Sept. 25, 2004
Stanford, Ca - Greg Crum scored three goals including the game winner with 1:42 to play to give the second-ranked Stanford men's water polo team a 9-8 victory over top-ranked and previously unbeaten USC on Saturday in a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation game.
Stanford's win broke a five game losing streak to the Trojans over the last two years, including a 9-7 defeat in the NCAA championship game last year.
The Trojans scored first when Cameron Kaiser rifled a shot past All-American goalkeeper Chad Taylor at 5:09 of the first period. But then the Cardinal scored four straight goals to take a 4-1 lead after the first period. Three-time All-American Tony Azevedo started the scoring barrage with a goal at 4:51 followed by Crum at 1:35, Thomas Hopkins at 47 seconds and again Crum at five seconds.
Azevedo extended the lead to 5-1 at 6:25 of the second period, but then the Trojans mounted a comeback. Three straight goals by Juraj Zatovic, Jordan Van Norman and James Shinn cut the Cardinal lead to 5-4 with 2:18 of the second period. J.J. Garton broke the Trojan goal streak to give Stanford a 6-4 lead with 1:18 before halftime. James Shinn, who scored three goals for the Trojans, cut the margin to 6-5 with 45 seconds left, but again Stanford established a two-goal lead, 7-5, with 19 seconds on a goal by Varellas.
USC again fought back as Juan Delgadillo scored at 2:46 of the third period to cut the Stanford lead to 7-6. Varellas upped the lead to two goals again for Stanford at 2:25, and Crum extended it to 9-6 with 1:42 in the third period.
Shinn scored near the end of the third period to make it 9-7 Stanford.
The Trojans held Stanford scoreless in the final period while Nick Andrejic tallied a USC goal at 3:22 to play.
USC had the ball with 29 seconds to play, but Azevedo intercepted a pass to end USC's hopes for victory.
Stanford upped its record to 6-1 overall and 1-0 in the MPSF while the Trojans fell to 7-1 overall and 0-1 in league play.
Stanford travels to Pacific on Sunday.
USC (7-1, 0-1 MPSF)1421=8
Stanford (6-1, 1-0 MPSF)4320=9
USC Scorers: Shinn 3, Delgadillo 1, Zatovic 1, Van Norman 1, Andrejic 1, Kaiser 1
Stanford Scorers: Crum 3, Azevedo 2, Varellas 2, Hopkins 1, Garton 1
Goalie Saves: Taylor (SD) 17; Ricci (USC) 14
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