LOS ANGELES -- Logan Anderson and Ben Fleming scored a pair of goals and the Aggies were within a pair of the No. 1-ranked team in the nation midway through the fourth quarter, but the Trojans scored twice in the final minute to hold off UC Davis for an 11-8 victory in the first of two national semifinal contests on Saturday during the 2021 NCAA National Collegiate Men's Water Polo Championships at the Spieker Aquatics Center on the campus of UCLA.

The Aggies finished their season at 19-9 overall on the year in their eighth all-time NCAA Tournament appearance, claiming their sixth Western Water Polo Association title in program history on their way to the postseason. USC improved to 18-2 overall on the year, defeating UC Davis for the third time this season, and advances to meet either UCLA or California in Sunday's championship.

Anderson added an assist to his total to join teammate Michael Plastino with three-point days, with the latter scoring a goal and adding a pair of assists. Spencer Towill, Nir Gross, and Levi Murtaugh also found the back of the cage, while Gross drew four exclusions and Fleming finished with a pair of steals.

In the cage, sophomore Aaron Wilson followed up his 14-save performance against Long Beach State in the opening round on Thursday with 12 more stops against the high-powered Trojans.

UC Davis was within a goal with just under three minutes to play in the first before three straight scores by USC extended the lead to four with 4:16 to go in the second. The two teams went back-and-forth with the next six scores before Fleming scored on a five-meter just before the end of the third and Murtaugh scored at the 3:01 mark of the fourth to make it a 9-7 contest.

That would be as close as the Aggies would be able to get, however, as Jacob Mercep scored twice in the final 63 seconds for the Trojans around a goal by Plastino for the final score.

The Trojans held a 36-29 advantage in the shot column and hit just under 31 percent for the day to the Aggies' 28 percent. Four of UC Davis' eight scores came on the power play and the Aggies scored on both of their five-meter attempts on the afternoon.
 

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