rematch of the Trojans' only loss taken this season -- an MPSF defeat in Stanford's home pool two weeks ago.
2018 MOUNTAIN PACIFIC INVITATIONAL
GAME TWO
#3 USC 14, #9 Long Beach State 8
Oct. 13, 2018 | Avery Aquatic Center (Palo Alto, Calif.)
USC 2 - 6 - 4 - 2 = 14
LBSU 0 - 2 - 2 - 4 = 8
SCORING:
USC — Hannes Daube 3, Zach D'Sa 2, Jacob Mercep 2, Jake Ehrhardt, Sam Slobodien, Marko Vavic, Marin Dasic, Matt Maier, Danny Leong, Christian Hockenbury.
LBSU — Garrett Zaan 2, Aaron Arias 2, Johnathan Wong, Max Cusator, Matt Morris, Joshua Spence.
SAVES: Nic Porter (USC) 6 [3 periods], Sam Krutonog (USC) 3 [4th period], Marwan Darwish (LBSU) 7, Kyle Alhart (LBSU) 5.
SEMIFINAL
#3 USC 13, #4 California 6
Oct. 13, 2018 | Avery Aquatic Center (Palo Alto, Calif.)
USC 3 - 4 - 4 - 2 = 13
CAL 2 - 3 - 1 - 0 = 6
SCORING:
USC — Jacob Mercep 5, Marko Vavic 2, Matt Maier 2, Luka Karaman, Sawyer Rhodes, Sam Slobodien, Christian Hockenbury.
CAL — Safak Simsek 4, Spencer Farrar, Johnny Hooper.
SAVES: Nic Porter (USC) 13 [30:30], Vaios Vlahotasios (USC) 1 [1:30], Bernardo Carelli (CAL) 8.
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