Sunday, September 29
Los Angeles, Calif.
10:00 AM
USC
13
vs
12
California (5th Place)
Players Mentioned
DR
/ Men's Water Polo
DR
/ Men's Water Polo
2M
/ 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
Photo by: Hali Helfgott
No. 5 USC Takes Fifth At SoCal Invite With 13-12 Win Over No. 7 Cal
September 29, 2019 | Men's Water Polo, Features
Hat tricks from Jacob Mercep, Jake Ehrhardt and Marin Dasic fuel a wild win for the Trojans.
WESTWOOD, CALIF. — The No. 5 USC men's water polo team endured a wild game peppered with a whopping 36 combined exclusions and emerged victorious over No. 7 California with a 13-12 win that secured fifth place for the Trojans at the SoCal Invitational today at UCLA's Spieker Aquatic Center. USC led by five goals entering the fourth period, where Cal converted four of five power plays to carve into the USC lead. But the Trojans held their ground and locked up the win to improve to 7-2 overall on the year.
USC opened things with a three-goal surge fueled by a heroic effort at two-meters by Sam Slobodien. His power at set generated six of USC's first seven 6-on-5 opportunities in the game. The Trojans would convert of four of those chances as USC chugged out to a 5-1 lead and would grip an 8-4 advantage by halftime. Jacob Mercep had a hat trick in place by then, having laced in each of his goals on USC power plays. Jake Ehrhardt and Marin Dasic each plugged in their first of an eventual three goals apiece to help craft that 8-4 lead, with Marcus Longton and Luke Wyatt also getting to the back of the net for the Trojan cause in those first 16 minutes of action.
The third frame was another busy stretch on both ends. Both teams converted a penalty shot apiece while the referees' whistle blew eight more ejections along the way. The Bears carved USC's lead down to two with a penalty and a power play finish, but USC fired back with a three-goal surge sparked by a 6-on-5 skipper from Hannes Daube. Dasic went back-to-back next, and USC was up 11-6 with 1:53 left in the third. Each team would convert their next power play opportunities, with Ehrhardt delivering his third of the day to make it a 12-7 USC lead entering the final frame. Cal opened the fourth with an even score, followed by a Wyatt hammer as teams pulled even on a USC 6-on-5. That got USC ahead 13-8 with 6:27 still to go. Cal would get six more power plays in the final stretch, finishing on four of those to trim the margin down to one. But with a 13-12 lead with 20 seconds left, the Trojans were able to work the clock down to the final buzzer and secure victory.
The Trojans now turn to prep for two games next weekend. USC will host UC Irvine in a 1 p.m. clash on Saturday (Oct. 5) at Uytengsu Aquatics Center. Then, it's a road trip to UC Santa Barbara to look for revenge against the Gauchos at 12 p.m. on Sunday (Oct. 6).
SOCAL INVITATIONAL
FIFTH-PLACE GAME
#5 USC 13, #7 California 12
Sept. 29, 2019 | Spieker Aquatics Center (Westwood, Calif.)
USC 3 - 5 - 4 - 1 = 13
CAL 1 - 3 - 3 - 5 = 12
SCORING:
USC —Jacob Mercep 3, Jake Ehrhardt 3, Marin Dasic 3, Luke Wyatt 2, Marcus Longton, Hannes Daube.
CAL — Jordan Hoover 3, Safak Simsek 2, Nikos Papanikolou 2, Warren Loth 2, Sam Untrecht 2, Jack Deely.
SAVES: Nic Porter (USC) 7, Adrian Weinberg (CAL) 8.
USC opened things with a three-goal surge fueled by a heroic effort at two-meters by Sam Slobodien. His power at set generated six of USC's first seven 6-on-5 opportunities in the game. The Trojans would convert of four of those chances as USC chugged out to a 5-1 lead and would grip an 8-4 advantage by halftime. Jacob Mercep had a hat trick in place by then, having laced in each of his goals on USC power plays. Jake Ehrhardt and Marin Dasic each plugged in their first of an eventual three goals apiece to help craft that 8-4 lead, with Marcus Longton and Luke Wyatt also getting to the back of the net for the Trojan cause in those first 16 minutes of action.
The third frame was another busy stretch on both ends. Both teams converted a penalty shot apiece while the referees' whistle blew eight more ejections along the way. The Bears carved USC's lead down to two with a penalty and a power play finish, but USC fired back with a three-goal surge sparked by a 6-on-5 skipper from Hannes Daube. Dasic went back-to-back next, and USC was up 11-6 with 1:53 left in the third. Each team would convert their next power play opportunities, with Ehrhardt delivering his third of the day to make it a 12-7 USC lead entering the final frame. Cal opened the fourth with an even score, followed by a Wyatt hammer as teams pulled even on a USC 6-on-5. That got USC ahead 13-8 with 6:27 still to go. Cal would get six more power plays in the final stretch, finishing on four of those to trim the margin down to one. But with a 13-12 lead with 20 seconds left, the Trojans were able to work the clock down to the final buzzer and secure victory.
The Trojans now turn to prep for two games next weekend. USC will host UC Irvine in a 1 p.m. clash on Saturday (Oct. 5) at Uytengsu Aquatics Center. Then, it's a road trip to UC Santa Barbara to look for revenge against the Gauchos at 12 p.m. on Sunday (Oct. 6).
SOCAL INVITATIONAL
FIFTH-PLACE GAME
#5 USC 13, #7 California 12
Sept. 29, 2019 | Spieker Aquatics Center (Westwood, Calif.)
USC 3 - 5 - 4 - 1 = 13
CAL 1 - 3 - 3 - 5 = 12
SCORING:
USC —Jacob Mercep 3, Jake Ehrhardt 3, Marin Dasic 3, Luke Wyatt 2, Marcus Longton, Hannes Daube.
CAL — Jordan Hoover 3, Safak Simsek 2, Nikos Papanikolou 2, Warren Loth 2, Sam Untrecht 2, Jack Deely.
SAVES: Nic Porter (USC) 7, Adrian Weinberg (CAL) 8.
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