No. 2 USC Men’s Water Polo Snags Another Win, Beating No. 10 San José State 20-13

LA JOLLA, CALIF. — The No. 2 USC men’s water polo team turned a tight final game at the Triton Invitational into a Trojan-controlled affair in securing a 20-13 win over No. 10 San José State today in La Jolla., Calif. Stefan Branković and Robert López Duart paced the USC scoring onslaught with four goals apiece, including key second-period strikes to break up a tied game with the Spartans. USC is now 4-0 overall on the year after its winning run at the Invite.

There were exclusions aplenty in this Trojan-Spartan contest. USC freshman Strahinja Krstić helped drive up that tally thanks to a whopping eight drawn exclusions against his SJSU defenders. Two of those early efforts by Krstić saw his fellow Serb, Stefan Branković, convert on the USC power plays as the teams went back-and-forth early on. It was a 4-4 snarl at the end of eight minutes, and locked up again at 5-5 and 6-6 as the Spartans struck on a 5-meter penalty and a power play of their own. USC responded with a three-goal rally that featured goals from López Duart, Brankovic and Jack Martin, giving USC a 9-6 lead for halftime.

The Trojans continued to stay control of things and stepped out ahead 14-10 entering the fourth thanks in part to some big blocks from goalie Charlie Mills and an opportunistic late finish from Mihailo Vukazić. He’d keep up that momentum and score again off the drive to stake USC to a 15-10 lead. López Duart knocked in his fourth next, and Jack Vort sizzled in his second to set USC up with a 17-10 advantage. Before the final buzzer sounded, Andrej Grgurevic and Gavin Conant had doubled their scoring tallies to two each, and Spencer Averitt capped things off with a 5-meter penalty finish that had been earned by Connor Cohen to put an end to things with USC holding a 20-13 win.

NEXT:

USC now sets up for its home opener next week. The Trojans host Long Beach State for a 5 p.m. clash on Friday (Sept. 5) at Uytengsu Aquatics Center before a 6:30 p.m. exhibition game against Golden West  also that evening. On Sunday (Sept. 6), USC visits Pepperdine for a 1 p.m. matchup in Malibu.

NOTABLE:

– JR Stefan Branković set a new career high with four goals scored today.

– FR Gavin Conant recorded his first multiple-goal game with two today.

– Conant, GS Mihailo Vukazić and JR Robert López Duart each scored in all four games for USC at the Triton Invite.

– With four goals today, López Duart scored multiple-goal games in all four matches at the Triton Invite.

– USC is now 12-0 all-time against San José State, which is currently coached by former Trojan Gabor Sarusi.

TRITON INVITATIONAL

#2 USC 20, #10 San José State 13

Sunday, Aug. 31 | Canyonview Aquatic Center (La Jolla, Calif.)

USC    4 – 5 – 5 – 6 = 20

SJSU  4 – 2 – 4 – 3 = 13

SCORING:

USC — Stefan Branković 4, Robert López Duart 4, Gavin Conant 2, Jack Vort 2, Efe Naipoglu 2, Mihailo Vukazić 2, Andrej Grgurevic 2, Jack Martin, Spencer Averitt.

SJSU — Mitchell Keightley 4, Mateja Bosić 3, Sam Biros 2, Erik Duesund 2, László Szieben, Nathan Correia.

SAVES: Bernardo Herzer (USC) 5 [1st half], Charles Mills (USC) 5 [2nd half], Brendon Gyapjas (SJSU) n/a.