Courtesy: USC Athletics
SAN DIEGO, CALIF. — The No. 2 USC men’s water polo team made it a sweep of its first weekend of 2023 action, chalking up two more wins at the Triton Invitational today with an 18-2 victory over Biola and an 11-9 comeback win over host No. 11 UC San Diego. The Trojans are now 4-0 on the year with a big home opener ahead, with USC hosting top-ranked Cal at 1 p.m. on Saturday (Sept. 9) in a rematch of the 2022 NCAA final.
In the morning meeting today with Biola, USC’s defense — backed up by freshman goalie Charles Mills in his USC debut — shut out its opponent for over 23 minutes. On the offensive end, USC rattled off 12 straight goals to leave the Eagles well behind. The Trojans tallied six goals from six different scorers in the first frame, with transfer Connor Cohen dishing out his first goal as a Trojan to net a 6-1 USC lead. Mills would turn away a Biola 5-meter penalty shot in the second, and fellow freshman Zach Bettino delivered back-to-back blasts to take the Trojans ahead 10-1 for halftime. USC’s silencers stayed on in the third while Massimo Di Martire put his hat trick in place and Aidan Wattson rang up his first goal of the year to help USC ahead 14-1 entering the fourth. There, USC’s young guns clicked off four more Trojan goals, including freshman Spencer Averitt’s first career goal along the way to a final 18-2 USC scoreline. In his first USC action, goalie Mills hauled in 13 saves vs. the Eagles.
The Trojans were put to the test by the Triton Invite hosts, with No. 11 UC San Diego taking an early lead and building a three-goal advantage in the first eight minutes of action. Down 5-2 entering the second period, USC got a boost from a big save by Eric Hubner against a Triton power play. Midway through the frame, Joshua Waldoch sizzled in a score from the top, and Jake Carter would get USC one back with a ripper in the final minute of the half off a feed from Zach Bettino. Another 6-on-5 finish from the Titans had USC in a 6-4 hole early in the third, prompting USC to right the ship. The Trojans would regroup and rattle off five straight goals — two more from Waldoch to work the redshirt junior into a new career high, along with blasts from Carson Kranz, Andrej Grgurevic and Tom McGuire — to lift USC into the lead for the first time. Grgurevic’s 6-on-5 strike off a cross from Max Miller was the go-ahead goal for the Trojans, tugging USC ahead 7-6 with 3:02 on the clock. The rally pushed USC ahead 9-6 before UCSD broke its silence in converting a 5-meter penalty shot in the final seconds of the third. In the fourth, the teams went goal-for-goal as Miller joined the scoresheet for the fourth straight game and Waldoch punched up his fourth en route to a final 11-9 USC road win.
NEXT:
USC has a big home opener on tap next week as the Trojans host top-ranked Cal in a rematch of last year’s NCAA final. USC faces the Golden Bears at 1 p.m. on Saturday (Sept. 9) at Uytengsu Aquatics Center in an early MPSF meeting. On Sunday (Sept. 10), the Trojans go on the road to visit UC Irvine at 12 p.m. in Irvine, Calif.
NOTABLE:
– RS JR Joshua Waldoch scored a career-high four goals vs. UC San Diego.
– FR Luke Nelson recorded his first multi-goal game as a Trojan with two vs. Biola.
– FR Zach Bettino matched his career best with two goals vs. Biola.
– FR goalie Charles Mills made his first appearance in goal, turning away a 5-meter penalty shot in his 13-save outing vs. Biola.
– FR Spencer Averitt scored his first career goal vs. Biola.
– JR Connor Cohen scored his first goal as a Trojan vs. Biola.
– With their scoring efforts today, Waldoch, Max Miller and Massimo Di Martire have each scored in every USC game so far this season.
– Miller and Di Martire are USC’s top scorers on the year with nine goals apiece.
2023 Triton Invitational (San Diego, Calif.)
#2 USC 18, Biola 2
Sept. 3, 2023 (San Diego, Calif.)
USC 6 – 4 – 4 – 4 = 18
BU 1 – 0 – 0 – 1 = 2
SCORING:
USC — Massimo Di Martire 3, Max Miller 2, Luke Nelson 2, Zach Bettino 2, Jack Vort, Tony Nardelli, Connor Cohen, Joshua Waldoch, Andrej Grgurevic, Will Sanchez, Spencer Averitt, Zac Crenshaw, Aidan Wattson.
BU — Halobuff, Seifen.
SAVES: Charles Mills (USC) 13, BU n/a.
#2 USC 11, #11 UC San Diego 9
Sept. 3, 2023 (San Diego, Calif.)
USC 2 – 2 – 5 – 2 = 11
UCSD 5 – 0 – 2 – 2 = 9
SCORING:
USC — Joshua Waldoch 4, Carson Kranz 2, Massimo Di Martire, Jake Carter, Andrej Grgurevic, Tom McGuire, Max Miller.
UCSD — Axline 2, Bugelli 2, Romaguera, Wilson, Ferreira, Akerstrom, Rago
SAVES: Eric Hubner (USC) 6, Logan Estes (UCSD) 10.