Courtesy: USC Athletics
LONG BEACH, CALIF. — The No. 4 USC men’s water polo team was hot out of the gates and built a commanding lead over No. 8 Long Beach State to secure a key road win in a final 16-13 victory over the Beach tonight. The Trojans received career-high efforts from goalie Bernardo Herzer (13 saves), Zach Bettino (four goals) and Carson Kranz (three goals) to help boost USC to 11-5 overall on the year.
Kranz struck twice early to set the Trojans on their course, following Bettino’s opening blast with back-to-back scores off Evan Ausmus assists as USC led it 3-0. The Beach answered with a 6-on-5 finish, only to see USC heap on three more goals before the end of the frame, with Jake Carter, Luka Brnetic and Ausmus joining the scoring column along the way to a 6-2 USC advantage. The Trojans would work their way out to seven-goal leads in the second. Max Miller, Bettino and Andrej Grgurevic stoked the fires for a three-goal USC surge to lead it 9-2. After a Beach bar-in score, Kranz earned and then finished off a 5-meter penalty that had USC on top 10-3 midway through the second. By the close of the first half, Miller had punched in an opportunistic second goal, and Joshua Waldoch launched a nearside rocket for the Trojan cause, making it 12-7 at the break.
The scoring pace slowed a beat in the third, but USC had three Trojans add to their tallies to keep USC in strong position. Grgurevic and Brnetic each sizzled in their second strikes of the night, and Bettino blasted his third, helping USC hold a 15-9 advantage for the fourth. There, the hosts’ hands heated up a bit, as the Beach buried four in the final frame. Bettino clicked off his fourth of the night before things came to the close, and USC had a well-earned 16-13 road win in the books.
NEXT:
USC heads back to home waters next week to host Stanford in a key MPSF matchup. The Trojans will also honor the 1998 NCAA Championship team in celebration of the 25th anniversary of USC’s first NCAA men’s water polo title. The Trojans and Cardinal will face off at 12 p.m. next Saturday (Nov. 4) at Uytengsu Aquatics Center.
NOTABLE:
– RS FR goalie Bernardo Herzer set a new career high with 13 saves tonight.
– With a game-high four goals tonight, FR Zach Bettino tied his career high.
– In tying his career high with three goals tonight, SR Carson Kranz extends his team-leading scoring streak to 10 straight games with at least one goal scored.
– With two goals tonight, SR Max Miller now leads USC in scoring with 28 goals this season.
– Miller also now leads the team with nine multiple-goal games this year.
– USC is now 76-15-1 all-time against Long Beach State in a series dating back to 1979.
– The Trojans have now beaten the Beach in the past 36 consecutive meetings.
#4 USC 16, #8 Long Beach State 13
Oct. 27, 2023 | Ken Lindgren Aquatics Center (Long Beach, Calif.)
USC 6 – 6 – 3 – 1 = 16
LBSU 2 – 5 – 2 – 4 = 13
SCORING:
USC — Zach Bettino 4, Carson Kranz 3, Luka Brnetic 2, Andrej Grgurevic 2, Max Miller 2, Jake Carter, Evan Ausmus, Joshua Waldoch.
LBSU — Caleb Francisco 3, Robert Lopez Duart 3, Bruno Chiappini 2, Alexander Makshanoff, Marc Frigola, Nikola Jancic.
SAVES: Bernardo Herzer (USC) 13, Liam Ward (LBSU) 10.
Irvine water polo complex is after the Olympics, boo. They will probably get more kids for water polo in Irivne. They are thinking of adding a competition pool in the Woolett center.Irvine plans to add new competition pool to Woollett Center,OC Register.