Sunday, December 4
Berkeley, Calif.
3:00 PM
USC
12
at
13
California
Players Mentioned
2M
/ Men's Water Polo
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/ Men's Water Polo
2M
/ Men's Water Polo
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/ Men's Water Polo
DR
/ Men's Water Polo
DR
/ Men's Water Polo
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/ Men's Water Polo
2M
/ Men's Water Polo
DR
/ Men's Water Polo
2M
/ Men's Water Polo
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/ Men's Water PoloPhoto by: Katie Chin
USC Men’s Water Polo Falls In NCAA Title Match 13-12
December 04, 2022 | Men's Water Polo
Trojans wrap the year at 20-7 overall in its 18th consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament.
LOS ANGELES — The USC men's water polo team saw a four-goal lead slip out of reach in the fourth quarter as top-seeded host California made a late winning rally to take a 13-12 victory from the Trojans in the 2022 NCAA Championship game today at Spieker Aquatics Complex in Berkeley, Calif. With the crowd behind them, the Golden Bears pulled even with 1:30 to go and then converted on a counterattack in the final minute before fending off the Trojans' attempt to force overtime. USC finishes out its 18th straight trip to the NCAA Tournament with a 21-7 overall record.
USC exhibited a total team effort to take its host to task in the title match. Nine different Trojans scored in their balanced attack, while Cal relied on two top scorers to come up with the bulk of the Bears' scoring. Seniors Jake Ehrhardt, Marcus Longton, Chris Sturtevant and Ashworth Molthen all got in on the scoring action in their final game as Trojans, while goalie Kyle McKenney came up with many huge stops in his last game for USC.
The officials' whistle blew a total of 30 exclusions in the game, with five going against the Trojans in the fourth frame. USC had mounted a three-goal lead entering that final eight-minute stretch thanks in large part to back-to-back slams from junior Max Miller. Fellow junior Tom McGuire had issued a sizzling strike for the Trojan cause to wrap halftime with USC up 8-6, prompting some big 2-meter power from junior Tony Nardelli and Miller in the third. A takeaway from freshman Andrej Grgurevic followed by a huge stop from McKenney would wrap the third with USC ahead 11-8 entering the fourth.
To kick off the fourth, Brnetic hit Massimo Di Martire for a skipper that sent USC to a 12-8 lead that would hold through for the next two-and-a-half minutes before two even scores from Cal knocked the margin down to 12-10 with 5:02. Captain Ehrhardt would get tagged with his third exclusion with 3:30 to go, and Cal capitalized. Two 6-on-5 finishes by the Bears had things snarled up a 12-12 two minutes later. And after Cal made a stop against USC's first power play of the fourth, Cal converted on the counter to go up 13-12 with 0:41. USC had a look to level it, with a bold pass into the post, but the ball got loose, and Cal recovered to eke out the win and claim its second straight NCAA title.
At the end of the event, USC had four Trojans on the NCAA All-Tournament Team honor roll. Jake Ehrhardt and Massimo Di Martire were selected to the First Team, and Ashworth Molthen and Kyle McKenney earned spots on the Second Team.
NOTABLE:
- With two goals today, Jake Ehrhardt ends his USC career ranked tied at No. 6 all-time in career scoring at USC with 179 goals in his five seasons as a Trojan.
- Massimo Di Martire's 63 goals scored this season was the most by a Trojan in a single season since Blake Edwards scored 68 in 2015.
- With another goal today, Ashworth Molthen finished the season with goals scored in 14 consecutive games.
- With his goal today, Marcus Longton finished as USC's season leader in having scored in 25 games this year.
- With two goals today, Jake Ehrhardt finished as USC's season leader in multiple-goal games this season with 19 on the year.
- At 20-7 overall, USC has recorded its 28th season with 20-plus wins and first since a 30-win season in 2018
- Massimo Di Martire's 63 goals scored this season was the most by a Trojan in a single season since Blake Edwards scored 68 in 2015.
NCAA TOURNAMENT
CHAMPIONSHIP
California 13, USC 12
Dec. 4, 2022 | Spieker Aquatics Complex (Berkeley, Calif.)
