Ease in Which USC Beats UCLA Is Surprising to Trojan Coach

USC Coach Jovan Vavic was a little surprised how his team was able to handle UCLA in its 11-7 victory in the championship game of the Southern California water polo tournament Sunday.

“It’s early in the season to be playing like this,” Vavic said. “I don’t want to say I’m shocked. But we played very well and I’m pleasantly surprised in how well our team performed all weekend long.”

While USC’s victory at Newport Harbor High was convincing, the first few minutes of the game were a different story. The Bruins looked as if they might overwhelm their long-time rivals. Sean Kern scored two goals, one at 42 seconds into the contest and the other two minutes later for a 2-0 UCLA lead.

But once USC settled down, it answered with two-point goals by Brad Kolarov and Eric Vlasic.

Peter Janov, a transfer from Golden West College, scored three goals to lead USC. On his second goal, he was able to flick the ball into the net from the set position as a defender and UCLA goalkeeper Parsa Bonderson dunked him under water.

In the third quarter, former Corona del Mar High player Neil Huestron brought UCLA within one point when he scored on a man advantage. But USC shut down the Bruins and kept them scoreless in the fourth quarter.

Vavic was particularly happy with the Trojans’ defense, which was led by former Marina High standout Stever O’Rouke.

While not scoring any goals, O’Rouke, who is a sophomore, played hard-nosed defense that kept the Bruins rushing passes or making other mistakes. He had three steals.

“Stever is an outstanding defensive player,” Vavic said. “And even though he is listed as a sophomore, he’s really a freshman because he redshirted his freshman year. I expect some great things from him this year.” Junior goalkeeper Richard McEvoy recorded eight saves for USC.

In the third-place game:

California 10, Pepperdine 5--It was a close game up until the fourth quarter, when Cal scored four goals and Pepperdine had none. Freshman Robby Arroyo, who was the Times’ Orange County player of the year last season at Foothill High, scored a goal for Cal. Ryan Flynn had five goals to lead the Bears.

In the fifth-place game:

Stanford 13, UC Irvine 7--The Anteaters were able to keep up with Stanford until the third quarter, when the Cardinal scored five goals to take a 10-6 lead. Ryan Bailey had four goals and former University High standout Dan Hayes had one for UC Irvine.