STANFORD, Calif. – No. 1 Stanford erased a four-goal deficit to tie No. 3 USC with 22 seconds remaining, but Jacob Mercep responded with the game winner with five seconds left as the Trojans outlasted the Cardinal, 10-9, to win the Mountain Pacific Invitational Sunday at Avery Aquatic Center.
It was another edition of the classic battle between the two men's water polo powerhouses that was decided in the final seconds. The defeat was Stanford's first this season, after opening the year 13-0. The Trojans, who Stanford defeated 13-11 last weekend at home, improved to 22-1 on the year.
Mercep, USC's hero, gave the Trojans an 8-4 lead with five minutes to play. The Cardinal responded with two goals in the quarter as Bennett Williams and Ben Hallock rattled the cage.
A Hannes Daube goal put USC up three with 5:34 to play, but Williams cut the deficit back to two 14 seconds later. Freshman AJ Rossman rocketed one that tipped off the hands of USC goalie Nic Porter and found the back of the cage to trim it to one with 3:45 to play.
The Cardinal continued its pursuit of the equalizer as the clock wound down. After the shot clock expired for USC with less than a minute remaining, Stanford called timeout to regroup for one more attempt. Williams took the feed, spun around his defender and put it home to tie it up with 22 seconds remaining.
On the next possession, Mercep took the feed and found space. He fired towards the left corner of the cage, just past the out-stretched arms of Stanford goalie Oliver Lewis to put USC with five seconds on the clock.
Freshman Jackson Seybold, the hero on Saturday night, had his shot attempt field blocked and corralled by Porter as time expired.
Lewis finished with 14 saves for the Cardinal, while Porter tallied eight for the Trojans.
Williams led the Cardinal with four goals in the match, while Parrish and Hallock each had a pair of scores.
Stanford turns its attention to next weekend, where the Cardinal will host Wagner on Friday at 7 p.m. and Pacific on Sunday at 1 p.m.