No. 2 USC Men’s Water Polo Captures Key OT Win At No. 7 Cal
Trojans silence the Bears in overtime to net a 17-15 road win in MPSF action.
Box Score BERKELEY, CALIF. — The No. 2 USC men's water polo team captured its second win of the year over California, beating the No. 7 Golden Bears 17-15 in overtime in Berkeley today in a key MPSF contest. The back-and-forth battle saw both teams build three-goal leads, with Cal finding a late equalizer to force OT. Goals from Stefan Brankovic and Max Miller paired with big defensive stops by the Trojans to claim the 17-15 win, improving USC's overall record to 17-4 and MPSF mark to 2-3 on the year.
USC had three key players pick up three exclusions each by the late stages in the game, but the Trojans were undeterred. Before taking his third kickout, Stefan Brankovic converted a 5-meter penalty shot drawn by Max Miller to give USC a 16-15 edge early on in overtime. The Trojan defense put up a field block next, then got a save from Bernardo Herzer to preserve the one-goal margin entering the second OT frame. With 1:31 on the clock, Max Miller scooped up a rebound off a Cal save and hammered it home to take the Trojans ahead 17-15. Herzer came up with a brave takeaway soon after, and Cal was unable to carve down the deficit in the remaining time as USC locked in the road win.
The Trojans had fallen in a three-goal hole during the second period of play, only to pull even by the close of the half as Robert López Duart scored a 5-meter penalty followed by a blast from Tom McGuire and another strike from López Duart to knot it at 9-9 for halftime. On the way into the fourth, Luke Nelson and Max Miller got to the back of the net for the Trojan cause, and it would be a 12-10 USC lead thanks in part to some big stops from Herzer. In that final stretch of regulation action, USC saw a three-goal advantage drip away, as Cal leveled it 13-13 and then again at 14-14. López Duart ripped in his fourth of the day to nudge USC ahead 15-14 with 2:51 to go, but the Bears bit back in scoring on a 7-on-6 advantage to force OT.
NEXT:
USC turns to a nonconference clash next week, visiting UC Santa Barbara for a 12 p.m. meeting on Sunday (Nov. 10).
NOTABLE:
- With four goals today, Robert López Duart continues to lead USC in scoring this season, now with 45 goals.
- With their goals today, López Duart and Max Miller have each now scored in 19 of USC's 21 games so far this season.
- With a hat trick today, Carson Kranz matched his career high.
- With 11 saves today, Bernardo Herzer recorded his second straight and seventh overall game with double-digit saves this season.
- USC is now 72-71-2 all-time against Cal in a series dating back to 1979.
#2 USC 17, #7 Cal 15 (OT)
Nov. 3, 2024 | Spieker Aquatics Complex (Berkeley, Calif.)
USC 4 - 5 - 3 - 3 — 1 - 1 = 17
CAL 5 - 4 - 1 - 5 — 0 - 0 = 15
SCORING:
USC — Max Miller 4, Robert López Duart 4, Carson Kranz 3, Stefan Brankovic 2, Luka Brnetic, Tom McGuire, Andrej Grgurevic, Jack Vort.
CAL — Jake Howerton 3, Nik Mirkovic 3, Max Casabella 2, Ryder Hagan 2, Jordi Gascon, Albert Ponferrada, Marci Szatmary, Bende Pardi, William Kelly
SAVES: Bernardo Herzer (USC) 11, Max LaGrange (CAL) 12.
USC had three key players pick up three exclusions each by the late stages in the game, but the Trojans were undeterred. Before taking his third kickout, Stefan Brankovic converted a 5-meter penalty shot drawn by Max Miller to give USC a 16-15 edge early on in overtime. The Trojan defense put up a field block next, then got a save from Bernardo Herzer to preserve the one-goal margin entering the second OT frame. With 1:31 on the clock, Max Miller scooped up a rebound off a Cal save and hammered it home to take the Trojans ahead 17-15. Herzer came up with a brave takeaway soon after, and Cal was unable to carve down the deficit in the remaining time as USC locked in the road win.
The Trojans had fallen in a three-goal hole during the second period of play, only to pull even by the close of the half as Robert López Duart scored a 5-meter penalty followed by a blast from Tom McGuire and another strike from López Duart to knot it at 9-9 for halftime. On the way into the fourth, Luke Nelson and Max Miller got to the back of the net for the Trojan cause, and it would be a 12-10 USC lead thanks in part to some big stops from Herzer. In that final stretch of regulation action, USC saw a three-goal advantage drip away, as Cal leveled it 13-13 and then again at 14-14. López Duart ripped in his fourth of the day to nudge USC ahead 15-14 with 2:51 to go, but the Bears bit back in scoring on a 7-on-6 advantage to force OT.
NEXT:
USC turns to a nonconference clash next week, visiting UC Santa Barbara for a 12 p.m. meeting on Sunday (Nov. 10).
NOTABLE:
- With four goals today, Robert López Duart continues to lead USC in scoring this season, now with 45 goals.
- With their goals today, López Duart and Max Miller have each now scored in 19 of USC's 21 games so far this season.
- With a hat trick today, Carson Kranz matched his career high.
- With 11 saves today, Bernardo Herzer recorded his second straight and seventh overall game with double-digit saves this season.
- USC is now 72-71-2 all-time against Cal in a series dating back to 1979.
#2 USC 17, #7 Cal 15 (OT)
Nov. 3, 2024 | Spieker Aquatics Complex (Berkeley, Calif.)
USC 4 - 5 - 3 - 3 — 1 - 1 = 17
CAL 5 - 4 - 1 - 5 — 0 - 0 = 15
SCORING:
USC — Max Miller 4, Robert López Duart 4, Carson Kranz 3, Stefan Brankovic 2, Luka Brnetic, Tom McGuire, Andrej Grgurevic, Jack Vort.
CAL — Jake Howerton 3, Nik Mirkovic 3, Max Casabella 2, Ryder Hagan 2, Jordi Gascon, Albert Ponferrada, Marci Szatmary, Bende Pardi, William Kelly
SAVES: Bernardo Herzer (USC) 11, Max LaGrange (CAL) 12.