USC 3 - 5 - 3 - 1 = 12
CAL 4 - 2 - 2 - 5 = 13
SCORING:
USC — Jake Ehrhardt 2, Massimo Di Martire 2, Max Miller 2, Chris Sturtevant, Marcus Longton, Luka Brnetic, Ashworth Molthen, Tom McGuire, Tony Nardelli.
CAL — Nikolaos Papanikolaou 7, Roberto Valera 4, Max Casabella, Jack Deeply.
SAVES: Kyle McKenney (USC) 8, Adrian Weinberg (CAL) 12.
USC exhibited a total team effort to take its host to task in the title match. Nine different Trojans scored in their balanced attack, while Cal relied on two top scorers to come up with the bulk of the Bears' scoring. Seniors Jake Ehrhardt, Marcus Longton, Chris Sturtevant and Ashworth Molthen all got in on the scoring action in their final game as Trojans, while goalie Kyle McKenney came up with many huge stops in his last game for USC.
The officials' whistle blew a total of 30 exclusions in the game, with five going against the Trojans in the fourth frame. USC had mounted a three-goal lead entering that final eight-minute stretch thanks in large part to back-to-back slams from junior Max Miller. Fellow junior Tom McGuire had issued a sizzling strike for the Trojan cause to wrap halftime with USC up 8-6, prompting some big 2-meter power from junior Tony Nardelli and Miller in the third. A takeaway from freshman Andrej Grgurevic followed by a huge stop from McKenney would wrap the third with USC ahead 11-8 entering the fourth.
To kick off the fourth, Brnetic hit Massimo Di Martire for a skipper that sent USC to a 12-8 lead that would hold through for the next two-and-a-half minutes before two even scores from Cal knocked the margin down to 12-10 with 5:02. Captain Ehrhardt would get tagged with his third exclusion with 3:30 to go, and Cal capitalized. Two 6-on-5 finishes by the Bears had things snarled up a 12-12 two minutes later. And after Cal made a stop against USC's first power play of the fourth, Cal converted on the counter to go up 13-12 with 0:41. USC had a look to level it, with a bold pass into the post, but the ball got loose, and Cal recovered to eke out the win and claim its second straight NCAA title.
At the end of the event, USC had four Trojans on the NCAA All-Tournament Team honor roll. Jake Ehrhardt and Massimo Di Martire were selected to the First Team, and Ashworth Molthen and Kyle McKenney earned spots on the Second Team.
NOTABLE:
- With two goals today, Jake Ehrhardt ends his USC career ranked tied at No. 6 all-time in career scoring at USC with 179 goals in his five seasons as a Trojan.
- Massimo Di Martire's 63 goals scored this season was the most by a Trojan in a single season since Blake Edwards scored 68 in 2015.
- With another goal today, Ashworth Molthen finished the season with goals scored in 14 consecutive games.
- With his goal today, Marcus Longton finished as USC's season leader in having scored in 25 games this year.
- With two goals today, Jake Ehrhardt finished as USC's season leader in multiple-goal games this season with 19 on the year.
- At 20-7 overall, USC has recorded its 28th season with 20-plus wins and first since a 30-win season in 2018
- Massimo Di Martire's 63 goals scored this season was the most by a Trojan in a single season since Blake Edwards scored 68 in 2015.
NCAA TOURNAMENT
CHAMPIONSHIP
California 13, USC 12
Dec. 4, 2022 | Spieker Aquatics Complex (Berkeley, Calif.)
USC 3 - 5 - 3 - 1 = 12
CAL 4 - 2 - 2 - 5 = 13
SCORING:
USC — Jake Ehrhardt 2, Massimo Di Martire 2, Max Miller 2, Chris Sturtevant, Marcus Longton, Luka Brnetic, Ashworth Molthen, Tom McGuire, Tony Nardelli.
CAL — Nikolaos Papanikolaou 7, Roberto Valera 4, Max Casabella, Jack Deeply.
SAVES: Kyle McKenney (USC) 8, Adrian Weinberg (CAL) 12.
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