Nick Britt - Men's Water Polo

CLAREMONT, Calif. - Junior Nick Britt had a big offensive weekend to help CMS to a 2-2 record at the Inland Empire Classic, including scoring twice against No. 1 USC to help the Stags to nine goals against the top team in the nation.

Britt, who had 17 goals as a sophomore last year, had a breakout weekend with nine goals in four matches at the Inland Empire, and was the only Stag to score at least one in every match. In addition to his two goals against the No. 1 Trojans, he also had a career-high four goals and an assist to account for half the CMS goals in a 10-7 win over Fresno Pacific, as the Stags came back from a halftime deficit for their second win of the weekend.

The Stags had faced USC in each of the last two seasons during Britt's career and had been outscored by a combined 44-5 in those two meetings, but this time, they were able to find some success on the offensive end of the pool and scored nine goals in a 21-9 defeat. In fact, in seven prior meetings with the Trojans over the last 15 years, CMS had never scored more than five goals (20-5 in 2015 NCAA Tournament) and very nearly reached double figures before being denied by the post twice in the last minute of play.

CMS now stands at 3-5 on the season (with all five losses coming to teams ranked in the national top 20, including three in the top 10) and will open up SCIAC play at home this saturday when it faces Caltech for an 11 a.m. contest.