Trojans topple Stanford in fifth '05 meeting

In the lowest-scoring men's water polo championship game in NCAA history, Southern California downed Stanford, 3-2, to cap a program-best 26-1 season and win a third National Collegiate Men's Water Polo title.

The match was played December 4 at Bucknell's Kinney Natatorium.

The meeting marked the fifth time the Trojans and the Cardinal had met this season, as well as the fifth meeting in a championship game. The Trojans had won two of the latter -- in 1998 and 2003 -- both in overtime. The Cardinal took the title over the Trojans in 1993 and 1994. Stanford also advanced to the title game in 2004 but lost to UCLA.

Southern California's Juan Delgadillo scored the first goal of the match, followed 12 seconds later by a goal from Stanford's Peter Varellas. The only goal of the second period came 21 seconds in from the Trojans' Ted Zepfel. Neither team scored again until the fourth quarter, when Stanford's Michael Bury tied the game at two. Southern California's Pavol Valovic scored the winning goal with 3:10 left in the game.

Stanford goalkeeper Sandy Hohener recorded 11 saves in the championship game, while Southern California's Adam Shilling tallied nine.

"I just can't believe that the game came down to just five goals," said Southern California coach Jovan Vavic. "I love games like this. I'm very proud of my guys. I think (Shilling) was unbelievable. It was his first NCAA tournament, and for him to step up is pretty darn special. And I have him for two more years."

Shilling said he anticipated the nature of the game.

"I knew it would be a defensive game," he said. "I had to be on top of every shot and every block. With guys like Thomas Hopkins and Peter Varellas, it's definitely not easy."

Stanford coach John Vargas was proud of his goalkeeper as well.

"It was a great defensive game," said Vargas. "I couldn't be more proud of how we played. We had our matchups and had the right people on the right guys. We played great team defense, and Sandy Hohener had a great game. We played like we wanted to play in terms of controlling the game. USC did a great job on man-down defense."

The game offered some other intrigue as well. With the Trojans having a 3-2 lead, the ball and a man advantage with 18 seconds left on the clock, the scoreboard stalled. Time was being kept by the officials, but Stanford registered a protest and the final 18 seconds were replayed. Southern California kept control of the ball for the remainder of the game, though.

Stanford completed a 20-7 campaign, while the Trojans finished the year on a 19-game winning streak. Cardinal players Varellas and Thomas Hopkins were named to the all-tournament first team. The Trojans' Delgadillo, Thomas Hale, Juraj Zatovic and Shilling joined them, with Shilling and Zatovic receiving co-most outstanding player honors. Zatovic did not score in the championship game -- the first game all season he hasn't scored -- but was integral to the Trojans' defensive effort.

Endre Rex-Kiss from Loyola Marymount, which lost to Stanford in the semifinals, 7-6, also earned a spot on the all-tournament first team.

In the third-place game, third-seeded Loyola Marymont defeated fourth-seeded St. Francis (New York), 10-6.

Semifinals

Southern California scoring: Thomas Hale 4, Ted Zepfel 2, Brandon Child 2, Tommy Corcoran 2, Juraj Zatovic 1, Juan Delgadillo 1, Nik Healy 1, Joe Cosentino 1.

St. Francis (N.Y.) scoring: Botond Szalma 2, Gergely Fabian 1, Bogdan Petrovic 1, Nilos Vuksic 1, Moran Stern 1.

Saves: Southern California (Don Ricci and Justin McCain) 12; St. Francis (N.Y.) (Dusko Radovanac) 6.

Stanford scoring: Marcello Pantuliano 2, Tyler Drake 1, Ryan Fortune 1, J.J. Garton 1, William Hindle-Katel 1, Peter Varellas 1.

Loyola Marymount scoring: Cutberto Hernandez 2, Endre Rex-Kiss 2, Shaun Flood 1, Brian McShane 1.

Goalkeeper saves: Stanford (Sandy Hohener) 4; Loyla Marymount (Ian Elliot) 13.

Third-place game

Loyola Marymount scoring: Cutberto Hernandez 3, Endre Rex-Kiss 2, Brian McShane 2, Scott Marshall 1, Ben Easton 1, Ryan Gilmore 1.

St. Francis (N.Y.) scoring: Milos Vuksic 2, Stephan Mudreac 1, Nemanja Pucarevic 1, Botond Szalma 1, Gergely Fabian 1.

Saves: Loyola Marymount (Ian Elliot) 12; St. Francis (N.Y.) (Dusko Radovanac) 9.

Championship game

Southern California scoring; Juan Delgadillo 1, Ted Zepfel 1, Pavol Valovic 1.

Stanford scoring: Peter Varellas 1, Michael Bury 1.

Saves: Southern California (Adam Shilling) 9, Stanford (Sandy Hohener) 11.