Thriller of a Water Polo game at the home pool at USC. USC played UCLA for the national championship. It was a rematch of last year's final, and USC was going for not only it's fifth national championship in a row, but also for another undefeated season.
Experience wins along with doubling down on defense. The seniors really stepped up-Mike Rosenthal, Tobias Preuss and Matt Burton. Add to that, an unbelievable crowd at the game and both the USC and the UCLA bands. In the first period, the Trojans scored first going up 1-0. UCLA answered with 4 straight goals in the first period, leading 4-1 at one point. The first period ended with USC down 5-3. I was nervous. The crowd was nervous. The players didn't look nervous, however. Christian didn't look nervous. He was enjoying the game and the USC cheerleaders.
In the second period, the Trojans and Bruins traded three goals each, and at one point, USC took a 6-5 lead. USC would manufacture three more goals to open the second period -- a
Michael Rosenthal nearside bullet, a Vavic blindsider and a booming blast from
Tobias Preuss
to storm into the lead, up 6-5 with 4:47 to go in the first half. UCLA,
again, was unfazed. Three straight Bruin goals would erase that hard
work by the Trojans and take UCLA to an 8-6 lead at the break -- the
most first-half goals surrendered by the Trojans all season long.
In the second half the USC defense clamped down limiting UCLA to one goal in third period. The crowd was going nuts, as the third period ended UCLA 9-USC 8. This was going to be a nailbiter. Jack was playing great defense, and Jovan was using a double post defensive posture to stymie UCLA's offense.
UCLA would take a 9-8 lead into the fourth period, which opened with a
Rosenthal steal at 2-meters to get the ball into USC hands. That's when
Burton came up big with goal number two to equalize early, and the
Trojans would keep their eyes on a fifth straight prize to pull out the
dramatic win. USC outscored UCLA 5-2 in the second half to power up that
championship comeback push.
That championship confidence seemed to win out for the Trojans over the
pressure of keeping USC's undefeated 2012 season intact in front of
countless fans. With 2:25 to go,
Michael Rosenthal ripped in his third goal of the game for the fourth draw of the game. USC goalie
James Clark
came up with a clutch save next, and the USC defense held strong to get
the ball back. The Bruins had managed to keep USC's No. 2 scorer,
sophomore
Kostas Genidounias,
quiet on the scoring front during the game. At least, until the final
minute of play. Burton found the hot-handed Genidounias for a searing
score that gave USC an 11-10 lead with 40 ticks to go. It was the
Trojans' first lead since the 4:47 mark of the second period, and it was
a big one. As UCLA found itself in unfamiliar territory, having been
ahead or tied for all but barely two minutes of the game to that point,
the Bruins scrambled to try to find an equalizer. Instead, the stubborn
USC defense stood tall.
Mace Rapsey nabbed a UCLA pass and got the ball to Rosenthal with just 15 seconds left, and USC was in the driver's seat for the big win.
Unbelievable game. Winners know how to win.
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| I now believe. :-) |
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