No. 2 Trojans take on Triton Invitational

The last time the USC men’s water polo team encountered the Pacific Tigers, the battle ended with the Trojans rejoicing over their sixth straight NCAA championship. There won’t be a title on the line this time, but the fresh-faced Trojans will have to go through the Tigers once again when they open the 2014 season at the UCSD Triton Invitational Sept. 6 and 7 and begin the hunt for their seventh straight championship.

The No. 2 Trojans will play No. 11 UC Davis and unranked La Verne on Saturday and Redlands on Sunday morning before going up against No. 5 Pacific in a rematch of last year’s NCAA finals Sunday afternoon. The Trojans defeated the Tigers 12-11 in overtime in last year’s finals to finish the season 28-4.

Head coach Jovan Vavic and his team aim to get off on the right foot with a sweep of their first tournament this weekend. Vavic emphasized the importance of starting strong in a conference marked by top-tier rivals Cal, Stanford and UCLA.

“Our conference is so competitive that one loss can actually take you out of [national tournament] play,” Vavic said. “You can’t afford an early season setback. We understand that, and we are really looking forward to this tournament.”

Following up a 2013 campaign in which he netted 79 goals, senior driver Kostas Genidounias will look to establish his goal-scoring presence again this weekend for the Trojans. Though heading a Trojan squad comprising more than half freshmen, the veteran Genidounias remains focused on establishing USC’s winning presence for 2014 at the invitational.

“Starting strong is always important, especially when we have so many new guys,” Genidounias said. “I’m really happy and proud about what we’ve been doing here with the team chemistry. We have a brand new team, and we have to show the other teams from the beginning that we’re not just here to play, we’re back to win.”

Last season, Pacific became only the third team in 25 years outside of Cal, Stanford, UCLA and USC to reach the NCAA final, finishing the year with a record of 23-5.

Davis, Redlands and La Verne come with 2013 records of 14-13, 19-14 and 7-23, respectively.

Opening against Davis Saturday, the Trojan defense will concentrate on Aggies utility man Chris Richardson. Richardson scored a team-high 49 goals last year.

Sunday’s game against the Tigers will feature many newcomers on both sides, including McQuin Baron for the Trojans and driver Chris Gardhouse for the Tigers. Both players were named First Team All-CIF as high school seniors last year.

Vavic said the Trojans’ first tournament of the year will be a big indicator of the team’s lineups going forward.

“Our goal [this weekend] is really to figure out our rotations,” Vavic said. “To me that’s the number one thing, to figure out who plays well with whom.”

Though he joins USC having previously competed for high school powerhouse Mater Dei and currently for the United States National Team, the 6-foot-9 Baron is not taking his first collegiate tournament for granted.

“First weekend tournament, I’d say it’s very important, honestly,” Baron said. “It sets the tempo for the rest of the year, and it shows us where we’re at and what we need to improve on. [My goal] is to play to the best of my abilities. I’m a new goalie, [USC has] had a lot of very, very strong goalies in the past, so I have a lot to live up to.”

Despite the changes to both teams since last December, Vavic feels his team is ready.

“When you are the returning national champion, you definitely feel much better about [the game] than the opponent,” Vavic said. “I think there’s a lot to prove for them, and this is going to be a game where they try to avenge that loss. For us, it’s really just another game.”