LAST SECOND TROJAN BEAR POOL BATTLE: DAY SEVENTY NINE WHAT IS YOUR PURPOSE?

2006 NCAA Men’s Water Polo Championships
“Last Second Trojan Bear Pool Battle”
University of California Golden Bears 7 vs. University of Southern California Trojans 6 
Campus of Loyola Marymount University- Burns Recreation and Aquatics Center
Westchester, California
Attendance: 2,723

When people discuss the most intensive, painful, and most challenging sport to the human body, many talk about Super motor cross or triathlons, but in the discussion I strongly believe the egg beating, treading water, head dunking, and secret scratching/kicking sport of water polo should and must be added to the conversation. Most people don’t understand the early morning work outs and constant endurance test that these athletes endure during their training in order to stay competitive. People always laugh about how water polo players look with their little caps, and skimpy Speedos. This is a sport that is constantly forcing its competitors to move and explode while defending their goal in order to succeed within the match. Try to tread water and get your hands up high at the same time. These men and women who take the challenge and compete in water polo are athletes that have courage and stamina. On the top of the water one may see bobbing heads and flaying arms, but down below under the surface is a whole other spectacle. There is tugging with tension, pulling and prying, with non-stop under water attacks. During the 1956 Melbourne Olympics the “Blood in the Water” match between Hungary and the USSR the whole pool was left dark red-purple due to the intensity and aggressive play between the two hungry teams that played out against the background of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution that saw the Hungarians defeat the Russians 4-0. And on top of all this, water polo players have to be exceptional swimmers in order to get up and down the pool. Compared to basketball there are fast breaks, swift passes, and violent play in the middle, but you are engulfed in a pool using your whole body to stay alive. Go catch a game sometime at your local community center and try to imagine what goes on down below the water that keeps a water polo player afloat. There are some pools that have under water views that allow its spectators to see where the real battle takes place during a water polo competition. Settle the score with yourself and visualize being in the pool as a powerful hole man taking shots at 2m or being a goalie exploding out of the water to defend, and maybe you can understand a little better the demanding struggle of water polo.

When I was young I had the fortunate opportunity to be around the sport as my brother was an All-American player during his high school years. I would attend his games and enjoy the intense focus under the lights during a night game with the on going whistle blowing of the referees with their controlling ejecting flags, and the shouting parents yelling encouragements and disapprovals of the referee’s calls. Since those years I then saw my all CIF cousin who was a superb goalie and lead her team to many successful seasons defending in the net. During the fall of 2006 I was reading the Sports Section of Los Angeles Times on Saturday and discovered that the NCAA Men’s Championships were in town being held on the campus of Loyola Marymount (the school where my brother over a decade earlier finished his water polo career) at the Burns Recreation and Aquatics Center. On Sunday morning I found myself at the venue paying $21.00 for admission and witnessing two matches; 3^rd place game (UCSD Tridents v. Navy Midshipmen) and championship game (University of Southern California Trojans vs. University of California Golden Bears). The first game was somewhat competitive, but in the end UCSD manhandled the Navy boys and came out victorious 12-8. The next match up will be one that will be talked about for a long, long time in the water polo world.

The SC Trojans came into the contest with an overall record of 26-1, as the Cal Bears posted a record of 30-4. Both these teams have faced each other four times this season with SC taking the first three (10-7, 6-5, 10-9) while Cal won the MPSF title game (6-5). One day earlier the 2^nd ranked Trojans’ football team was upset by their unranked cross-town rival UCLA at the Rose Bowl and the bitter changing season defeat could still be heard and felt in the air around the stands. There was a definite championship feeling amongst the crowd, as SC even brought cheerleaders and a small section of their band to support their water polo players. Who would have ever believed what would happen during the next four quarters of play during the NCAA Men’s Water Polo Championships.

During the first quarter, both teams battled it out playing smart getting a feel of each other on both ends of the pool. USC scored first as Juan Delgadillo fired a shot past Mark Sheredy at 4:16, but Cal’s Brian Bacharach responded with a goal with 2:48 remaining. The Trojans then decided to pressure Cal more in the second quarter and was able to score three more goals. Two of the goals came off penalty shots (Delgadillo 2:39, Sarusi 1:59), and the other with an extra man (Corcoran 6:58). Cal’s Brian Bacharach (5:40) connected with a goal bringing both teams out of the pool with a 4-2 halftime score.

The Bears jumped into the pool biting and crawling in the second half as they pulled off 4 unanswered goals lifting their lead to 6-4 with 4:30 remaining in regulation. The Trojans of course did not go away. J.W Krumpholz cut the lead to 6-5 when he scored at 2:40. During all the excitement and emotions the Cal’s coach, Kirk Everist was ejected leaving assistant coach, Boyd Lachance at the helm. During the last minute, the play got extremely intense as both goalies came up with some amazing saves. With a three extra man advantage, the Trojans drove down in the pool and threw a shot off the post with less than 4 seconds to go. The Trojans then moved the ball to the weak side as Thomas Hale received a pass and found an opening past Sheredy diving to his left with 1.78 seconds left on the clock. Cal calls time out. The SC fans went crazy with the band overdoing it once again playing the all-day on-going same fight song…Por Favor! Everyone around me began discussing the rules of overtime. “It ain’t over till it is over,” said Yankee legend Yogi Berra. As the time out ended, the place stood at a dead silence. Heads were bobbing in the water, as the athletes weren’t fully focused once the referee blew his whistle to start play. Spencer Warden took the entry pass, made one simple toss to Jeff Tyrrell on top of the key. Tyrell launched a
last-second-desperation-rocket-shot 10 meters away that was deflected by Trojan defender Pavol Valovic, finding the  back of the net past Trojans goalie, Adam Schilling. It was unreal, but felt so amazing to witness. The Cal team and staff embraced and dove into the pool in complete excitement as the USC Trojans and its coaching staff possessed a sickening shock of, “What just happened?” No more USC band and screaming cheerleaders as the Cal Bears won their 12^th national championship, and showed us spectators that the desire to win and stay focused is what it takes to be a champion.