Courtesy: USC Athletics
LOS ANGELES, CALIF. — The No. 3 USC men’s water polo team took undefeated No. 1 UCLA to the brink before the Bruins benefitted from a late goal that forced overtime, where UCLA was able to move ahead and net a 10-8 win over the Trojans in today’s regular-season finale. USC now stands at 12-6 overall on the year with MPSF Tournament action coming up next in Berkeley.
USC’s defense was in full effect out of the gates as the Trojans shut out the Bruins for the first nine minutes of play. Andrej Grgurevic punched up the opening goal for USC on its first possession, and the 1-0 Trojan advantage would hold until UCLA was granted a 5-meter penalty shot at 6:31 in the second period. That put the Bruins on the board, but USC fired back with a three-goal rally. Jake Carter found Tony Nardelli for an impressive strike out of set to tug the Trojans ahead 2-1. On a 6-on-5 later, Luka Brnetic passed to Massimo Di Martire, who fed Max Miller for a timely tip-in at the post to make it 3-1. USC would squash UCLA’s next offensive looks, with goalie Bernardo Herzer making another big stop at 3:05, and then Evan Ausmus sent the ball to Carter, who laced in a laser for a 4-1 USC lead. UCLA managed an even score 28 ticks before halftime, and it was 4-2 at the break.
As the referee’s whistle blew against the Trojans for a series of UCLA 6-on-5 opportunities, the Bruins were able to carve down the USC lead. Joshua Waldoch would launch a rocket that had USC up 5-3 to break up the Bruins’ momentum a big, but UCLA converted on back-to-back power plays next to pull even at 5-5. Connor Cohen came up big with a go-ahead goal for the Trojans at 2:31 in the third, only to have the Bruins get two even scores to go in the next stretch, and UCLA was up 7-6 for its first lead of the game to enter the fourth.
Some stingy USC defense kept the Trojans on the attack, and Carson Kranz got USC up on a power play, finding Miller for an opportunistic goal that snarled the game at 7-7. With 2:04, Grugurevic sizzled in a burning skipper from distance, and USC was up 8-7. Defense from the Trojans stayed effective down to the wire until a ball-under call against the Trojans gave the ball back to the Bruins, who scored with six seconds left in regulation to bring up overtime. Herzer put up a wall against the Bruins’ first 6-on-5 chance of OT, but UCLA broke through on another power play late to go up 9-8 before the start of the second OT. USC was unable to answer back, and the Bruins got one more to go in closing out the 10-8 win over the host Trojans.
NEXT:
USC now turns to postseason play, setting up for a trip to Berkeley for the MPSF Tournament. The Trojans open up with a Friday (Nov. 17) meeting against Augustana to fight for a spot in Saturday (Nov. 18) semifinals. The MPSF Championship game is set for 3 p.m. on Sunday (Nov. 19), preceded by a 1 p.m. third-place game. The MPSF champion will earn an automatic berth in the coming NCAA Tournament, which will be hosted by USC Dec. 1-3.
NOTABLE:
– With 11 saves today, RS FR goalie Bernardo Herzer has recorded his third straight double-digit save outing and the seventh of his career.
– With two goals today, SR Max Miller continues to lead USC in scoring, now with 32 goals this season.
– Miller also leads the team with 11 multiple-goal games this year.
– USC is now 78-70-1 all-time against UCLA in a series dating back to 1979.
#1 UCLA 10, #3 USC 8 (OT)
Nov. 11, 2023 | Uytengsu Aquatics Center (Los Angeles, Calif.)
USC 1 – 3 – 2 – 2 — 0 – 0 = 8
UCLA 0 – 2 – 5 – 1 — 1 – 1 = 10
SCORING:
USC — Andrej Grgurevic 2, Max Miller 2, Tony Nardelli, Jake Carter, Joshua Waldoch, Connor Cohen.
UCLA — Rafael Real Vergara 5, Jack Larsen 2, Wade Sherlock, Makoto Kenney, Ben Larsen.
SAVES: Bernardo Herzer (USC) 11, Garret Griggs (UCLA) 12.