Nov. 7, 2009

WESTWOOD, CALIF. -- The No. 1 USC men's water polo team dug in and shut down crosstown rival UCLA in the final quarter of play while plugging in a pair of bigtime scores to serve up a 7-6 win over the No. 4 Bruins on Saturday night at UCLA's own Spieker Aquatics Center. Matthew Burton and Shea Buckner each delivered a pair of goals to help lead the Trojans, while UCLA's Scott Davidson plugged in four for the Bruins. UCLA may have been responsible for USC's lone loss on the year, but the Trojans have since grabbed two wins over the Bruins. Tonight's win keeps USC undefeated in MPSF play, as the Trojans improve to 20-1 overall and 6-0 in MPSF action. UCLA goes to 18-6, 4-3.

Joel Dennerley threw the Bruins off balance early with seven of his 10 saves coming in the first half of play. The Trojans were up against the wall when UCLA took a third-period lead with help from a pair of 6-on-5 opportunities in the frame. USC trailed 6-5 thanks to UCLA's offensive push in the third, but the Trojans were full of fire for the fourth.

In the final period, Matt Burton knocked in a solo shot at 6:22 to level things at 6-6. J.W. Krumpholz made it his business to cause big trouble for the Bruins from there, as the senior grabbed a steal and a takeaway on back-to-back Bruin possessions to help power up the Trojans. Matt Sagehorn nabbed the next ball that went into the UCLA set, and although UCLA goalie Chay Lapin got a stop on a Jordan Thompson backhand shot at 1:40, USC kept pushing.

The entire second half, USC had not earned a single 6-on-5 advantage until Krumpholz broke through in the final minute. Krumpholz's play at two meters earned the whistle and set up USC on the power play. The Trojans worked the ball from Justin Rappel to Peter Kurzeka for a high pass to the post for a rising Kyle Sterling, who blasted in the score to lift USC to its first lead since the 6:36 mark of the third period.

Up 7-6 with 39 seconds on the clock, USC settled in for a defensive stand. However, the Bruins were able to earn their seventh 6-on-5 of the game and third of the half with just 21 seconds left on the clock. UCLA's Davidson tried to plug in his fifth goal of the night, but USC senior Anthony Artukovich was having none of that. Artukovich delivered a booming field block on the shot attempt, and Sterling sucked in the loss ball to shut things down on USC's 7-6 victory.

The game was largely neck-and-neck throughout, as USC went up first on Matt Burton's first strike before UCLA evened things at the 3-minute mark of the first period. Joel Dennerley walled up the cage for the Trojans defense while Jordan Thompson and Shea Buckner rocketed in 6-on-5 scores for USC to give the Trojans what would be their largest lead of the game at 3-1 with 4:01 on the clock in the second period. UCLA made it 3-2 with a 6-on-5 score in the final minute of the half, rounding out the half with all power play scores for both squads.

UCLA regrouped offensively in the third and was able to get an early equalizer with another 6-on-5 goal. USC moved ahead once again when Shea Buckner finished things off from set, but the Bruins got back-to-back scores for the first time from Davidson to take their first lead of the night, up 5-4 with 3:41 on the clock in the third. Matt Sagehorn would hit Justin Rappel for a crosscage blast that made it 5-5. UCLA got a surprise late goal, however, netting a go-ahead strike with just 6 seconds left in the third to bring up the fourth period in which the Trojans launched their successful comeback strategy.

USC now brings its undefeated MPSF record back home for a big matchup against No. 3 Stanford. The Trojans go up against the Cardinal in an 11 a.m. match on Saturday (Nov. 14) at McDonald's Swim Stadium.

#1 USC 7, #4 UCLA 6
USC 1 - 2 - 2 - 2 = 7
UCLA 1 - 1 - 4 - 0 = 6

SCORING:
USC -- Matthew Burton 2, Shea Buckner 2, Jordan Thompson, Justin Rappel, Kyle Sterling.
UCLA -- Scott Davidson 4, Cullen Hennessy, Emilio Vieira.

SAVES: Joel Dennerley (USC) 10, Chay Lapin (UCLA) 9.