Nov. 4, 2006
Stanford, Ca - The top-ranked and unbeaten USC Trojans men's water polo team exploded for three goals in the final period to break open a defensive game to beat the fourth-ranked Stanford Cardinal, 6-2, in a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation game on Saturday afternoon at the Avery Aquatic Center.
With the score 3-2 in favor of USC after three periods, the Trojans received goals from Jovan Vranes at 6:16, Pavol Valovic at 4:13 and Juan Delgadillo at 3:02 while the Trojan defense held Stanford scoreless.
USC opened the game with a goal at 7:22 by Delgadillo. Stanford tied the game at 5:51 in the second period on J.J. Garton's 20th goal of the season. Then with less than a second on the first half clock, J.W. Krumpolz fired a long shot that jumped past Cardinal goalie Sandy Hohener to give USC a 2-1 halftime lead.
Valovic made it 3-1 in favor of USC at 3:32, but Will Hindle-Katel cut the Trojan lead to 3-2 with 25 seconds remaining in the third period.
Stanford falls to 13-6 overall and 4-2 in the MPSF. USC is 19-0 overall and 6-0 in the MPSF. The Trojans have won 39 straight games dating back to last year. The NCAA record is 51 straight wins by Stanford from 1985-87.
Stanford travels to UC Davis on Sunday (noon).
Stanford (13-6, 4-2 MPSF)0110=2
USC (19-0, 6-0 MPSF)1113=6
Stanford Scorers: Garton 1, Hindle-Katel 1
USC Scorers: Valovic 2, Delgadillo 2, Krumpholz 1, Vranes 1
Goalie Saves: Hohener (S) 9; Shilling (USC) 12