Men's Water Polo | November 17, 2018

LOS ANGELES, CALIF. — The No. 1 USC men's water polo team got tagged with its first home loss of the year, overcome by California in the late stages of today's MPSF semifinal contest at Uytengsu Aquatics Center. The Trojans led by three late in the third period, but the Golden Bears battled back, scoring the last four goals of the game, including the game-winner with six seconds left. The 10-9 loss sends host USC to the MPSF third-place game tomorrow (Nov. 18) at 11 a.m. against UCLA. Cal will face top-seeded Stanford in tomorrow's title match at 1 p.m. USC will carry a 28-2 overall record into that third-place tilt. 

The game opened as a shootout, with the teams going goal-for-goal for the first nine minutes before the Trojans managed back-to-back blasts. Hannes Daube had opened the scoring early, but Cal had an answer for each Trojan strike. But, when Cal locked it up 4-4 out of the gates of the second period, the Trojans fired off another go-ahead rocket — this from Jacob Mercep off a 6-on-5 setup from Marko Vavic — before a forced turnover by Sawyer Rhodes sparked a Trojan counter. Goalie Nic Porter would hit Vavic on the attack, with the sophomore ripping it in for a 6-4 USC lead with 6:24 on the clock. Cal would get a power play to go later to get it to a one-goal game, only to see senior captain Zach D'Sa go bar-in to make it a 7-5 USC lead. That would hold to halftime thanks to a clutch save from Porter to close the half. 

In the third, USC enjoyed a three-goal advantage on two occasions — first on a 6-on-5 sizzler from Mercep to go up 8-5 and then another rocket from Daube to make it 9-6 after the Bears had converted on a power play of their own. From there, however, USC would come up empty. Although Porter kept coming up with big blocks on the defensive end, USC's offense sputtered. Cal netted a 6-on-5 score with 1:44 remaining in the third, and would ride a wave of goals that pulled the teams even at 9-9 with 1:25 to go. Another USC 6-on-5 chance went awry next, and then Cal would pounce on its final look of the game, slotting a crosscage blast that tugged the Bears into their first lead of the game, up 10-9 with six ticks to go. USC would be unable to answer, and the Bears took the ticket to the title match.

USC now faces UCLA in the MPSF third-place game tomorrow (Nov. 18) at 11 a.m. at Uytengsu Aquatics Center. Once the tournament is complete, teams will await the selection for the NCAA Tournament bracket on Monday (Nov. 19). Ranked No. 1 in the nation for the bulk of the season, USC's 28-2 overall record is a powerful boost for the Trojans in the race for an at-large berth. But nothing is set in stone until the NCAA Committee makes its final decisions. USC is looking to make a 14th straight NCAA visit and a 14th straight NCAA final.

2018 MPSF TOURNAMENT 

SEMIFINALS
[3] California 10, [2] USC 9
Nov. 17, 2018 | Uytengsu Aquatics Center (Los Angeles, Calif.)
USC 4 - 3 - 2 - 0 = 9
CAL  3 - 2 - 2 - 3 = 10

SCORING:
USC — Hannes Daube 3, Zach D'Sa 2, Jacob Mercep 2, Jake Ehrhardt, Marko Vavic.
CAL — Vassilis Tzavaras 2, Safak Simsek 2, Nikos Delagrammatikas, Spencer Farrar, Jordan Hoover, Jack Deely, Odysseas Masmanidis.

SAVES: Nic Porter (USC) 11, Bernardo Carelli (CAL) 9.