USC to compete in Kap7 SoCal Invitational

Men’s water polo will head to the coast this weekend as they compete in the SoCal tournament in Malibu, an annual tournament in which the Trojans have been wildly successful in the past.

The team is looking to capture their fourth straight title, as well as their 12th championship in the past 13 years. The annual Kap7 SoCal Invitational is the counterpart to the NorCal tournament the Trojans played in earlier this  season.

“It’s a little bit different because the NorCal tournament is the first big tournament we’re in,” sophomore driver Grant Stein said. “Now that we’ve played a couple of those top teams, we know what to expect coming into SoCal this weekend.”

The Trojans have already had plenty of competition to get their season heated up, both in the NorCal tournament and at home this past weekend.

USC avenged a NorCal loss to Stanford in a high-stakes overtime 12-8 victory over the visiting Cardinal. The Trojans have had to keep their focus this week to avoid getting caught up in what was the win of the season for the team so far.

“There’s no relaxation after that win,” Stein said. “It was a good win, but there’s no relaxation going into SoCal.”

The 16-team field of the SoCal tournament includes all 10 MPSF teams. The teams will be battling not only for their chance at a title, but also for their national rankings. Thirteen of the 16 teams are ranked in the top 20 in the country.

USC will open their tournament bid against San Jose State on Saturday morning before playing either No. 6 UC Santa Barbara or No. 15 UC San Diego in their final matchup of pool play. The rest of the tournament will be bracketed based on Saturday’s results. The Trojans will need to pull out two wins on Saturday to land in a Sunday semifinal.

USC started the season ranked No. 2 in the country and dropped a single spot after their NorCal tournament loss to Stanford.  Following their big weekend however, the Trojans have regained the second spot in the country behind crosstown rival UCLA.  The Bruins took home the NorCal championship, beating Stanford 8-7 in the title game.

The Trojans aren’t worried about who they will be playing, though. The team acknowledges the fact that even though they will be up against top competition in the country, they are focused on avenging their loss to UCLA in the NCAA championship game last season.

“We keep focusing on the main goal: winning a national championship. As long as we can keep that thought in our heads we’ll be able to focus and win more games,” Stein said.

The Trojans are resting comfortably on the shoulders of very equal scoring. The team has the top offense in the MPSF with just over 19 goals per game. Junior Blake Edwards leads the team in goals with 35 just 13 games into the season. Sophomore Matteo Morelli is second in scoring with 22 goals, and just behind him are sophomores Lachlan Edwards and Grant Stein with 20 goals apiece.

To complement their high scoring offense, the Trojans are also boasting the second best defense in the MPSF, allowing just over five goals per game.