Friday, September 27
Westchester, Calif.
3:40 PM
USC
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Princeton
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Photo by: Katie Chin
No. 5 Trojans Set Up For Action At SoCal Invitational
September 25, 2019 | Men's Water Polo, Features
USC opens up against Princeton on Friday with eyes toward a run to repeating as tourney champs.
THIS WEEK
No. 5 USC (4-1) engages in action at the 2019 SoCal Invitational this week as the Trojans set up defense of the 2018 title they won at last year's event. The 16-team tournament will be hosted by LMU and UCLA from Sept. 27-29. The Trojans are grouped with No. 4 Pacific, No. 13 LMU and No. 14 Princeton, opening up with a 3:40 p.m. clash with the Tigers on Friday (Sept. 27) at LMU's Burns Center. A win on Friday would send USC over to UCLA's Spieker Aquatics Center for the remainder of the tournament. On Saturday (Sept. 28), USC would cross over against either LMU or Pacific at 12 p.m. Semifinal matches are set for 2:40 p.m. and 5:20 p.m. on Saturday, with the championship game slotted for 1 p.m. on Sunday (Sept. 29), preceded by an 11:30 a.m. third-place game.Â
TOURNAMENT CENTRAL: https://uclabruins.com/feature/socalinvite2019
RANKINGS
The defending NCAA champs opened up 2019 ranked No. 1 in the nation. An early loss sent the Trojans to No. 5 in the land as of Sept. 18. USC remains at No. 5 in the latest rankings, released Sept. 25.
SOCAL INVITE NOTES
The 2019 SoCal Invitational represents the fourth edition of the Mountain Pacific Invitational, designed as the premier regular-season tournament and set to rotate between Northern California and Southern California hosts each year. The three-day event incorporates 16 teams from around the nation. This year's event is hosted by UCLA and LMU and features 14 of the nation's top-20 teams, including the entire top 10. Last year at the event in Stanford, USC grabbed a 20-6 win over Air Force to start, then notched a 914-8 win over Long Beach State. That put the Trojans in a semifinal clash against Cal, which USC dispatched 13-6 to move into the title match against host Stanford. The Trojans would edge out the Cardinal 10-9 in the final to claim the 2018 tourney title.
LAST WEEK
USC turned a tight game into a Trojan-controlled contest with a four-goal scoring surge that left visiting No. 9 Long Beach State largely out of reach in USC's home opener at Uytengsu Aquatics Center. Behind five goals from Jacob Mercep and 10 saves from Vaios Vlahotasios, USC locked up a 13-6 victory over the 49ers to improve to 4-1 on the year. Long Beach State drew first blood early in the game, but USC countered a minute later with the first of five blasts from Mercep. Matt Maier squashed a 49er 6-on-5 chance with a field block, and then Mercep fed Marcus Longton for the freshman's first USC goal in home waters. Long Beach State equalized next, but that prompted a lockdown by the Trojans. Marin Dasic sent in a bar-in laser to get USC a 3-2 lead that held through to the end of the first. In the second, the Trojan defense shut out the 49ers while Mercep, Dasic and Luke Wyatt each hit the back of the net to make it a 6-2 USC lead at halftime. Vlahotasios would wrap the half with a save to silence a 49er power play and then a steal to keep things in USC control. LBSU broke its 12 minutes of scoring silence with a goal to open the third, but USC's offensive onslaught heated back up. Mercep delivered two more — the first and the last for USC in the frame — while Alexander Lansill finished off a 6-on-5 setup from Luka Karaman and Dasic zipped in his third of the day to help USC along to a 10-4 lead entering the fourth. That three-goal rally was followed by two more Trojan tallies in the first half of the fourth, as Mercep punched up his fourth and Karaman joined the scoresheet off a pass from Hannes Daube. Daube would also drill a score for the Trojans before the close of the game, blasting a 6-on-5 strike set up by Troy Furniss as USC worked toward a final 13-6 win over the visiting 49ers.
CENTURY CLUB
USC's newest card-carrying member of the 100-goal club is senior Marin Dasic. With his eighth of a final 10 goals scored out at the Inland Empire Classic, Dasic drummed up the 100th gal of his USC career. He has two fellow seniors also closing in on the club, with Matt Maier gripping 88 career goals to date, followed by Sam Slobodien's 75. Junior Jacob Mercep is also closing in, having punched up 62 goals in his first season as a Trojan, he now holds 78 career goals at USC.
