Oct. 15, 2006

LOS ANGELES, CALIF. - The No. 2-ranked California men's water polo team (17-3) fell to No. 1-ranked USC (15-0), 6-5, in the championship match of the SoCal Open Sunday at McDonald's Swim Stadium on the USC campus. Cal had advanced to the championship match with an 8-6 victory over No. 4-ranked UCLA in the semifinals. In the title match against the top-ranked Trojans, the Golden Bears were led by junior Jeff Tyrrell's three goals, and two goals by senior Andrija Vasiljevic.

It was the second time this season Cal has fallen to USC in a championship match, as the Bears lost to the Trojans, 10-7, in the NorCal Open finals, Sept. 17 at Stanford. Cal had advanced to the SoCal Open final by defeating No. 6-ranked Loyola Marymount, 17-4; and No. 13 Pepperdine, 14-6, on Saturday.

In the championship tilt, USC jumped out to a 2-0 lead after the first period, but the Bears battled back in the second quarter on goals by Tyrrell and Vasiljevic to tie the contest, 2-2, at halftime. Cal scored its third straight goal when Vasiljevic struck from the perimeter for a 3-2 Cal lead at 7:30 in the third period, but USC locked it back up, 3-3. The Trojans Gabor Sarusi then converted a penalty shot for a 4-3 USC edge that soon became 5-3 advantage when Jovan Vranes scored on a Trojan 6-on-5. Cal would answer back, however, as Tyrrell knocked in his second and third goals of the match for a 5-5 score entering the fourth period.

In that fourth quarter, USC finally got the go-ahead goal from J. W. Krumpholz, whose score pushed USC ahead 6-5 with 5:50 left on the clock. From there, the Trojan defense was able to hold the Bears.

Against UCLA, Cal scored the match's first three goals and never trailed the rest of the way. Senior John Mann recorded the Bears' first goal with 6:45 remaining in the first period, and then juniors Michael Sharf and Zac Monsees each netted goals in the first period to give Cal a 3-0 cushion. The Bruins responded with goals at 1:30 and at 1:00 in the first quarter to cut the Bears' lead to 3-2.

In the second period, Cal netted two more goals and held the Bruins scoreless. Junior goalkeeper Mark Sheredy tallied 10 first-half saves and finished with 14 blocks. Trailing 5-2 at the break, UCLA responded in the third quarter with goals from junior Marco Santos (at 6:22) and senior Logan Powell (at 4:17).

Cal scored two third-quarter goals and began the fourth quarter with a 7-4 advantage. Vasilijevic recorded the Bears' eighth goal of the afternoon, handing Cal an 8-4 lead. The Bruins registered two goals in the final 2:29 - one by senior Grant Zider and a second from Powell, for the final 8-6 margin.

The Bears will next continue MPSF, visiting UC Irvine at noon on Saturday, Oct. 21, and Long Beach State at noon on Sunday, Oct. 22.

SoCal Open Championship match
USC 6, California 5
USC 2 - 0 - 3 - 1 -- 6
CAL 0 - 2 - 3 - 0 --5
SCORING:
USC -- Juan Delgadillo, Drew Vyn, Thomas Hale,
Gabor Sarusi, Jovan Vranes,
J.W. Krumpholz.
CAL -- Tyrrell 3, Vasiljevic 2.
SAVES: Adam Shilling (USC) 12, Sheredy (CAL) 5.

Semifinal
California 8, UCLA 6
CAL 3 - 2 - 2 - 1 -- 8
UCLA 2 - 0 - 2 - 2 -- 6
SCORING:
CAL -- Monsees 2, Bacharach, Sharf, Warden,
Matthies, Vasiljevic, Mann.
UCLA -- Davidson 2, Powell 2, Zider, Santos.
SAVES:Sheredy (CAL) 14, Lapin (UCLA) 1.