Oct. 4, 2009

Stockton, Calif. - In the its first Mountain Pacific Sports Federation contest of the year No. 16 Pacific fell to No. 3 USC, 10-7. With the loss the Tigers dropped to 10-6 on the season and the Trojans improved to 12-1 on the year.

In a defensive first quarter USC notched the first goal of the game on a penalty shot at the 7:38 to take the 1-0 lead. The Trojans held the Tigers scoreless until the 3:17 mark when sophomore Tom Koning (Poway, Calif.) put Pacific on the board to tie the game at 1-1. USC notched its second goal of the quarter to regain the lead with 2:18 left on the clock.

Leading 2-1 entering the second quarter, USC scored three unanswered goals to make it a 5-1 contest. Senior Joey Rossi (Ceres, Calif.) notched his first goal on the day at the 1:58 mark to make it a 5-2 game entering the half.

To start the third quarter USC scored back-to-back goals at the 6:48 and 6:12 spots to take the 7-2 lead. Sophomore Lance Morrison (Fairfield, Calif.) tallied his first goal of the day on a deflection with 5:52 remaining to cut USC's lead to four. Junior Austin Delong (Houston, Texas) notched his first goal at the 3:50 mark to make it a 7-4 contest, but USC responded 21 seconds later to regain the four point advantage. Junior Joey Gullikson (Sonoma, Calif.) notched his first goal of the day on a penalty shot with 0:41 remaining on the clock making it an 8-5 game.

Entering the fourth frame USC tallied a goal at the 7:38 mark, but the Tigers responded on Morrison's second goal of the day. Koning took a shot on goal that hit the side bar of the cage and Morrison notched the goal on a follow-up shot off the deflection. The Trojans scored their final goal of the quarter at the 2:56 mark for the four point advantage. Rossi notched his second goal of the game with 1:03 remaining in regulation to make it a 10-7 game.

Senior Joey Rossi (Ceres, Calif.) and sophomore Lance Morrison (Fairfield, Calif.) led the Tigers with two goals apiece, while senior David Andrus (Houston, Texas) had 11 saves in the cage for the Tigers.

Pacific continues action Oct. 10-11 at the Southern California Invitational hosted by UC Irvine. The Tigers return home Oct. 23 to host Stanford at 5:30 p.m.

Scoring Summary

         Q1  Q2   Q3  Q4   Final

USC    2    3     3    2     10

Pacific 1    1     3    2      7

Goals

Pacific: Morrison 2, Rossi 2, Delong 1, Gullkison 1, Koning 1.

Assists

Pacific: Gullikson 1, Andrus 1.

Steals

Pacific: Gullikson 3, Andrus 2, Delong 1, Hollis 1, Koning 1.

Saves

Pacific: Andrus 11.