No. 5 USC Men’s Water Polo Defends Home Waters Again With 18-7 Win Over No. 15 San José State

LOS ANGELES, CALIF. — The No. 5 USC men's water polo team extended its home win streak to nine games with today's dominant performance in an 18-7 victory over visiting No. 15 San José State at Uytengsu Aquatics Center. The total team win featured 11 Trojan scorers, including a trio of hat tricks from Jake Ehrhardt, Ashworth Molthen and Chris Agliozzo. Two USC goalies combined forces in the cage on the defensive end, with Kyle McKenney and Blake Jackson combining for nine saves on the day. USC improves to 13-4 overall to today's win.

The Trojans scored at a consistent clip, plugging in five goals in each of the first three frames. A three-goal surge in the first period broke up an early 2-2 tie, as Massimo Di Martire struck twice while serving up an assist to Marcus Longton to get the Trojans on top for good. Up 5-2 entering the second, four new Trojan scorers got on the board, with Molthen punching up the first and last of the frame. Reed Stemler, Agliozzo and Luka Brnetic each tallied blasts for the Trojan cause, and USC was up 10-4 at halftime. Another three-goal rally came in the third as Jake Ehrhardt, Tom McGuire and Carson Kranz rattled off a scoring run. In the final two minutes of the period, Evan Ausmus sizzled in a skipper, and Grayden Reynolds converted a 5-meter penalty shot in the final seconds to craft a 15-5 USC advantage on the way into the fourth. In that last stretch, Agliozzo worked his way into the first hat trick of his career before Molthen closed things down by finishing a feed from Chris Sturtevant to cap off an 18-7 win for the Trojans.

NEXT:
USC tackles its first MPSF matchup of the season next week with a trip to Berkeley to take on California at 1 p.m. on Saturday (Oct. 15).

NOTABLE:
- With three goals today, Jake Ehrhardt now hold 155 career goals — one away from tying at No. 10 all-time at USC.
- With three goals today, Ashworth Molthen has tallied four consecutive multiple-goal games; he leads the team with 12 multiple-goal games this season.
- With two goals today, Massimo Di Martire continues to lead USC in scoring this season, now with 39 goals.
- With a 5-meter penalty shot goal apiece today, Tom McGuire and Grayden Reynolds each recorded their first goals of the season.
- Chris Agliozzo scored a career-high three goals today — his first multiple-goal game of the year.
- USC has now won nine consecutive games at home (3-0 in 2022, 6-0 in 2021).

#5 USC 18, #15 San José State 7
Oct. 8, 2022 | Uytengsu Aquatics Center (Los Angeles, Calif.)
USC   5 - 5 - 5 - 3 = 18
SJSU  2 - 2 - 1 - 2 = 7

SCORING:
USC — Jake Ehrhardt 3, Ashworth Molthen 3, Chris Agliozzo 3, Massimo Di Martire 2, Marcus Longton, Reed Stemler, Luka Brnetic, Tom McGuire, Carson Kranz, Evan Ausmus, Grayden Reynolds.
SJSU — Bence Szabo 3, Mark Kis, Gal Haimovich, Garrett Johnson, Bendeguz Melkuhn.
SAVES: Kyle McKenney (USC) 5 [1st half], Blake Jackson (USC) 4 [2nd half], Zoltan Der (SJSU) 1, Jamie Steingraf (SJSU) 5.