No. 2 Southern California 18, No. 9 UC Irvine 7
LOS ANGELES, Calif. -- Southern California was hot out of the gates in opening 2013 MPSF competition with a decisive win today against visiting No. 9 UC Irvine. The Trojans peeled out with seven unanswered goals against the Anteaters and put forth a strong first-half effort en route to a final 18-7 victory. That bumps USC up to 13-1 overall and a 1-0 start to MPSF play.
USC's early-game surge was sparked by a strong move from Jeremy Davie at the two-meter spot. Fellow Aussie Mace Rapsey would fire off three goals in the Trojans' scoring onslaught, pegging three goals to the back of the net to go along with strikes from Rex Butler, Kostas Genidounias and Nikola Vavic as USC amassed a 7-0 lead on its guests.
The Trojans came out for the second half with a three-goal run in which Rapsey sliced in his fifth of the day and took his career count up to 99 goals. The century mark would elude the senior in this one, but there were several other Trojans also at the ready to punch in some scores. In a long third period of play, USC tacked up six goals as Genidounias ran his count up to four on the day and Vavic knocked in his third with a penalty blast.
Marc Vonderweidt, too, got in on the scoring action for USC, while UC Irvine managed three goals in the frame to make it a 15-5 USC lead entering the fourth. Vavic scored his fourth in that last period, while Ivan Kustic and Chase Watson plugged in one apiece to help the Trojans answer two Anteater goals with a set of three last Trojan strikes to wrap up the game as an 18-7 USC victory. Goalie James Clark hauled in 11 saves for the Trojans in the win.
No. 3 Pacific 7, California 6
BERKELEY, Calif. -- In a battle between two of the top teams in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, No. 3-ranked Pacific tipped No. 4 Cal 7-6 on Saturday. The Golden Bears (8-3, 0-1) were led by junior Olympian Aleksa Saponjic’s two goals, including a score with 6:37 in the third period that gave Cal a 6-4 advantage.
Unfortunately for the Bears, the Tigers’ (10-1, 2-0) Balazs Erdelyi brought his team back with two goals towards the end of the third period (at 3:47 and 1:11) to tie the score, 6-6. Then Goran Tomasevic notched what proved to be the game-winner at 6:07 left in the match to give Pacific the 7-6 victory.
Tomasevic had provided the Tigers with their first two goals of the day, giving Pacific a 1-0 lead after the first period and then scoring with 6:14 left in the second period. At that point, Cal mounted its comeback, outscoring Pacific, 5-3, in the second period on goals by Luka Ivanovic, Colin Mulcahy, Blake Kelly, Hunter Gettelfinger and Saponjic to own a 5-4 at the half.
No. 4 Stanford 20, No. 15 Santa Clara 5
STANFORD, Calif. -- Fourth-ranked Stanford opened its 2013 home slate with a 20-5 victory against No. 15 Santa Clara on Saturday at Avery Aquatic Center.
Bret Bonanni led the Cardinal with six goals in the win, while Griffin Bolan and Alex Bowen each posted a hat trick. Adam Abdulhamid, BJ Churnside and Paul Rudolph each scored twice while Connor Stapleton and Forrest Watkins added a goal apiece.
In goal Scott Platshon went the distance, making five saves for the Cardinal.
No. 7 Long Beach State 17, Cal Baptist 4
Pomona, Calif. -- Long Beach State continued their hot streak, dominating Cal Baptist in a 17-4 victory at the Gary Troyer Memorial Tournament.
No. 7 Long Beach State (13-3) cruised to a big win against the Lancers, opening up a 3-0 lead in the first quarter as Devin Mefford, Nolan McConnell, and Zacchary Kappos all scored for the 49ers in the opening period.
The 49ers continued to push in the second quarter, allowing a pair of goals bur scoring four of their own, the final one coming from Milos Vrzic with 1:24 remaining in the half, taking a 7-2 lead into the break against Cal Baptist (9-7).
