USC Sticks Six On All-MPSF Men’s Water Polo Honor Roll

USC has piled six Trojans onto the All-MPSF honor roll for this adjusted men’s water polo season. With competition running in the spring rather than last fall due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Trojans have navigated their way through a unique season and now have postseason plans on the docket. As USC heads into the MPSF Tournament this weekend, the MPSF has unveiled its awards list for this season. Weighing in with All-MPSF First Team honors are Jake Ehrhardt, Jacob Mercep and Nic Porter, while three other Trojans have their first All-MPSF accolades with this year’s All-MPSF Honorable Mention status in Wyatt Barker, Carson Kranz and Luke Wyatt.

Senior Jacob Mercep now has his third set of All-MPSF First Team honors in his three seasons as a Trojan. USC’s top scorer with 28 goals this season so far, he’s worked his way into USC’s all-time top-20 in career scoring. Along the way this season, he also picked up MPSF Player of the Week honors.

Junior goalie Nic Porter has upgraded the Honorable Mention status he earned in his first season at Troy, now locked in with First Team accolades as he’s backed up the Trojans with six double-digit save outings so far this season. He matched his career high with 20 saves against Cal in USC’s first weekend of work in 2021, also earning himself MPSF Player of the Week honors. He’s bumped up his career count into USC’s all-time top-10 for goalie saves with his efforts this season to date.

So, too, has junior Jake Ehrhardt raised his MPSF status with this year’s First Team selection. A Second Team honoree last year, Ehrhardt is USC’s second leading scorer so far with 13 goals to his name. He’s scored at least two goals in four games for the Trojans, having provided five goals for USC at the Stanford Round Robin event last month.

USC’s representatives on the All-MPSF Honorable Mention list are three Trojans collecting the first All-MPSF honors of their careers. For senior Luke Wyatt, it’s a much-deserved selection, as the captain is back for his fifth season as a Trojan. The redshirt senior has tallied four goals so far this year as he closes in on his 50th career goal at USC. The other two Honorable Mention recipients are USC newcomers. Grad transfer Wyatt Barker has punched up 11 goals in his first season as a Trojan after coming to USC from Pacific. He recently grabbed MPSF Newcomer of the Week honors after his four-goal outburst in USC’s win over UCLA. Freshman Carson Kranz also pocketed MPSF Newcomer of the Week honors this year, and he, too, has recorded 11 goals as a Trojan to date.

USC’s six-pack of MPSF honorees lead the Trojans into the coming MPSF Tournament, which runs March 5-7 at UCLA’s Spieker Aquatic Center. USC is tabbed as host of the NCAA Tournament, running March 20-21 at Uytengsu Aquatics Center.

Jake Ehrhardt

Jacob Mercep

Nic Porter

Wyatt Barker

Carson Kranz

Luke Wyatt