No. 1 USC Romps, to Play Stanford in Final

USC’s Marko Pintaric rubbed the welt on the right side of his neck and smiled. Yes, the spot where Massachusetts All-American Aldo Roman had whacked him with a fist hurt. And no, there was nothing that would keep him out of the water when the Trojans try for their first NCAA water polo title Sunday.

For the third year in a row and fifth time in six years, USC is one victory away from a national championship. The top-ranked Trojans left No. 11 Massachusetts in their wake, 12-3, Friday night in the semifinals at Corona del Mar High’s Marian Bergeson Aquatic Center. The Trojans will face second-ranked Stanford, which held off stubborn UC San Diego, 6-3, in the other semifinal.

“We are totally serious, totally into this,” Pintaric said. “We went into this game like it was the final, like our lives depended on it.”

As a result, Massachusetts lived up to its nickname and a just little bit more, the Minutemen’s quest for an NCAA title lasting about 5 1/2 minutes into the game when George Csaszar’s two-point missile ended up in the high corner of the net to give the Trojans a 4-0 first-quarter lead.

“We have a very fast team so we wanted to get some easy counterattack goals early,” USC co-Coach Jovan Vavic said. “This team is the most consistent, the most mature, we’ve had. They came ready to play.”

When Pintaric fired in a two-pointer from 12 meters--the two-point line is only seven meters out--it lifted the Trojans to a 7-0 lead with 4:54 to play in the second quarter. The goal, Pintaric’s 11th two-pointer of the season, tied the school record for two-point goals in a season.

It was pretty much downstream from that point on for the Trojans. Massachusetts didn’t score until there was seven seconds left in the third quarter.

The Trojans, who lost in the final last year to Pepperdine and the year before to UCLA, are riding a wave of optimism and momentum into the Sunday’s final.

Stanford is ranked 10th.