MPSF men's tournament starts Friday at USC
An automatic berth to the NCAA men’s water polo tournament will be at stake this weekend at USC as the top-ranked and undefeated Trojans play host to the MPSF championship tournament.
The winner of the three-day event will earn a bid to the NCAA tournament, which also will be played at USC’s McDonald’s Swim Stadium, Dec. 1-2.
USC (24-0) might not have to capture the tournament to qualify for NCAAs. The four-time defending NCAA champions could be strong contenders to receive the at-large bid.
The Trojans open the MPSF tournament Friday against eighth-seeded UC Santa Barbara (15-10) and goalie Myles Christian (Newport Harbor) at 10 a.m.
If USC wins, the Trojans would face the winner of Friday’s 3 p.m. tilt between No. 4-seeded Stanford-No. 5 Long Beach State in the semifinals Saturday at 1:30 p.m. Stanford (15-5) is led by freshman Bret Bonanni (Mater Dei) while the 49ers (22-7) are in the MPSF tournament for the first since 2008.
The other side of the bracket features second-seeded UCLA (25-3) and Josh Samuels (Villa Park), Cal (15-7), Pepperdine (11-10) and Pacific (12-10).
The championship match is set for Sunday at 3 p.m. and will be streamed live on pac-12.com/live/usctrojans.aspx.
Air Force (19-10) and St. Francis College of New York (16-8) have already qualified for NCAAs.