SUMMER SUCCESS
Capped up for competition around the globe, several Trojans went big in international waters during the summer of 2019. Captain of the USA's World University Games squad, Jake Ehrhardt helped guide Team USA to a silver medal at the event in Italy. Soon after, Hannes Daube and Marko Vavic were on-hand for the United States' push to Olympic qualification. Those two Trojans grabbed gold medals at the Pan American Games in Peru to secure the USA men's spot at the 2020 Olympic Games. Daube and Vavic also competed with Team USA at the FINA World Championships in South Korea, where the United States men placed ninth. Freshman Chris Sturtevant also got in on international action over the summer as a member of Great Britain's World University Games squad in Italy.
PINTA'S PROGRAM
Marko Pintaric, who has been part of 14 NCAA championships during his 18 years on the USC coaching staff, was named head coach of the USC men's and women's water polo teams on August 29, replacing former head coach Jovan Vavic. An All-American and 1998 NCAA champion as a player at USC, Pintaric served as co-head coach for the USC men for the past three seasons (2016-18), most recently helping the Trojans to the 2018 NCAA Championship. His USC coaching career began as an assistant coach to both the USC men and women in 2001. Pintaric stayed in a dual coaching role until NCAA rules for coaching staff sizes changed in 2015-16, prompting a move to a scouting director role with the women while his assistant coaching role continued with the men for the next four years. Pintaric, who scored the game-winning goal in USC's first-ever national championship, finished his USC playing career before he had the chance to defend the Trojans' 1998 NCAA title. In 18 years since on the coaching staff, he has helped five USC men's water polo teams successfully defend their NCAA crowns. Now, as the head coach, Pintaric has the opportunity to set up defense of another NCAA trophy.
ALL-AMERICAN LEADERSHIP
Senior captains Marin Dasic, Matt Maier and Sam Slobodien are seasoned, savvy and certain leaders for a USC roster brimming with talent. They are three of eight returning All-Americans, including a power pack of four of 2018 newcomers who exploded onto the scene in their first seasons as Trojans. Sophomores Hannes Daube, Jake Ehrhardt and Nic Porter and junior Jacob Mercep made indelible marks on the stat sheets for USC last year, and they are in full stride for 2019. Daube, Ehrhardt and junior Marko Vavic also combine forces in training with the U.S. National Team, with Daube and Vavic on-hand over the summer to help Team USA qualify for the Olympic Games, while Ehrhart captained the USA's World University Games team to a silver medal. Aussie goalie Porter and Croatian product Mercep represent possibly one of the most daunting one-two punches out there, as Porter stops shots on the defensive end while Mercep scores them at the other.
SENIOR STRENGTH
While All-Americans Dasic, Maier and Slobodien are in their final seasons of competition, there are three other noteworthy Trojans entering their fourth years with the program. Redshirt juniors Troy Furniss, Luka Karaman and Luke Wyatt also play a hefty leadership role for the group. Their dedication and hard work, too, have lifted all of them into significant contribution roles in the water as well. A lefty, Wyatt punched up 23 goals for the Trojan cause last season, including one in the NCAA Championship game. Karaman and Furniss factored in for 12 goals apiece in 2018.
CAGE FIGHTERS
In goal, returning All-American Nic Porter will be pushed once more by teammate Vaios Vlahotasios, who was also a newcomer to the USC cage in 2018 and who has proven himself a shot-stopping force to reckon with as well. Porter and Vlahotasios are a formidable goalie tandem for the Trojans, and are joined by freshman Garrett Allen and sophomore Jere Ashby as USC's talented goalkeeping corps for 2019.
THE NEW CREW
USC has 11 new Trojans set to see their first splashdowns in Cardinal and Gold in 2019. On the first weekend of competition, much of that group earned their stripes. Goalie Jere Ashby checked in for his first time in the cage, while fellow newcomers Matt Harrison, Marcus Longton, Grayden Reynolds and Chris Sturtevant all registered their first goals as Trojans.
LAST SEASON
The 2018 Trojans reached the NCAA final for the 14th consecutive season and emerged with the trophy for the 10th time in program history. A 14-12 win over host Stanford saw USC claim the national championship and finish out its first 30-win season. At the close of the winning campaign, USC had a program-record 10 Trojans earn All-America status, while newcomer Jacob Mercep scored NCAA Tournament MVP honors after a five-goal outburst in the title match. Mercep and freshman Hannes Daube both picked up All-America First Team honors to lead the pack of 10 honorees in USC's 30-3 season. •
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