Courtesy: USC Athletics
After a dramatic victory in its home opener last week, the USC men’s water polo team boasts the MPSF Newcomer of the Week in Massimo Di Martire. The Italian newcomer was the driving force in USC’s overtime win over Long Beach State, and he had a key hand in two more Trojan victories over the weekend to help his cause in claiming his first collegiate award from the MPSF.
Di Martire set his career high with a six-goal outburst in USC’s 14-10 overtime win over No. 7 Long Beach State. It was the most goals scored by a Trojan in a single game so far this season. His third goal of the day was the score that forced overtime, where he’d add three more goals for USC as the Trojans took control in OT. Di Martire also tallied four steals and had an assist in the comeback win over the Beach. The next day at the Inland Empire Classic, Di Martire had four assists in a 21-12 win at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps and then had a goal and three assists in USC’s 19-8 win over Pomona-Pitzer.
A grad student in his first season at USC, Di Martire is the first Trojan to earn a weekly award from the MPSF this season. The Trojans are now 6-1 overall as they set up for a road trip this week, visiting Pacific on Friday and taking on UC Davis and Navy on Saturday in Davis, Calif.