In the third period, Patrick Goodenough scored twice, picking up two of his three goals on the day, as the 49ers continued to increase their lead, taking a 12-3 lead. Long Beach State matched that output in the fourth, scoring five goals to Cal Baptist's one, closing out the match.
No. 7 Long Beach State 19, Pomona-Pitzer 6
Pomona, Calif. -- No. 7 Long Beach State finished off a 4-0 weekend with a 19-6 rout of Pomona-Pitzeer to close out the Gary Troyer Memorial Tournament. The 49ers finished off the day scoring 36 goals in their two matches while allowing just 10.
Long Beach State (14-3) started out the game with a quick start, rolling out to a 6-0 lead before the Sage Hens (3-12) got on the board. Zacchary Kappos got the action started for the 49ers, and Milos Vrzic followed with back-to-back goals in the first period. Patrick Goodenough's goal with 1:20 in the first put the 49ers up 6-0 before James Baker scored in the final possession of the first quarter to get Pomona-Pitzer on the board.
Kappos again struck first in the second period to extend the Long Beach State lead, and the 49ers closed out the first half with a 9-4 edge. That lead would grow to 15-4 after Joey Fabian scored in the third period before the Sagehens scored once more in the closing seconds. Long Beach State tacked on four additional goals in the final period on the way to the 19-6 victory.
All three active goaltenders saw action for Long Beach State, with Pavo Ljepopio making four saves in the first half, while Sinan Karatay put up a shutout before turning the cage to Derek Anderson, who made three saves while finishing off the contest.
No. 8 Pepperdine 11, Long Beach CC 5
No. 8 Pepperdine 12, No. 11 Concordia (Calif.) 11
MALIBU, Calif. -- No. 8 Pepperdine defeated No. 11 Concordia 12-11 in the title match of the Pepperdine Invitational on a Saturday afternoon at Raleigh Runnels Memorial Pool. The Waves (4-5) played their first home matches of the season in their newly renovated home pool.
Pepperdine got big offensive days from Marko Madaras and Danny White in a battle against the Eagles. Madaras recorded a match-high five goals, including a hat trick in the third quarter, while White added a hat trick. All-American goalkeeper Bence Valics had a busy day between the pipes for the Waves and collected a season-high 15 saves to go along with six steals.
From the opening whistle, it was a battle. The score was tied on nine different occasions and neither team could take a two-goal advantage until Pepperdine went up 11-9 with 6:16 remaining in the fourth quarter on a goal by Mike Tragitt. The Eagles would not tie or take the lead in the remainder of the contest.
Pepperdine took an 11-5 exhibition victory against Long Beach State in game one behind a four goals apiece from Madaras and White. Wesley Sherburne added a pair of scoring strikes. Valics corralled seven saves in three quarters.
No. 10 Loyola Marymount, Whittier
No. 10 Loyola Marymount, Iona
WHITTIER, Calif. -- Loyola Marymount claimed another sweep at the Gary Troyer Memorial Tournament on Saturday, needing sudden-death overtime to do it in the finale. The Lions cruised to a 19-9 win against Iona and then got a goal from Emanuel Di Stasio in the third overtime period defeat host Whittier, 11-10.
Di Stasio finished the day with three goals, including a pair in the win over Whittier. Redshirt freshman Kirk Wilenius had a big day in net, grabbing 25 saves, including 14 against Whiiter. LMU improves to 9-6 on the season.
In the first game of the day, the Lions scored 13 goals in the first half and had 12 different players score, including four goals from Milutin Mitrovic and three from John Mikuzis. Mitrovic had six goals on the day and 14 in the four tournament games. Mikuzis had four goals on the day.
In the finale, the Lions led 4-3 at the half but trailed 7-6 entering the fourth quarter thanks to a four-goal frame from the Poets. Wilenius and the Lions' defense allowed just a single goal and got the equalizer late in the frame to force overtime.
Playing the two three-minute overtime periods, the Lions jumped out first with a goal in the first overtime. In the second, Whittier answered half way through to force the sudden death overtime and Di Stasio's winner, which came on a 6-on-5 attach.
