No. 2 Seed USC Men’s Water Polo Fights On For 18-16 OT Win Over Fordham In NCAA Semifinals

STANFORD, CALIF. — The No. 2 seeded USC men's water polo team weathered a wild NCAA semifinal bout and won it in overtime, beating previously undefeated Fordham in an epic 18-16 Trojan victory that sends USC through to the NCAA Championship game for the 18th time in USC's 20-straight visits to the tourney. After the Rams forced OT, USC dug in and scored three straight goals to take command, while Trojan goalie Bernardo Herzer and Junior Andrej Grgurevic worked their ways to a career nights, as Herzer collected 17 saves and Grgurevic served up five goals to help lead USC into the NCAA title match. The Trojans are now 23-5 overall, having secured head coach Marko Pintaric's 100th career victory at the helm of the USC men's program.

After trailing 13-12 midway through the fourth, USC tied it up and moved ahead 14-13 on goals from Grgurevic and Robert López Duart with 2:30 left in regulation. Fordham pulled even — the seventh tied score of the game — with 1:20 on the clock, and that would hold to the buzzer to bring up overtime. That's where the Trojans dug in their heels, opening with a Herzer save on the defensive end López Duart provided fireworks at the other end with a ridiculous no-look strike to get his Trojans on a roll. Herzer snuffed another Fordham look next, and then Jack Martin unleashed a ripper out of set. Grgurevic nabbed a steal and finished off his own counterattack 20 seconds later, giving USC a 17-14 lead. The Rams broke their silence to make it 17-15 before the end of the first OT, only to see a captain connection take the Trojans ahead 18-15 in the next frame. Carson Kranz fed fellow captain Max Miller for a searing score out of set, and the Trojans were well on their way to the ticket to the title match. Fordham converted on a 7-on-6 setup, but that was all the Trojans would allow en route to the 18-16 final.

The game had opened in chaotic fashion, with Fordham given three 5-meter penalty looks along with a number of power play as the exclusion count mounted against the Trojans early. The Rams converted on three of their four 5-meters in the first eight minutes, with the fourth pushing Fordham to a 5-4 lead at the close of the first. The whistles continued to blow at both ends in the second. Fordham got up 6-4 early in that frame, but USC carved that down and pulled even at 6-6 after scores from Zach Bettino and López Duart. Kranz hammered home his first to snarl it up 7-7, and the López Duart edged USC into its first lead of the game at 8-7 in the final minute of the first half. 

The Trojans would make it a 4-0 scoring surge to craft a 10-7 lead three minutes into the second half, but Fordham was undeterred and had things even at 11-11 with 1:08 on the clock in the third. A ferocious finish from Martin tugged the Trojans back on top 12-11 just before the end of the third, bringing up a heated final frame of regulation. The Rams rang up two goals to put USC behind 13-12 with 4:48 to go, and that's where the Trojans would dig deeper and find their winning push to the OT finish.

NATIONAL COLLEGIATE MEN'S WATER POLO CHAMPIONSHIP

NCAA SEMIFINAL
[2] USC 18, [3] Fordham 16 (OT)
Saturday, Dec. 7 | Avery Aquatic Center (Stanford, Calif.)
USC    4 - 4 - 4 - 2 — 3 - 1 = 18
FORD  5 - 2 - 4 - 3 — 1 - 1 = 16

SCORING:
USC — Andrej Grgurevic 5, Robert López Duart 4, Max Miller 3, Jack Martin 3, Carson Kranz 2, Zach Bettino.
FORD — Jacob Parella 5, Lucas Nieto Jasny 3, George Papanikolaou 2, Luca Provenziani 2, Balazs Berenyi, Luca Silvestri, Reid Thorson, Andras Toth.

SAVES: Bernardo Herzer (USC) 17, Thomas Lercari (FORD) 8. 

NEXT:
No. 2 seeded USC moves on to the NCAA title match for the 18th time in its 20-year run of NCAA appearances. The Trojans square off against crosstown rival UCLA to fight for the 2024 NCAA Championship tomorrow (Dec. 8) at 3 p.m. at Avery Aquatic Center in Stanford, Calif.

NOTABLE:
- USC is through to the NCAA championship game for the 18th time in 20 straight trips to the NCAA tourney.
- USC has won 10 previous national championships.
- With three goals today, Max Miller has now scored in a team-best 26 of USC's 28 games so far this season.
- Miller now has 146 career goals, ranking him No. 16 all-time in career scoring at USC.
- Miller also has now scored at least one goal in USC's last eight games.
- With two goals today, Carson Kranz now has 133 career goals, ranking him tied at No. 24 all-time in career scoring at USC.
- With four goals today, Robert López Duart continues to lead USC in multiple-goal outings, now with 19 this season.
- Now with 62 goals scored this season, López Duart is one of 14 Trojans to scored 60 or more goals in a single season.
- With five goals today, Andrej Grgurevic set a new career high.
- Fordham had been undefeated this season before today's loss to the Trojans (Rams finish with a 32-1 overall record).
- USC is now 5-0 in overtime games this season.