USC holds off late Stanford surge to win NCAA water polo title 14-12

Stanford’s quest for its 11th national men’s water polo championship and its first since 2002 fell short Sunday despite a late surge by the Cardinal.

They lost to the Trojans in the finals 14-12 at Stanford’s Avery Aquatic Center. In the last five Stanford-USC meetings in the finals, the Trojans have won them all.

It was also No. 3 USC’s third win over No. 1 Stanford in as many matches this season, all of them at Stanford. The Cardinal (21-3) were unbeaten against everybody else.

The title was the 11th overall for the Trojans and their first since winning the last of six in a row in 2013.

USC (30-3) scored the first six goals of the match and led 12-4 early in the fourth quarter.