Stockton, Calif. - Brady Moore made 14 saves in goal as the No. 4 Pacific men's water polo team controlled the fourth quarter in route to an 8-7 win over arch nemesis No. 2 Southern Cal Sunday at Chris Kjeldsen Pool. Alex Obert, Aleksandar Petrovic and Devon Thumwood each scored twice as Pacific remained unbeaten in MPSF play.
A tight game through out, Pacific scored the first two goals of the fourth quarter for the only two-goal lead of the game, and held on despite a late five-meter penalty handed to the Trojans.
Pacific improves to 19-2 overall, 5-0 in MPSF action. USC falls to 17-3, 5-1 in MPSF play.
Petrovic tallied the go-ahead goal 1:22 into the fourth and Thumwood scored what proved to be the game winner with 1:31 remaining.
The Tigers opened the scoring with a five-meter penalty shot goal from Petrovic, who buried it into a the left side 1:05 into the game. The Trojans responded with a goal at the 3:54 mark as Grant Stein lobbed it over Moore. Obert finished on the doorstep off a pass from Casey Fleming as the Tigers led 2-1 after the first quarter.
In the second, USC scored back-to-back goals as James Walters finished cross-cage in transition and Blake Edwards snuck a shot in the short side with the shot clock expiring for a 3-2 Trojan lead.
Ben Stevenson knotted the game at 3-3, as he took a long pass from Petrovic and ripped home a shot cross cage to the far post. However, on USC's final possession of the half, after the Trojans were gifted a 6-on-5, Lachlan Edwards converted with a spinning backhand after a near turnover on the doorstep giving USC a 4-3 lead at halftime.
In the third, Thumwood found Krisztian Laczkovics with a cross-pool pass, and Laczkovics tucked it in with his left had to tie the game at 4-4. With 5:28 to go in the third, Thumwood scored from the top, six meters away, beating USC goalkeeper McQuin Baron for a 5-4 Pacific lead.
After getting a pass from Stein, Walters found space inside, faked and shoveled home a goal to tie the game back at 5-5 with 4:25 to go in the third. With just under three minutes left in the quarter, Obert found a pocket from four meters way, rose and fired home his second of the game for a 6-5 Pacific lead. However, Stein finished a five-meter penalty to the right side as the Trojans and Tigers stood even at 6-6 through three quarters of play.
Petrovic's blast from six meters out spun off the bar an in for a 7-6 lead and after the Tigers posted defensive stop after defensive stop, Pacific spread the pool on offense to use all of their possession. Thumwood beat the shot clock from six meters away finishing to the right side for the first two-goal lead of the game for either team.
The Tigers posted a defensive stop, but an exclusion was called on Pacific as the Tigers were taking control of the ball. Unaware of what the officials saw, the Tigers played on, resulting in a five-meter penalty awarded with 59 seconds left.
Walters converted to cut Pacific's lead to 8-7, and with the pool spread, Obert's shot was saved for a corner with 32 seconds left. The Tigers ran the clock down to two seconds and defended a last-ditch effort by the Trojans.
The Tigers posted their second-straight regular season home win over USC, as the 2013 edition of the rivalry resulted in the then-No. 3 Tigers topping then-No. 1 USC to propel Pacific into the No. 1 national ranking.
A spirited standing-room crowd of 1,208 saw the Tigers hand USC its first MPSF loss of the season as the Trojans fall to 17-3 overall, 5-1 in MPSF play.
Pacific extends its win streak to seven, the second-longest active streak in the country, behind No. 1 UCLA (21-0, 5-0 MPSF), which has won 24 straight dating back to last season's MPSF Third Place Game.
The Tigers will head to Southern California to face the top-ranked Bruins on Sunday, Nov. 1, after a Saturday contest at No. 9 Pepperdine.
