UNIVERSITY BEAT

Unlike USC’s football team, the Trojan water polo team is developing a knack for winning close games.

The second-ranked Trojans (3-0) earned their third consecutive one-goal victory Saturday, when Predrag Damjanov scored 1:13 into sudden-death overtime to defeat No.5 Pepperdine, 9-8, in a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation game at USC.

Damjanov’s heroics--he scored late in the fourth quarter to tie the score, 5-5, and send it into two three-minute overtime periods--offset five goals by Pepperdine’s Greg Lonzo, who rallied the Waves (1-1) from an 8-5 deficit with 2:40 left in the second overtime.

USC will challenge for the nation’s top ranking when it hosts No.1 Stanford (2-0) on Saturday at 1 p.m., prior to the 3:30 p.m. football game between the Trojans and Cardinal at the Coliseum.

Stanford will play at No.3 UCLA (3-0) at noon Sunday.