Oct. 23, 2011

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SANTA BARBARA, CALIF. -- The No. 2 USC men's water polo team wrapped up another MPSF win with a 10-6 victory over host No. 5 UC Santa Barbara on Sunday afternoon. The Trojans claimed their fourth straight win in going to 4-0 in MPSF play thanks to another well-rounded offensive effort, led by another hat trick from sophomore Jeremy Davie and anchored by eight saves from senior goalie Joel Dennerley. USC improves to 13-2 overall with the win.

After a tight first period that was even at 2-2 and a 3-2 Gaucho lead early in the second frame, the Trojans proceeded to roll up a lead on the host Gauchos, going ahead 5-3 by halftime after second-frame goals from Peter Kurzeka, Forest Monroe and Nikola Vavic. UCSB would tighten the gap to 5-4 midway through the third period, but the Trojans kicked out on a five-goal scoring streak as Davie worked his way into hat trick, Monroe tallied another, and Michael Rosenthal and Brian Boswell got in on the scoring action as well to take the Trojans out ahead 10-4. The Gauchos would manage two goals later in the fourth, but USC's lead was too great for any comeback hopes to mount, and the Trojans locked in on the 10-6 win.

USC now returns home for a busy weekend at McDonald's Swim Stadium. The Trojans will host Stanford for a shot at revenge from a SoCal Tournament loss to the Cardinal earlier this month. USC squares off against Stanford at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday (Oct. 29) before turning to face Pomona-Pitzer at 4 p.m. that same afternoon.

SCORING:
USC -- Jeremy Davie 3, Peter Kurzeka 2, Forest Monroe 2, Nikola Vavic, Michael Rosenthal, Brian Boswell.
UCSB -- Teddy Zhang 2, Matt Gronow 2, Jesse Gillespie 2.

SAVES: Joel Dennerley (USC) 8, Jay Lovero (UCSB) 8.