Los Angeles, Calif. - The No. 8 Pacific men's water polo team fell 11-6 at No. 2 Southern Cal Saturday despite a career-high high 16 saves from goalkeeper Chris Hughes.
Ben Stevenson scored twice for Pacific, while Krisztian Laczkovics, Ikko Saito, J.T. Sarmento and Devon Thumwood also scored for the Tigers.
USC steadily pulled away, building a 5-1 lead at halftime. McQuin Baron made 11 saves in goal for the Trojans.
Kostas Genidounias put the Trojans on the board off the assist by Rex Butler.
The Tigers came up empty on two offensive chances before USC drew an exclusion and Nick Bell fed Butler for a six-on-five goal at with 2:56 left in the quarter.
After a save by Chris Hughes, Laczkovics hit the post with a shot and then just missed the cage as the Tigers trailed 2-0 at the end of the first.
In the second, Laczkovics' shot was stopped by USC keeper McQuin Baron, who threw a long outlet pass to Genidounias, who finished for a 3-0 lead.
After Devon Thumwood drew a five-meter penalty, he converted the shot to put Pacific on the board. But Genidounias completed a the hat trick with a shot off the keeper and bar down, to restore a three-goal lead at 4-1. Lachlan Edwards added a goal for USC as the Trojans led 5-1 at halftime.
USC opened the third quarter with a quick goal by Edwards.
Ben Stevenson answered back just 21 seconds later, ripping a shot into the back of the cage to pull Pacific within 6-2. After Butler hit the post for USC, Stevenson finished a pass from Thumwood to cut the gap to 6-3.
Genidounias converted a six-on-five for the Trojans and Mihajlo Milicevic's goal with 1:58 left in the quarter stretch the USC lead to 8-3.
In the fourth, J.T. Sarmento opened the scoring to cut the deficit to four, but Butler answered on the other end for a 9-4 lead. Max Hurst-Mendoza put USC into double-figures before Ikko Saito responded. Sean Grady hit the post with two minutes left, and Edwards finished the hat-trick with 1:34 remaining.
The Tigers fall to 12-8 overall, 0-3 in MPSF action. USC improves to 20-3 overall and 4-1 in MPSF play.
Pacific will remain in Southern California for a match-up with No. 5 Long Beach State at noon on Sunday.
