Update (9:23 p.m.) - Six-Team NCAA Tournament field:UCLA, Cal, USC, UC San Diego, Princeton, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps.
Los Angeles - The No. 2 Pacific men's water polo team was shocked by No. 4 Southern Cal Sunday in the MPSF Championship Third Place Game, 8-4.
Alex Obert scored twice for Pacific while Ben Stevenson and Devon Thumwood also scored.
Pacific was in control early, up 2-0 in the second quarter, but following a procedural mistake on a substitution, USC was awarded a five-meter penalty and scored seconds later to start an 8-1 scoring run. Pacific settled for outside shots most of the second half, and scored just twice more in the contest.
The Tigers fall to 23-5 overall and suffer their first loss to a team outside this week's top three of the polls. USC splits the season series with Pacific, and improves to 20-6 on the year.
Brady Moore finished with 11 saves for Pacific, while McQuinn Baron posted 15 in goal for the Trojans.
The Tigers earned a five-meter penalty shot with an entry pass early, but Laczkovics's shot went bar down and it just stayed out. Petrovic hit the post at the 4:34 mark as the game remained scoreless.
Devon Thumwood finished a pass form Obert on the 6-on-5, drilling a shot into the near side for a 1-0 lead with 42 seconds left in the quarter. On the other end, Blake Edwards' placed a lob shot over Moore, but it landed at the goal mouth. Thumwood, Moore and Kale Ai swarmed back and kept the Trojans off the board.
In the second, the Tigers and Trojans each came up empty on 6-on-5 opportunities, J.T. Sarmento drew an excision on USC and Obert finished to the left side for a 2-0 lead off a pass from Ben Stevenson.
USC was gifted a five-meter penalty shot on a procedural miscue on a Pacific substitution, but Blake Edwards shot denied by Brady Moore and the assist by the post. However, Edwards quickly restarted and finish with a skip shot to the lower left.
After a turnover, Edwards slipped a shot in the short side, hitting the water by Moore's torso and it trickled in to knot the game at 2-2.
The Tigers killed a carry-over power play by the Trojans to start the third quarter, but Baron posted a save on Pacific's next possession. Baron added another save on a long-range shot and Mihajlo Milicevic hit the corner to give USC a 3-2 lead with 4:48 to go in the third. Nick Lavayen put USC up 4-2 with a goal to the right side at the 3:59 mark.
Long feed from Casey Fleming to Obert on the far post, and Obert slams it home to bring Pacific within 4-3. But Bryce Hoerman finished from the inside with a skip shot to restore a 5-3 Trojans lead.
Grant Stein finished cross cage to the upper left corner with 6:01 to go in the fourth. On the ensuing possession, Blake Edwards replicated Stein's goal, skipping it home.
USC was granted another 6-on-5, and Nick Bell finished on the doorstep. Stevenson added a cross-cage skip shot from four meters away, but the Trojans ran out the clock to take third place.
The Tigers will wait on the NCAA Selection committee to set the six-team tournament field. With No. 1 UCLA and No. 3 Cal likely safe, the final decision will come down to Pacific and USC for the third MPSF bid, the two NCAA at-larges.
Pacific and USC split the season series, with each winning in their home pool. The Tigers five losses including two overtime neutral site losses to No. 3 Cal, while the Trojans split with Cal. Pacific dominated No. 5 Stanford, 11-7, while USC eeked by the Cardinal twice in overtime, posted a regulation win and also lost 6-5 to Stanford. Neither team beat No. 1 and undefeated UCLA.
Should Pacific earn an at-large, the Tigers would likely host an NCAA Play-In Game on Nov. 28.
