Stanford Hosts USC For NCAA Title
Photo: Avery Aquatic Center (Courtesy Stanford Athletics)
2018 NCAA Men's Water Polo Interactive Bracket
Saturday, December 1
NCAA Semifinals:
Host: Stanford University (Avery Aquatic Center)
NCAA Live Stream:
www.ncaa.com
No. 1 seed Stanford 16, UC San Diego 7
Recap by Stanford
STANFORD, Calif. – Stanford returned to the NCAA men's water polo championship for the first time in a decade by beating UC San Diego, 16-7, in the semifinals Saturday at Avery Aquatic Center.
Blake Parrish scored four goals and
Oliver Lewis had 15 saves to lead Stanford (21-2) into the final against USC (29-3), an 8-7 winner over UCLA, on Sunday at 3 p.m., also at Avery.
Stanford will be seeking its first title since 2002 and its 11th championship overall. Only women's tennis (19) and men's tennis (17) have won more national titles at Stanford.
Stanford and USC have split their two meetings, with Stanford outscoring the Trojans, 22-21.
"We've completed a lot of goals this season," Lewis said. "We've circled a lot of dates on the board, and we have checked those off. Now, we have one more big goal. We're not done. We're not going to become complacent because of those past successes."
Said Parrish, "It's going to be a tough emotional game. For us playing at home and for me senior year, our first time in the championship, it's going to be heated and I'm sure really exciting."
UCSD (20-6) hung tough for much of the first half, closing within 6-5 with 1:35 left in the second quarter. However, sophomore
Tyler Abramson scored a left-handed goal on a power play with 25 seconds left in the half to trigger a run of five unanswered goals – with two by
Bennett Williams.
On one first-quarter shot, Stanford's
Dylan Woodhead's shot hit the bar and then deflected off the back of the goalkeeper's head for a score.
On another play, with Stanford down a man, Hallock stole the ball and made a spinning backhand pass to himself to evade three defenders. The play not only spoke to the talent level of the Olympian, but also to the tenacity Stanford plays with in those situations.
"One of our performance goals is to play well in five-man, to thrive in that part of the game," said
John Vargas, the Dunlevie Family Director of Men's Water Polo. "Wanting to be excited to play in five-man shows our toughness. If you want to see a tough resilient team, let's see how they play when they're down a man. That's one of the great things that this team has done all year."
Moments UCSD ended Stanford's 5-0 run, Woodhead ignited another Stanford surge, of four more unanswered goals. When its 9-1 run ended midway through the fourth quarter, Stanford was ahead, 15-6.
With Stanford on a roll, Woodhead blocked a point-blank shot, as Stanford and Lewis turned away yet another Triton second-half effort. As the ball bounced off the pool deck, Woodhead unleashed a full-throated triumphal scream.
"Our identity is feeding off of our defense," Lewis said. "Stops on defense push us straight into our counterattack. When I make a block, I get fired up and try to push the team the other direction and score a goal."
On Lewis, "He's an absolute stud," Parrish said. "He's been carrying us all season. In every single big game we've had, he's had the most amazing saves."
When Stanford finally was able to create space in the second half, sometimes leading to breakaway goals by Parrish, it usually was fueled by a big save or steal. Now, Stanford finds itself in the championship game for the 21st time.
"We've had a great season, but we haven't accomplished every one of our goals yet," Hallock said. "That final goal can be accomplished tomorrow. That's all we're focusing on right now. We're not focusing on how successful we've been. All that matters for us is tomorrow."
No. 2 seed USC 8, UCLA 7
Recap by USC
PALO ALTO, CALIF. — The USC men’s water polo team never led in the first half but remained resolute in its pursuit of a ticket to the program’s 14th consecutive NCAA final. With the game tied up for the fourth time, the Trojans buckled down on defense and netted the go-ahead goal with five seconds left, then held their ground again to lock up a 8-7 win over UCLA in tonight’s National Collegiate semifinal in Palo Alto. Sam Slobodien’s game-winner sends USC on through to tomorrow’s title match against host Stanford at 3 p.m., where the Trojans take aim at nabbing a 10th national championship. USC improves to 29-3 overall with tonight’s semifinal victory.
A hot-handed Hannes Daube stepped up and delivered a hat trick, while five other Trojans also hit the back of the net to pile up the winning total. In the cage, goalie Nic Porter made seven saves — every one of them clutch.
The Bruins struck first with a 6-on-5 score out of the gates, but both teams’ defenses stiffened from there. In the final minute of the first, Daube ripped in a goal off the foul, and it was locked up 1-1. In the second, it was the UCLA offense that heated up first once again. USC would find itself in a two-goal hole on two occasions. The first time, Zach D’Sa found Daube for a blast that tugged the Trojans within one at 3-2. UCLA fired back, and then a smooth USC series saw Marko Vavic hit Jacob Mercep, who set up Matt Maier for a blast at the post, and it was 4-3 UCLA. Not 20 seconds later, Sawyer Rhodes nabbed a steal, and USC was up on a power play. Rhodes popped it to Daube, who sent it back to Rhodes, and he’d send in a searing qualifier to knot it at 4-4. That draw would hold until halftime thanks to defensive stop by the Trojans on a late UCLA 6-on-5 chance.
In the third, the Trojans defense forced a Bruin shotclock violation, and later Porter came up with two incredible stops against point-blank chances for UCLA. That helped set up the go-ahead move for the Trojans, who netted their third straight goal and took their first lead of the game when Mercep fed D’Sa for a rocket that nudged USC ahead 5-4 with 2:45 on the clock. This time, UCLA found the equalizer, and after two more enormous saves from Porter it was snarled up 5-5 entering the fourth.
Slobodien got the Trojans up on a 6-on-5 two minutes into the fourth, and Rhodes found Mercep for a laser and a 6-5 USC lead. UCLA would wrap 6-on-5 finishes of its own around Daube’s third of the day — a shot tucked into the top corner — and it was 7-7 with 2:21 to go. The USC defense would set its jaws, and Porter made yet another key save with 1:38 on the clock. A minute later, after a near miss on a power play, USC’s defense forced another UCLA shotclock violation. With 22 ticks to go, USC called timeout. On the ensuing possession, D’Sa slipped the ball to Slobodien, who muscled in a slider that skidded through for an 8-7 USC advantage with five seconds on the clock. USC’s defense would hold, and the Trojans had secured their 14th consecutive trip to an NCAA final.
In the program’s 33rd all-time NCAA appearance, USC is through to the final yet again and seeking a 10th national championship and first since 2013 when the Trojans face host Stanford tomorrow (Dec. 2) at 3 p.m.
SEMIFINAL
[2] USC 8, [3] UCLA 7
Dec. 1, 2018 - Avery Aquatic Center (Palo Alto, Calif.)
USC 1 - 3 - 1 - 3 = 8
UCLA 1 - 3 - 1 - 2 = 7
SCORING:
USC — Hannes Daube 3, Matt Maier, Sawyer Rhodes, Zach D’Sa, Jacob Mercep, Sam Slobodien.
UCLA — Jake Cavano 3, David Stiling, Austin Rone, Warren Snyder, Chasen Travisano.
SAVES: Nic Porter (USC) 7, Alex Wolf (UCLA) 13.
Sunday, December 2
3:00 pm PT--NCAA Championship:
No. 1 seed Stanford vs. No. 2 seed USC
Host: Stanford University (Avery Aquatic Center)
NCAA Live Stream:
www.ncaa.com