Sept. 16, 2009

Complete Release in PDF Format

THIS WEEK: USC has a full plate of competition to tear into this weekend at the NorCal Tournament, hosted this year by Stanford. The top-ranked and undefeated Trojans have won the past four NorCal crowns and are therefore looking to keep its undefeated record intact and claim a fifth straight title. USC opens up against Pomona-Pitzer in an 8:30 a.m. match on Saturday (Sept. 19) at Stanford's Avery Aquatic Center. A win there would put the Trojans against either Long Beach State or UC Irvine at 3:10 p.m. Semifinals and placement games are set for Sunday (Sept. 20). For a schedule and results, go to TOURNAMENT CENTRAL at gostanford.com.

RANKINGS: USC continues its pole position on the national ladder, remaining in that No. 1 spot for the third week of the 2009 season.

LAST WEEK: USC pinned up a powerful win over Long Beach State behind three-goal outings from Justin Rappel and Matt Burton last weekend. Now a clean 5-0 on the year, the Trojans have been crafting a successful one-two punch of stingy defense and well balanced offense. Last weekend in Long Beach, USC held the 49ers to just three goals while seven Trojans got to the back of the net as USC built a 12-3 win over host Long Beach State.

NORCAL TOURNEY NOTES: The Northern California Tournament has traditionally offered one of the best early looks at the nation's top teams. This year proves to be the same with 16 teams involved. Including tournament host Stanford, all nine Mountain Pacific Sports Federation teams will be included, along with competitive teams from around the country. Non-California-based power #14 Air Force is making another trip to California for the tourney, along with #17 UC San Diego, #5 LMU, #12 Santa Clara, #12 UC Davis, #10 Concordia and D-III's #3 Pomona-Pitzer. All told, the top 11 ranked teams in the nation will be in the mix, with all 16 D-I teams ranked in the top-20. Last year, USC won the tournament title for the fourth straight year, beating UCLA 6-5 in the championship game. That was after the Trojans recorded one of their most dominating wins to date against Stanford in a 10-3 win to get to the final. On the first day, USC beat Air Force 19-1 and UC Irvine 13-1 for some solid momentum going into the second day of action. Matt Sagehorn delivered the game-winner with just a second left for USC in the championship win over UCLA, while goalie Joel Dennerley collected 11 saves.

HOT START: Sophomore Peter Kurzeka grabbed his first career honor as an MPSF Player of the Week after leading USC in scoring with eight goals as the Trojans successfully defended their title at the Triton Invitational. Kurzeka served up three multiple-goal games at the tournament, including two goals in the championship win over #7 UC Santa Barbara. He also had two goals vs. #6 LMU to help push USC into the final, making it a four-goal day on the last day of competition in San Diego. On day one, he had one goal vs. Pomona-Pitzer and a hat trick against #19 Air Force.

CENTURY CLUB AND CLIMBING: USC seniors J.W. Krumpholz and Matt Sagehorn have not only chiseled their place in USC history as national champions and All-Americans, the two Trojans also have passed the century mark in career goals. Krumpholz now holds 108 career goals, just ahead of Sagehorn's 106, as both players recently leapt over current assistant coach Marko Pintaric's total of 103.

NUMBERS GAME: Not only did the Trojans tack up big digits in 2008 -- a perfect 29-0 record; head coach Jovan Vavic's 300th career victory; and USC's fourth NCAA Championship trophy -- the numbers rolling in for the 2009 season have the Trojans leveling their collective gaze on a feat never before achieved by the program: back-to-back national championships. The formula for success is there. Six starters return from last year's championship team. Five of them are All-Americans. Four were NCAA All-Tournament Team selections. Almost 80 percent of last season's scoring production is back. Both the MPSF Player of the Year and the Newcomer of the Year return to the water. And Coach of the Year Jovan Vavic is back on the deck to lead them.

SENIOR STANDOUTS: USC's vaunted senior class includes an overpowering unit of six players who entered as freshmen in 2006 and have experienced only NCAA and MPSF finals since coming to Troy. J.W. Krumpholz may headline the group as the 2008 Peter J. Cutino Award winner, but fellow seniors Anthony Artukovich, Justin Rappel, Matt Sagehorn, Nico Sardo and Jordan Thompson have also been a key part of that winning formula. The addition of transfer Shea Buckner added another depth charge to that class, rounding out arguably the most talented set of seniors ever to cap up at Troy. Already this season, the group has generated over half USC's scoring with a combined 31 goals between the seven senior field players.

DEFENSE IS BEST: While the Trojans do return almost 80 percent of last year's scoring production, the name of the game for USC teams has always been defense. That, by the way, is also in very, very good shape for 2009. True, there's some size missing with the graduation of All-Americans Arjan Ligtenberg and Jovan Vranes. But Buckner is an agile and powerful presence on defense, and junior Devon Borisoff and sophomore Matt Burton also bring their deft defense back to the hole along with newcomer Zayne Belal. And don't forget, USC goalie Joel Dennerley still has his wall up in the cage. The All-American and MPSF Newcomer of the Year as a freshman last season is all lined up to anchor that still-dominant Trojan defense. Senior Brett Giery will also make a stand in goal for the Trojans, joined in the USC goalkeeping corps by Kevin Coyne, Jimmy Friedrich and Will Simon. Right now, the Trojan defense has allowed just 18 goals in four games for a 4.5 goals-against average.

OFFENSIVE ONSLAUGHT: Seniors Rappel, Sagehorn, Buckner and Krumpholz, junior Kyle Sterling and sophomore Peter Kurzeka all scored at least 20 goals for the Trojans in 2008, with similarly powerful production in the cards for that group once again. Krumpholz and fellow senior Jordan Thompson are set up to tag-team at two-meters along with new addition Brian Boswell, while Buckner, Rappel, Sagehorn, Sterling and Kurzeka open up the field as sharpshooters on the perimeter side-by-side with experienced senior drivers Artukovich and Sardo, speedy junior Borisoff and newer additions Kyle Wootten and Michael Rosenthal.

HOME POOL ADVANTAGE: USC finished off the 2008 home season holding a 33-game win streak in the home waters of McDonald's Swim Stadium, having gone undefeated at home for four straight seasons.

2008 RECAP: The 2008 Trojans blasted their way to an undefeated 29-0 season and USC's fourth NCAA championship last season. USC also captured back-to-back MPSF championships and the Trojans' sixth overall MPSF crown en route to head coach Jovan Vavic's seventh MPSF Coach of the Year award and sixth National Coach of the Year honors. The Trojans finished out the program's first undefeated overall year since a 5-0 final record in 1944. USC is the first team in 16 years to go undefeated through an entire season. For the fourth consecutive season, USC led the nation in team defense (4.76 gapg), while the offense saw 20 different players score on the year, averaging a total of 11.7 gpg. All told, USC outscored its opponents 340-138 in 2008. Seven Trojans were named All-Americans, including 2008 Cutino Award winner J.W. Krumpholz.