Courtesy: USC Athletics
LA JOLLA, CALIF. — The No. 4 USC men’s water polo team banged out two balanced wins on its first day of 2024 competition, piling 19 scorers onto the stats sheets as the Trojans beat No. 10 Long Beach State 14-6 and Cal State Fullerton 20-6 at the Triton Invitational in La Jolla today. USC’s win over the Beach saw the Trojan defense shine brightly, with USC rendering Long Beach State scoreless through the entire second half. Along the way to USC’s two wins, six players scored their first career goals as Trojans today.
The Trojans turned the tide on a tight first half against Long Beach State with a stubborn defensive stand. The Trojans and Beach were largely in stride early goings, with the score tying up three times. USC worked out ahead 5-3 in the second when Zach Bettino buried his second goal of the game, but the Beach bit back and pulled it to 5-5 with 3:09 left in the half. Luka Brnetic pounced on a rebound to edge USC back ahead, and then Luke Nelson unleashed a ripper to get USC up 7-5. Long Beach State had the last word of the half to make it 7-6, but the Trojans took over in the second half. Stefan Brankovic scored his first goal as a Trojan to open the third, and goalie Bernardo Herzer squashed a Beach 6-on-4 opportunity next to help set the tone. Herzer would cap the third with a booming stop against a Beach 5-meter penalty shot to preserve eight minutes of scoring silence for Long Beach State. Andrej Grgurevic would issued back-to-back goals as the fourth frame unfurled, and USC would keep chugging on both ends. Brnetic threw up a field block to squelch a Beach power play, and the Robert López Duart nailed a 5-meter penalty shot before Zac Crenshaw wrapped the action with a goal to make it a final 14-6 USC win.
Later in the day, USC hit the water to face Cal State Fullerton for the first time since 1986. In their second season back in action, the Titans scored early on a 6-on-5, only to see the Trojans strike off on a 6-0 scoring rally to lead it 7-1 in the second period. USC would lead it 10-3 by halftime, and the Trojans would craft another 6-0 rally in the second half. That surge featured the first career goal by freshman Taj Whitehead, while junior Jack Vort worked his way to a career-high hat trick as USC built out a 17-4 advantage. By the final buzzer, redshirt freshman Chase Landa and true freshman Ben Mirisch also had hammered home their first goals as Trojans topped off a 14-6 win over the Titans to go to 2-0 on the year.
NOTABLE:
– Three players scored their first career goals as Trojans in USC’s opener vs. Long Beach State: Stefan Brankovic, Robert López Duart and Jack Martin.
– Against Cal State Fullerton, three more Trojans scored their first career goals: Chase Landa, Ben Mirisch and Taj Whitehead.
– Goalie Bernardo Herzer tallied the 10th double-digit save of his career with 11 stops in USC’s win over Long Beach State today.
– With three goals vs. CSF, Jack Vort matched his career high.
– With two goals vs. CSF, Spencer Averitt set a new career high.
– With three goals scored today, Max Miller now holds 96 career goals.
– With one goal scored today, Carson Kranz now holds 96 career goals.
– USC’s meeting with Cal State Fullerton was the first against the Titans since 1986. CSF restarted its men’s water polo program in 2023.
NEXT: USC has two more games on tap tomorrow (Sept. 8) at the Triton Invitational, facing No. 8 UC Davis at 2:30 p.m. and then wrapping action in La Jolla against Westcliff at 6:30 p.m.
TRITON INVITATIONAL
#4 USC 14, #10 Long Beach State 6
Sept. 7, 2024 | Canyonview Aquatic Center (La Jolla, Calif.)
USC 3 – 4 – 3 – 4 = 14
LBSU 2 – 4 – 0 – 0 = 6
SCORING:
USC — Zach Bettino 2, Robert López Duart 2, Andrej Grgurevic 2, Jack Martin, Max Miller, Luka Brnetic, Luke Nelson, Stefan Brankovic, Evan Ausmus, Tom McGuire, Zac Crenshaw.
LBSU — Kostantinos Kapragkos 2, Marc Frigod 2, Corbin Stanley, Caleb Francisco.
SAVES: Bernardo Herzer (USC) 11, Liam Ward (LBSU) 2, Aaron Wilson (LBSU) 4.
#4 USC 20, Cal State Fullerton 6
Sept. 7, 2024 | Canyonview Aquatic Center (La Jolla, Calif.)
USC 5 – 5 – 6 – 4 = 20
CSF 1 – 2 – 1 – 2 = 6
SCORING:
USC — Jack Vort 3, Max Miller 2, Spencer Averitt 2, Andrej Grgurevic 2, Stefan Brankovic, Robert López Duart, Zach Bettino, Jack Martin, Carson Kranz, Luka Brnetic, Connor Cohen, Aidan Wattson, Taj Whitehead, Chase Landa, Ben Mirisch.
CSF — Francisco Paredes 2, Alec Isaacman, Julian Nichols, Jacob Hatch, Dominic Hernandez.
SAVES: Charles Mills (USC) 6, Cal State Fullerton n/a.
