USC WATER POLO ADVANCES; TROJANS UPSET STANFORD, HEAD FOR NCAA TOURNAMENT.

Byline: Rizza Yap Daily News Staff Writer

It will be a week after Thanksgiving, but Richard McEvoy's homecoming on Dec. 5 will be just as sweet.

The Florida native, starting goalkeeper for the USC men's water polo team, will head back to his home state this weekend for the NCAA championship at the International Swimming Hall of Fame Aquatic Complex in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. USC clinched the automatic berth to the national tournament with a 5-4 upset of Stanford on Sunday in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation final.

USC, ranked No. 4 by the American Water Polo Coaches Association, joins No. 10 Queens College (Eastern Water Polo Association champion) and No. 11 UC Davis (Western Water Polo Association champion) in the NCAA tournament. The fourth team, which advances by virtue of an at-large berth, will be announced today. Pepperdine (23-3, 8-0) is likely to receive the invitation despite a fourth-place finish in the MPSF championships, losing to California 7-5 on Sunday.

``No doubt, Pepperdine is going to be selected,'' USC co-head coach John Williams said.

Sunday's victory at the Belmont Plaza Olympic Pool in Long Beach earned the fourth-seeded Trojans (20-6, 5-3) their second consecutive MPSF title. In 1996, USC defeated Stanford in the MPSF final as well.

For first-season starter McEvoy, however, this year's playoff appearance is more meaningful for the young USC team that, he said, was underestimated most of the season.

``We as a team knew we could (advance to the NCAA tourney), but other teams didn't expect it because we lost seven starters from last year,'' said McEvoy, who led the Trojans defense with nine saves against the Cardinal. ``But we returned two great seniors - Simun Cimerman and Mateo Juric - and younger players who were ready to play (after) waiting in the shadows last year.''

Williams agreed. The 1996 team, laden with seniors, also was laden with pressure. With only two losses in the regular season, the Trojans - who have not won a national title despite 16 playoff appearances since 1969 - were highly favored to win the NCAA crown. Then rival UCLA pulled off an 8-7 win in the final match.

This year, Williams said, players feel like ``there's nothing to lose.'' They collected two upsets over the weekend - a 10-9 win against top-seeded Pepperdine in Saturday's second-round match, and the victory over second-seeded Stanford. Just two weeks ago, the Trojans suffered a 9-5 road loss to the Cardinal. On Nov. 2, Stanford defeated them 6-8 in L.A.

As with its MPSF tourney first-round win over UCLA, USC capitalized on an early lead. A goal each from James Castle, Sean Hylton and Cimerman gave the Trojans a 3-0 advantage after the first period.

Stanford scored its first point in the second period with a penalty shot by Layne Beaubien. USC's Juric collected a point 30 seconds later to extend his scoring streak to 11 games.

Castle notched the game-winner early in the fourth, netting the goal from the two-meter position despite being pressed by two Cardinal defenders. Stanford recorded its fourth point with 1:24 left in the game but was unable to score in the last minute despite two USC ejections.