PITTSBURGH, Pa. — Mitchell Fargo (Jr., Redlands, Calif.) and Connor Talleur (Sr., Claremont, Calif.) both scored four times to share Player of the Game recognition as 10 different members of Pacific Coast Division Champion/No. 3-ranked the University of Southern California torpedoed Atlantic Division Champion/No. 19 the United States Naval Academy, 21-7, in the opening round of the 2019 Men’s National Collegiate Club Championship at the University of Pittsburgh.
- Thanks to the victory, USC advances into the tournament quarterfinals as the Trojans will return to the pool at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, November 16, against the winner of a first-round showdown between No. 11/Texas Division Champion the University of Texas and No. 19/Mid-Atlantic Division Champion Pennsylvania State University.
- The loss drops Navy into the consolation side of the bracket as the Midshipmen – who are making their inaugural appearance at the Men’s National Collegiate Club Championship – will take on the fallen from the Texas/Penn State game at 7:30 p.m. this evening. The Mids can still record a Top 10 finish in the 16-team field if Navy wins its next two games.
- A two-time National Champion (2011, 2012), the Trojans showed their championship caliber by jumping out to a 3-0 lead in the first 1:38 of the game as Talleur (6:15, 5:22) sandwiched a strike by Tyler Rosselli (Jr., Walnut Creek, Calif.) at 5:46 to USC out in front to stay.
- Navy fired back as Jake Hansen (Sr., Lemoore, Calif.) connected on a man-up marker at 4:44, but Jared Livingston (Jr., Marin County, Calif.) got the goal back with a power-play conversion of his own at 3:46.
- The teams exchanged volleys as Crawford Smith (Jr., Mechanicsburg, Pa.) answered for the Mids (3:34) prior to Fargo delivering a counterpoint (3:14) to make it 5-2. Navy chipped its deficit back to the pair prior to the close of the opening frame as Smith stroked in a shot with 34 ticks on the clock to pull the Midshipmen within 5-3.
- It marked the last time Navy was within a pair of tying USC as the Trojans torched the Mids for a pair of goals in the opening 48 seconds of the second quarter to pull ahead by four at 7-3. The Midshipmen trimmed its deficit to 7-4 with 4:52 left in the first half, but USC dunked any hopes of a rally by rattling off five consecutive goals to the horn to acquire a 12-4 lead by halftime.
- The lead expanded to 14-4 with 4:36 to go in the third quarter prior to Navy slicing off a goal with a 3-2 scoring run over the frame’s final four and a half minutes to inch within 16-7 heading into the fourth quarter of action.
- However, Southern California iced the victory with a 5-0 spree over the entirety of the fourth quarter to sail away with a 14-goal win.
- For USC, Peyton Alonzo (So., Glendora, Calif.) racked up three markers to join Fargo and Talleur in posting hat-tricks. Chad Derosier (Gr., Kailua, Hawaii) and Livingston added pairs of goals, while Riley Wilson (Gr., Long Beach, Calif.), Jacob Tamkin (Fr., Los Angeles, Calif.), Tom Cavanaugh (Gr., Larkspur, Calif.) and Charlie Stemp (Fr., University Place, Wash.) all found the back of the cage once.
- Goalie Patrick Tandy (Jr., Portola Valley, Calif.) earned the win with seven saves in 21 minutes. Quinlan Hughes (Sr., Bellevue, Wash.) blanked the Mids in the fourth quarter with three saves.
- Smith (three) and Hansen (two) both posted multi-goal games for Navy with Andrew Pagano (Jr., Baltimore, Md.) and Matthew Clark (Sr., Tacoma, Calif.) tacking on solo tallies. Samuel Dever (Jr., San Pedro, Calif.) stopped 11 shots in taking the loss.
| 1st Q | 2nd Q | 3rd Q | 4th Q | – | FINAL | |
| No. 19 United States Naval Academy | 3 | 1 | 3 | 0 | – | 7 |
| No. 3 University of Southern California | 5 | 7 | 4 | 5 | – | 21 |
| USC Goals: | Mitchell Fargo (4); Connor Talleur (4); Peyton Alonzo (3); Chad Derosier (2) Tyler Rosselli (2); Jared Livingston (2); Riley Wilson; Jacob Tamkin; Tom Cavanaugh; Charlie Stemp | |||||
| Navy Goals: | Crawford Smith (3); Jake Hansen (2); Andrew Pagano; Matthew Clark | |||||
| Saves: | USC – Patrick Tandy (7, 21 minutes), Quinlan Hughes (3, 7 minutes) ; Navy – Samuel Dever (11) | |||||
| Exclusions: | USC – 7 ; Navy – 11 | |||||
| Advantage Opportunities: | USC – 7-for-11 ; Navy – 4-for-6 | |||||
| Sprints: | USC – 3-for-4 (2nd, 3rd, 4th) ; Navy – 1-for-4 (1st) | |||||
| Cards/Misconducts: | USC – YC (Aidan Crouch, 6:13 left in 2nd Q), MV (Gregory Cameron, 2:14 left in 4th Q) ; Navy – MV (Brandon Lin, 2:14 left in 4th Q) | |||||
| Officials: | Martin Murray; Nick Cargola | |||||
University of Southern California’s Chief Coleman (#6) and the United States Naval Academy’s Ethan Oliver (#14) square-off
The United States Naval Academy’s Crawford Smith (#7) shoots as the University of Southern California’s Tim Greer (#13) defends
The University of Southern California’s Jared Livingston (#24) impedes the United States Naval Academy’s Aidan Crouch (#24)
