NCAA MEN: Mountain Pacific Invitational: Trojans’ revenge (VIDEO)

The main event of the USA water polo last weekend was the Mountain Pacific Invitational, which was hosted by Stanford.

Sixteen teams took part. More than 30 games were played. The last game, the clash for the 1st place saw an encounter between the No. 1 seed USC and the No.3 seed Stanford. Just a week ago these two teams met in the 1st MPSF game of the season. That match was also played at Stanford and the hosts won (13:11). The USC Trojans sought revenge at Mountain Pacific Invitational and they got it!

In the semifinal, USC convincingly defeated No.4 seed California (13:6), while Stanford won a thrilling game against No. 2 seed UCLA (8:7). Freshman Jackson Seybold scored a winner in the last second.

USC controlled the final match from the beginning. The Trojans took a flying start and they went 6:2 up in the 2nd minute of the second quarter. They led 7:4 at halftime. The second half of the game belonged to the Cardinal. Stanford climbed back and equalized 9:9 with just 22 seconds left. But, a 20-years old Croat Jacob Mercep decided everything, as he found the back of the net with 5 seconds remaining. USC won 10:9. Stanford suffered the 1st loss in the season, after 13 straight wins, while USC went 22-1.

Hannes Daube (USC) and Bennet Williams (Stanford) were the top scorers (4 goals each).

USC 10:9 STANFORD
(3:2, 4:2, 1:2, 2:3)

USC: Daube 4, Mercep 2, D’Sa, Leong, Vavic, Dasic.
Stanford: Williams 4, Parrish 2, Hallock 2, Rossman.

Video: YouTube/USC Athletics

The match for the 3rd place also offered a lot of thrills. UCLA led 6:3 at halftime. The California Bears scored four unanswered goals after the big break and turned around the 3-goals deficit to a 7:6 lead. UCLA responded with three goals in a row by the end of the quarter for a 9:7 advantage. The Bruins added one more goal early in the fourth for 10:7. They were 12:9 with 2:43 minutes left. The Bears fought hard, but they weren’t able to secure an overtime. California cut the deficit to 11:12(1:28 on the clock). The Bears had a man-up in the last few seconds, but UCLA ’s goalkeeper Alex Wolf posted his 14th save and the Bruins kept the 12:11 win. UCLA improved this season’s record to 19-1, while California fell to 14 – 3.

UCLA 12:11 CALIFORNIA
(2:1, 4:2, 3:4, 3:4)

UCLA: Henriksson 4, Saveljic 2, Rone 2, jarvis, Cavano, Stilling, Rosenfeld.
California: Hoover 4, Hooper 2, Delagrammatikas 2, Simsek 2, Farrar.

HISTORIC WIN FOR AUSTIN

While Stanford, USC, California, and UCLA played at Mountain Pacific Invitational, remaining two MPSF league teams Austin College and Penn State Behrend took part at Collegiate Water Polo Association D 3 Eastern Championships in Baltimore.

Penn State Behrend took the 3rd place, while Austin finished as 6th. Austin made a history in Baltimore. It posted the first win in the history of the team. Austin beat Monmouth College in the match for the 6th place (16:15).

MPSF SCHEDULE (OCTOBER 9TH – OCTOBER 15TH) AND STANDINGS

MOUNTAIN PACIFIC INVITATIONAL

Day 1

USC – Air Force 20:6
Long Beach State – UC Davis 13:12
California – Loyola Marymount 17:7
UC Santa Barbara – Pomona-Pitzer 12:7

UCLA – Sana Clara 13:7
UC San Diego – Pepperdine 9:10
Stanford – San Jose State 19:8
Pacific – UC Irvine 14:11

Day 2

USC – Long Beach State 14:8
California – UC Santa Barbara 19:8
UCLA – Pepperdine 10:0
Stanford – Pacific 14:13
Long Beach State – UC Santa Barbara 9:11
Pepperdine – Pacific 13:9

Air Force – UC Davis 12:13
Loyola Marymont – Pomona-Pitzer 15:14 (OT)
Santa Clara – UC San Diego 15:7
San Jose State – UC Irvine 7:8
Air Force – Pomona-Pitzer 14:11
UC Davis – Loyola Marymount 16:7
Santa Clara – San Jose State 13:9
UC San Diego – UC Irvine 11:10

Semifinals

USC – California 13:6
UCLA – Stanford 7:8

Day 3

For places 1 – 2: USC – Stanford 10:9
For places 3 – 4: UCLA – California 12:11
For places 5 – 6: UC Santa Barbara – Pepperdine 10:6
For places 7 – 8: Pacific – Long Beach State 10:9
For places 9 – 10: UC Davis – UC San Diego 12:11
For places 11 – 12: UC Irvine – Loyola Marymount 17:10
For places 13 – 14: Air Force – Santa Clara 15:14
For places 15 – 16: Pomona-Pitzer – San Jose State 11:9

CWPA D III EASTERN CHAMPIONSHIPS

Connecticut College – Penn State Behrend 13:15
Massachusetts Institute of Technology– Austin College 22:10
Johns Hopkins University – Penn State Behrend 18:7
Connecticut College – Austin College 12:11
Penn State Behrend – Washington and Jeferson College 12:11
Austin College – Monmouth College 16:15

1st  Massachusetts Institute of Technology
2nd Johns Hopkins
3rd Penn State Behrend
4th Washington & Jefferson
5th Connecticut College
6th Austin College
7th Monmouth

Other
Long Beach State – Stanford 7:13

Austin College – George Washington University 5:21

MPSF STANDINGS (OCTOBER 15TH)

Stanford 13 w.– 1 l. overall (1 – 0 MPSF)
UCLA 19 – 1 (0 – 0)
California 14 – 3 (0 – 0)
USC 22 – 1 (0 – 1)
Penn State Behrend 3 – 16 (0 – 0)
Austin College 1 – 9 (0 – 0)

CWPA RANKINGS (OCTOBER 9TH)

1 (3 previous week) Stanford 98 pts
2 (2) UCLA 97
3 (1) USC 91
4 (4) California 85
5 (5) UC – Santa Barbara 79
6 (6) Pacific 76
7 (9) UC Davis 66
8 (11) Pepperdine 63
9 (10) Long Beach State 61
10 (7) Harvard 54