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Men's Water Polo

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STANFORD, Calif. – No. 4 Stanford used three goals from redshirt freshman Mitchell Mendoza and 14 saves from junior goalkeeper Drew Holland to earn a hard-fought 6-5 victory over No. 2 and previously undefeated USC in the Kap7 NorCal Invitational semifinals Sunday afternoon at Avery Aquatic Center.

The Cardinal, the third seed, advance to the Kap7 NorCal Invitational Championship game against top-seeded and top-ranked UCLA at 6:15 p.m. PT at Avery Aquatic Center.

Stanford (8-0) jumped out to a 3-0 first-half lead with goals from Reid Chase, Adam Abdulhamid and Mendoza. Chase converted a penalty throw, with Abdulhamid connecting from the corner and Mendoza rocketing it in from long range.

(Chase's goal)

The Trojans (8-1) struck first to open the second half with a Blake Edwards goal midway through the third quarter. Mendoza countered with his second score of the contest just over a minute later, finding the top-right corner of the cage.

USC came back with three unanswered goals, capped by the equalizer from Edwards with 4:45 to play in the fourth.

The Trojans’ lead didn’t last long, however, as freshman Blake Parrish scored from the corner with 4:36 to play to give the Cardinal a 5-4 advantage.

Mendoza recorded the hat trick, scoring with 2:12 to play to give Stanford a 6-4 edge.

Edwards countered with a hat trick of his own for USC, cutting Stanford’s lead to 6-5 with under two minutes left, but Holland closed the door on the Trojans the rest of the way to seal the win for the Cardinal.