Courtesy: USC Athletics
USC men’s water polo freshman Zach Bettino has captured his first official award as a Trojan in being selected MPSF Newcomer of the Week this week following a clutch performance at the Overnght/MPSF Invitational.
Bettino scored the game-winning goal in overtime and finished with a career-high four goals to help USC beat No. 4 Stanford 13-12 in the third-place game on Sunday. Before that game, Bettino’s season best had been two-goal outings, making this game a breakout for the freshman, who also had five assists at the tournament. Against the Cardinal, he was 4-of-6 shooting and dealt out an assist and a steal. He is now third on the team in scoring this season with 13 goals.
Bettino is the first Trojan to pick up weekly honors from the conference this season, and is the 12th USC player to earn the award since it began in 2016. He and the Trojans get back to action next week with another home test, facing Pacific at 1 p.m. on Sunday (Oct. 1) at Uytengsu Aquatics Center.