LOS ANGELES – In a wild back-and-forth men's water polo match, No. 2 USC used a goal with 28 seconds left to defeat No. 3 Stanford, 11-10, in the semifinals of the Mountain Pacific Invitational Saturday evening at Uytengsu Aquatics Center on USC's campus.
With the loss, the Cardinal, which defeated No. 6 Long Beach State earlier in the day, move on to the tournament's third-place game on Sunday at 1 p.m. PT against No. 1 California back at the Uytengsu Aquatics Center.
The two teams have played each other twice this month with three total goals separating the programs over the two matches. The Trojans defeated the Cardinal, 8-6, in Los Angeles on Sept. 8.
In Saturday's see-saw battle, the two water polo powerhouses found themselves tied at 10-10 with less than a minute remaining. USC's Matteo Morelli broke the tie, finding the back of the cage with 28 seconds remaining in the contest.
The Cardinal had one last chance, but freshman Ben Hallock's shot was saved by USC goalie McQuin Baron, Hallock's teammate on the 2016 United States Olympic team.
A flurry of goals from both teams led to the entertaining finish.
Senior Cody Smith gave Stanford the early lead with a goal less than two minutes into the match.
The Trojans seized momentum from there, finding the back of the cage three consecutive times in the final three minutes of the quarter to take a 3-1 lead into the second period.
Stanford responded in a big way, regaining momentum with a three-goal surge of its own in the first four minutes of the second quarter. Hallock started the run less than a minute into the period and senior Connor Stapleton recorded back-to-back goals in a 53-second span to push the Cardinal back into the lead at 4-3.
Stanford and USC traded goals in the final minutes of the first half, with junior Blake Parrish scoring for the Cardinal for the one-goal advantage at the break.
Stanford took two-goal leads on two separate occasions in the third quarter with Stapleton and sophomore Dylan Woodhead scoring for the Cardinal.
Parrish countered a pair of USC scores with a goal to give Stanford an 8-7 advantage heading into the final period.
The Trojans went back on top, 9-8, before Hallock tied it back up with a score with 4:48 to play.
Another USC goal gave the Trojans a 10-9 lead, but the Cardinal responded once again as Smith found the back of the cage to tie it up at 10-10 with 2:42 remaining.
Both teams feverishly looked for the go-ahead score, with the Trojans getting the decisive goal in the final seconds to take the win and advance to Sunday's Mountain Pacific Invitational championship game.
After posting 13 saves in the win earlier in the day over No. 6 Long Beach State, senior goalie Drew Holland recorded a season-high 17 saves against the Trojans. Baron registered 10 stops for the Trojans.
