By Michael Randazzo, Swimming World Contributor
Day Two at the Mountain Pacific Invitational saw host Stanford affirm its position as the nation’s top team. Behind freshman Jackson Seybold’s goal with one second remaining, the Cardinal ended UCLA’s 20-match win streak over two seasons—which includes the 2017 NCAA title—with an 8-7 win over the defending national champions Saturday at Avery Aquatic Center.
The semifinal win, built on a late goal from junior Bennett Williams that tied the match at 7-all, advances Stanford to today’s MPSF Invitational title match against USC, a 13-6 winner over Cal earlier in the day. The Cardinal already have one win over the Trojans at Avery this season—a 13-11 decision last Saturday that knocked USC from both the unbeaten ranks and from the top of the Collegiate Water Polo Association’s men’s varsity poll. The title match, to be played today at 2:30pm (PST), will be Stanford’s first shot at an MPSF Invitational crown since 2015, when it was known as the Kap7 NorCal Invitational. That year, the Bruins delivered an 8-7 blow to Cardinal pride.
The Pac-12 Network will stream the first-, third-, fifth-, and seventh-place games today; the link for that site is here. All results and scoresheets are available at the Mountain Pacific Invitational Central website.
2018 is already looking to be one of the best in recent memory on The Farm, as Stanford (13-0) is off to its fastest start since opening the 2001 campaign 17-0. That just happens to be the year before current head coach John Vargas arrived, and the next-to-last time Stanford—who also won a title in 2002—hoisted the NCAA National Championship trophy.
USC will not be easy to subdue again, especially in consecutive weekends. Head Coach Jovan Vavic’s squad has responded to last week’s setback with four straight wins, including Saturday’s conquest of #4 Cal, fashioned behind the left arm of Jacob Mercep. The sophomore transfer torched the Golden Bears for five goals—part of a haul of seven on the day. To advance to Saturday afternoon’s semifinal with Cal, the Trojans first had to overcome Long Beach State and its quartet of heralded freshmen—Aaron Arias, Mathew Morris, Thodoris Pateros and Garrett Zaan—which they did in the morning session by a score of 14-8.
The Trojans are above everyone —except the Cardinal. Photo Courtesy: Catharyn Hayne
Stanford also needed a morning win, which they got—narrowly. Pacific battled the home team until the very last minute before freshman AJ Rossman delivered the game-winner with 15 seconds left, allowing the Cardinal to escape with a 14-13 win. Leading the way for Stanford was Ben Hallock, whose four scores offset a four-goal outburst by the Tigers’ Engin Ege Colak. Pacific had a tough afternoon; dropping a 13-9 decision to Pepperdine to fall into a 7th place match-up today against Long Beach State.
The Waves were shut out 10-0 by the Bruins in the morning session but will get a shot at UC Santa Barbara in the fifth-place match today at 11:30 a.m. (PST). The Gauchos were unceremoniously dumped 19-8 by Cal, as Johnny Hooper continued his hot hand, scoring four more goals—though the Trojans kept him of the scoring sheet in the afternoon. The Golden Bears will get to lick their wounds against the Bruins in the third place game at 1 p.m. (PST); key to UCLA’s fortunes is sensational sophomore Nicolas Saveljic, who in three games has registered a pedestrian (four him) four goals.
Rounding out today’s action: Pomona-Pitzer will face San Jose State for 15th place; Air Force and Santa Clara will battle it out for 13th place; Loyola Marymount plays UC Irvine for 11th place; and the ninth-place match-up features Western Water Polo Association rivals UC Davis and UC San Diego.