No. 1 USC Survives 14-9 Against No. 11 Navy in NCAA Semifinals; Midshipmen to Play for Third Place

Mike Mulvey

PALO ALTO, Calif. -- The No. 1 nationally-ranked Trojans of the University of Southern California rallied back from an early 3-0 lead in the first period to hold a 6-4 lead by halftime and roll to a 14-9 victory over No. 11 ranked the United States Naval Academy in the semifinals of the 2008 National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Championship semifinals at Stanford University.

The loss drops Navy's overall record to 20-10 and sends the Mids into the consolation game, beginning on Sunday at 1:00 pm PT (4:00 pm ET).

Led by hat-tricks from Kyle Wertz (Fr., San Diego, Calif./Westlake) and Mike Mulvey (Sr., Carlsbad, Calif./Carlsbad), Navy dominated the early going in the game tallying the first three goals to take an early 3-0 lead over the Trojans.

Following a marker by Mulvey off a blast at the 6:16 mark to open the scoring, Wertz added to the lead at 3:58 on an outside skip shot to take a 2-0 advantage. The Midshipmen continued the barrage with a tip shot by Marek Malik (Sr., Houston, Texas/Clear Brook) with 10 seconds left in the first period to give Navy a 3-0 start. However, USC came back with only two seconds remaining in the first, drawing a penalty shot, which Shea Buckner (Jr., Newport Beach, Calif./Corona del Mar) converted to bring the Trojans within two after eight minutes of play.

The goal ignited the Trojans' offense as USC outscored Navy 5-1 in the second quarter. Opening the floodgates for USC was Matt Sagehorn (Jr., Long Beach, Calif./Wilson) with an outside laser to narrow the gap to a goal.  Following a Navy ball-handling error, Trojans' defender Peter Kurzeka (Fr., West Hills, Calif./Agoura) stole the ball at mid-pool, drew the ejection and finished an easy one-on-none to tie the game at three a piece.

The game remained tied for thirty seconds as Justin Rappel (Jr., Sherman Oaks, Calif./Harvard-Westlake) skipped an outside shot to give USC its' first lead of the game.

With 1:32 remaining in the quarter, the Trojans drew a penalty off the counterattack which Sagehorn converted to give USC a two-goal edge at 5-3. Navy followed with their lone goal of the quarter as Mulvey found the back of the cage with 18 seconds remaining in the first half. However, USC was not finished as Sagehorn completed a hat-trick with two seconds left on the game clock as he he tacked on his third goal of the period give the Trojans a 6-4 margin heading into halftime.

The lead expanded in the opening moments of the second half as Rappel scored on a man-advantage skip shot at 7:35. Foul trouble continued to plague the Midshipmen as USC converted on their second man advantage chance of the quarter on a shot by Kyle Sterling (So., Mercer Island, Wash./Mercer Island) before the Trojans added to their margin as Jovan Vranes (Sr., Belgrade, Serbia/Newport Harbor) blasted an eight-meter shot to give his team a 9-4 lead with 6:05 left in the third period.

Navy halted the run with two scores by Wertz to bring the Midshipmen within three before J.W. Krumpholz (Jr., Santa Anna, Calif./Foothill) scored from the low post at 3:46 for Southern California to push the margin out to 10-6. Navy followed with an outside score by Alex Kofsky (Los Angeles, Calif./Harvard-Westlake) at 2:49, only to be answered by Kurzeka who notched his second marker of the game to give USC back a four goal lead at 11-7. Needing a score to draw back within three before the opening of the fourth period, the Midshipmen drew an ejection, and following the use of their last time-out, set up a play to score with only :02 remaining on a shot by Mulvey to pull within 11-8 with eight minutes to play.

Facing a Navy comeback bid, USC converted on its first possession of the final period with a score by Rappel from the low post. Navy answered to pull back to within three goals by drawing a penalty shot which Kevin Bell (Jr., Naperville, Ill./Naperville Central) skipped into a high corner of the cage to bring the Midshipmen within three at 12-9 at the 4:19 mark.

The remainder the of game was all USC as the Trjoans received scores by Sagehorn and Vranes to finish off the 14-9 win.

"I was really proud of our team," noted Navy head coach Mike Schofield following the final horn. "I thought we really came to play and never gave up. Our goal was to hang around for four quarters, but we just came up a little short. I am proud of our team and the effort that they gave us."

In cage, Brett Rajchel (Jr., Winter Park, Fla./Winter Park) finished with six saves for Navy, while USC's Joel Dennerley (Fr., Chester Hill, Australia/Lake Ginninderra College) and Benjamin Weil (Sr., Hillsborough, Calif./San Mateo) combined for 15 stops.

Navy will battle the loser of Stanford and Loyola Marymount at 1:00 pm (PT) on Sunday. The Mids are looking for their second straight third-place finish at the NCAA Tournament, after defeating Loyola Marymount last year, 7-6.

USC Goals: Matt Sagehorn (4); Justin Rappel (3); Peter Kurzeka (2); Jovan Vranes (2); Kyle Sterling; J.W. Krumpholz; Shea Buckner

Navy Goals: Kyle Wertz (3); Mike Mulvey (3); Kevin Bell; Marek Malik; Alex Kofsky

Saves: USC - Joel Dennerley (13), Benjamin Weil (2) ; Navy - Brett Rajchel (6)