Dec. 3, 2005

The USC men's water polo team secured itself the right to play for a possible third national title by beating fourth-seeded St. Francis (NY) 14-8 in the NCAA Tournament semifinals on Saturday at Bucknell University. The Trojans face second-seeded Stanford at 6 p.m. ET in the national championship game on Sunday (Dec. 4). The semifinal victory extends the Trojans' winning streak to a school-record 18 straight, and improves their overall record to a program-best 25-1.

Thomas Hale led the Trojans with four goals in the win, as USC took a 4-1 lead in the first quarter and never looked back. Ted Zepfel, Brandon Child and Tommy Corcoran each added two goals to help the Trojans' cause. USC had eight different players get to the back of the cage in the win.

All three USC seniors scored in the game, led by Zepfel's pair. All-time leading scorer Juraj Zatovic scored once, continuing his streak of having scored in every game this season for USC. And senior captain Nik Healy also added a goal to help push USC into the NCAA championship game.

Stanford beat Loyola Marymount 7-6 to move into the championship game.

USC 4 - 5 - 2 - 3 -- 14
St.F 1 - 3 - 2 - 2 -- 8

Scoring:
USC - Thomas Hale 4, Ted Zepfel 2, Brandon Child 2, Tommy Corcoran 2, Juraj Zatovic 1, Juan Delgadillo 1, Nik Healy 1, Joe Cosentino 1.
St.Francis - Szalma 2, Fabian 1, Petrovic 2, Vuksic 1, Stern 2.

Saves: Don Ricci (USC) 11, Justin McCain (USC) 1, Dusko Radovanac (StF) 6.

Ejections: USC 5, St. Francis 13.