LOS ANGELES, CALIF. — The No. 2 USC men's water polo team took its first loss of 2017 today in the title match at the 2017 Mountain Pacific Invitational. The tournament hosts went up against crosstown rival UCLA in the final, leading early before seeing the No. 4 Bruins move into the lead in the third period. UCLA was able to fend off USC's comeback attempts in the fourth with goals from the Bruins' big guns, and UCLA emerged with the title on a 13-11 decision at USC's Uytengsu Aquatics Center. USC is now 13-1 overall on the year.
 

Down by three goals with 4:13 left in regulation, USC dug deep to carve the deficit down to one with 1:47 on the clock. Thomas Dunstan earned a power play for his Trojans, and Matteo Morelli served up his seventh assist of the tournament in finding Grant Stein for a ripper that made it 12-10 at 3:07. After turning away the Bruins, USC got back on the attack, with Blake Edwards finding the hot-handed Stein for a sizzling skip that cut it to 12-11. Edwards would come up with a steal next, and USC called timeout with 1:20 to go. The referee's whistle would turn the ball back to the Bruins soon after, however, but Marko Vavic was able to come up with a steal with 37 seconds left. Lachlan Edwards let loose a brilliant backhand, but it slammed the post, and USC's next try to equalize was off the mark. That left the ball in UCLA's hands for the final possession, and the Bruins opted to pad its lead with a last-second strike that finished things as a 13-11 UCLA win.
 

USC had led by two at the close of the first with four different Trojans getting on the scoreboard to build a 4-2 advantage. Zach D'Sa was a workhorse for the Trojans,  plugging in two goals and providing two assists as USC held a 6-5 lead. Lachlan Edwards shouldered the load at two-meters with another outstanding effort in earning countless ejections to help the Trojan cause. His work put USC on the advantage for D'Sa's setup pass to Mihajlo Milicevic, who buried the chance to take USC ahead 6-5 at 2:19 in the second. UCLA would equalize on a 6-on-5 of its own next to lock it at 6-6 for halftime.
 

It would be even at 7-7 and 8-8 in the third as USC kept reeling the Bruins back in, but UCLA got a bar-in 6-on-5 strike to go with 13 seconds left in the third, and USC would be unable to get any closer the rest of the way.  While the Trojans' scoring was distributed among eight players, UCLA received the bulk of their goals from two Bruins who accounted for 10 of UCLA's 13 goals. USC was paced by a hat trick from Stein along with two goals from D'Sa and six other Trojans with a goal apiece. USC goalie McQuin Baron made nine saves for the Trojans.
 

Next up for USC is a trip to the Lancer Invitational for two games in Riverside on Friday (Sept. 29) before a journey to Pepperdine to take on the Waves at 1 p.m. on Saturday (Sept. 30) in Malibu. 
 

2017 MOUNTAIN PACIFIC INVITATIONAL
 

CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

USC    4 - 2 - 2 - 3 = 11

UCLA  2 - 4 - 3 - 4 = 13
 

USC — Grant Stein 3, Zach D'Sa 2, Blake Edwards, Bryce Hoerman, Mihajlo Milicevic, Marin Dasic, Lachlan Edwards, Marko Vavic.

UCLA — Max Irving 6, Alex Roelse 4, Nicola Savejic 2, James Vlachonassios.
 

SAVES: McQuin Baron (USC) 9, Alex Wolf (UCLA) 10.