MEN'S WATER POLO: CALIFORNIA 7, USC 6 TIP SEALS USC'S FATE CAL TAKES NCAA TITLE ON LAST-SECOND SHOT.

Byline: HEATHER GRIPP Staff Writer

Anticipating overtime, Cal instead got what coach Kirk Everist describes as a tip ``from the hand of God'' and the Golden Bears' first men's water polo NCAA championship since 1992.

A last-second shot by Jeff Tyrrell allowed Cal to upset top-seeded USC 7-6 in Sunday's NCAA final at Loyola Marymount after the Trojans had tied the game with 1.78 seconds remaining. When Tyrrell's shot was tipped en route to the goal, deflecting it out of the path of USC goalkeeper Adam Shilling, the Trojans' hopes of repeating as national champions were also derailed.

``It doesn't seem real to me, still,'' said Tyrrell, who, like coaches from both teams, was unsure who tipped his shot.

USC (26-2) had defeated second-seeded Cal (31-4) in threeof their previous fourmeetings this season and was on track to do so again with a 4-2 halftime lead. The Bears scored the next fourgoals, shutting out the Trojans in the thirdquarter, to leave USC with a deficit that wasn't erased until the game's final seconds, when Juan Delgadillo retrieved a rebound and fired a pass across the pool to Thomas Hale for the tying shot.

``I was like, `Damn, we're going to overtime because I missed the ball,''' Cal goalkeeper Mark Sheredy said. ``When (Tyrrell's) shot went in, it was the biggest sigh of relief because I'm so tired right now. And I'm so excited.''

Sheredy, who was named tournament MVP, was pivotal in the Bears' comeback. He blocked 12 shots, including a penalty shot by Hale that would have tied the score early in the fourth quarter.

Much like the meeting a week earlier in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation tournament final, when Cal snapped USC's 44-game winning streak, the Trojans were hurt by an inability to score on power plays. They scored on just two of their 10 man-up advantages Sunday, leaving them 2 for 21 on power plays in the past two games against the Bears.

``We missed our shots,'' said USC 2-meter man Tommy Corcoran. ``We didn't put 'em where we wanted 'em. That's it.''

Delgadillo, who joined Corcoran and Hale on the all-tournament first team, led USC with two goals. Corcoran, Hale, Gabor Sarusi and J.W. Krumpholz also scored for the Trojans.

``Our guys still had a great season,'' said USC coach Jovan Vavic, who said he believed his players got over-excited in what was the first taste of championship-game playing time for many of them. ``They played hard. They battled to the lastminute, the last second. It's just unfortunate when the game ends on a last-second shot.''

Brian Bacharach had a team-high two goals for Cal, which took its first lead on a score by John Mann with 52 seconds left in the third quarter. Frank Reynolds, Spencer Warden and Marty Matthies also added a goal apiece for the Bears.

``You just hope for the best,'' Everist said. ``And today the best happened.''

[e-mail]

[phone]