Men’s water polo heads north for their own Weekender


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The No. 2 water polo team takes an undefeated record north for their own Weekender when they face No. 5 Stanford in Palo Alto on Saturday. The game marks the first MPSF match for both teams this year.

Leading the Trojans (5-0, 0-0) into the fray is head coach Jovan Vavic, who coaches both the men’s and women’s team at USC. With a win on Saturday, Vavic will earn his 500th win as the men’s head coach.

Last week, the Trojans earned three wins and outscored their opponents 67-7, including a 14-3 win over No. 6 UC Santa Barbara at home. The wins were highlighted by junior goalie McQuin Baron, who tallied 16 saves and a defense that shut out the Gauchos in the first and third periods.

Offensively, the Trojans were led in the game by junior driver Matteo Morelli and junior two-meter Lachlan Edwards who scored three goals apiece. Morelli and Edwards are the Trojans’ leading goal-scorers with 13 and 12, respectively, five games into the season.

Stanford has started its season off strong due in part to the goaltending of sophomore Oliver Lewis who is averaging 10.3 saves per game while allowing only 4.3 goals per game.

USC and Stanford have a strong history of competitive matchups with the Trojans leading the all-time series 62-60. Last year, the two teams faced each other four times, with the Men of Troy winning three of those games. After losing their first game against the Cardinal, USC won the next three games against Stanford.

The game begins at 1 p.m. and will be televised on Pac-12 Network Los Angeles.