No. 2 Trojans take down LMU and Pacific

It was a confidence-boosting weekend for the No. 2 USC men’s water polo team. The Trojans (18-3, 3-1 MPSF) rebounded from last week’s loss to Stanford with an 11-6 win over Pacific on Saturday, just two days after a 19-7 beatdown of LMU.

Against Pacific, USC started out with three quick goals, and had a 3-0 lead in the second before the Tigers’ Devon Thumwood scored on a penalty shot. Nonetheless, Trojan senior driver Kostas Genidounias came right back and scored 30 seconds later. The Trojans scored three more unanswered goals and had a 6-1 lead until Pacific’s leading scorer Ben Stevenson scored two straight goals in less than a minute. Genidounias talked about his team’s response to a quick change from a 6-1 lead to a 6-3 lead.

“When you are up 5-1 and then 6-1, there is a tendency to relax a little, and that’s what happened,” Genidounias said. “They scored two quick goals, but then we came back with good defense, we scored our goals, and all went fine.”

It all went fine, indeed, because Genidounias and freshman utility Mihajlo Milicivec scored to give the Trojans an 8-3 lead going into the fourth. The two teams exchanged goals in the fourth but Pacific was unable to mount a comeback in the five-point Trojan win.

Last week, head coach Jovan Vavic was frustrated with the Trojans’ lackluster performance in the Stanford loss, but he was more content with Saturday’s performance.

“We played much better defense,” Vavic said. “We were more focused on defense, more alert, played better 5-on-6 defense, which was a big difference in the game against Stanford. That was a major problem. Our goalie had an excellent game. He had 18 saves, I think.”

That goalie is freshman McQuin Baron. After allowing a few goals in the second half, Baron was frustrated. Vavic liked Baron’s response, however, and characterizes it as one way the rookie plays beyond his years.

“That’s a sign of a good leader. He recognized that there are certain things we practiced, and we didn’t do the way we practiced,” Vavic said. “It was actually very similar to a situation that happened at Stanford, so he was voicing his opinion and letting the players know. I actually like that — that’s exactly what you want your goalie to do.”

Even when Baron did allow some goals, the Trojans were able to come back with some of their own. Time after time when the pressure is put on, either by a large deficit or by an opponent’s comeback, the Trojans have been able to turn on an extra gear. Vavic believes that this is an important feature of the team.

“Even though we are young, we have been pretty good at coming back. Even against Stanford, where things didn’t go our way, we still kept building and coming back,” Vavic said. “That’s a sign of a strong team. I think as the season goes on and we play more games we’re gonna be even better in that area. They are just learning to play with each other.”

One of the Trojans who is just learning to play on the team is freshman two-meter Lachlan Edwards, who had a big week with a total of six goals, three against LMU and three against Pacific. Edwards believes that the Stanford loss was a motivator for him.

“I think after a tough loss against Stanford everyone needed that kind of shock to switch on, and I think we are improving every game and I think I am as well,” Edwards said.

Vavic knew that Edwards always had these performances in him and has been trying to help him along in his development.

“He hasn’t always played to his potential, and I talk to him about that,” Vavic said. “I think he’s the most powerful center in the country. Sometimes his production is not on par with what his talent is. I think today he was more focused. He worked harder. He was really what I expected him to be.”

Another key player against Pacific was senior driver Rex Butler, who scored two goals and broke the century mark in goals for his career. The achievement, however, was just a bonus for him.

“Yeah, it’s cool,” Butler said. “I wouldn’t necessarily say it was one of my goals but it was a cool thing to have happen to me.”

It was a big win on Saturday with many impressive achievements, but, as always, Vavic’s Trojan squad is looking to improve. Butler explained what he believes his team should work on.

“Passing always needs to improve,” Butler said. “Today, I think we were a little impatient at times.”

Gendounias, another USC veteran, led the Trojans in scoring against Pacific with four goals and is now 11 shy of becoming the school’s all-time leading scorer.

Vavic believes that Saturday’s game was good preparation for their next game, Nov. 2 in Uytengsu Aquatics Center against UCLA.

“Pacific is a very crafty team,” Vavic said. “They run many plays on offense and are a good 6-on-5 team This was an important MPSF match for us, but we were really not thinking about UCLA until now.”