Sept. 23, 2000

IRVINE -- Freshman Tim Wollthan scored what proved to be the game-winning goal as top-ranked USC held off No. 4 UC Irvine, 7-6, in a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation water polo game at the Anteater Aquatics Complex in Irvine Saturday.

UC Irvine junior Jeff Powers had tied the game at 5-5 on a goal with 3:52 left in the fourth quarter, then USC's Pedrag Damjanov connected on a back-hander in the hole to give the Trojans a 6-5 lead with 3:17 remaining. Wollthan scored from near seven meters with 2:19 remaining to give the Trojans a 7-5 cushion, but the Anteaters' John Dorfi scored with 43 seconds left to cut the margin to 7-6. UCI got the ball back but turned it over with 11 seconds remaining as USC lifted its season record to 7-0. Wollthan, who scored two goals in the first quarter en route to a 4-1 USC lead, led the Trojans with three goals and Damjanov added two.

Dorfi led UC Irvine (5-2, 1-1) with three goals and Powers scored two.

USC will travel to face No. 7 UC San Diego at noon.

USC: Tim Wollthan 3, Pedrag Damjanov 2, Ivan Babic 1, Jeff Larson 1. UCI: John Dorfi 3, Jeff Powers 2, Tony Grosso 1. Saves: Darin Smith (USC) 4, Bozidar Damjanovic (USC) 1, Dan Hipp (UCI) 4 Records: USC is 7-0 overall and 1-0 in the MPSF (ranked No. 1 nationally) UCI is 5-2 overall and 1-1 in the MPSF (ranked No. 4 nationally)