Nov. 6, 2013
By Greg Mescall
With 1:38 to play in the second overtime of the 1998 NCAA Men's Water Polo Championship final, the Stanford University Cardinal led USC 8-7 and appeared in prime position to claim its first title in four years.
With a Trojan power play set to expire, George Csaszar recovered a loose ball and passed to high-scoring Marko Pintaric, who'd been under wraps by Stanford for most of the match.
From a little beyond eight meters, Pintaric finally had an open look.
"We've all made a lot of shots," remembers Pintaric, "however there are only a few that stay with you forever."
Pintaric's shot found the back of the net, and the USC bench erupted.
It was a two-point goal, which meant a 9-8 lead…and moments later the first NCAA Water Polo Championship in USC history.
Pintaric made 12 such shots during that 1998 season, a time warp for men's college water polo that won't soon be repeated.
The 2013 NCAA Men's college season marks 20 years since the advent of a water polo rule that has since gone the way of referee flags and the four-meter penalty. From 1993 through the 1999 season, shots taken from beyond seven meters would count for two points, and in that time frame no lead was safe and no point spread was too high.
Most every sport has taken great pains to increase scoring, and water polo was no different. With a belief that the two-point shot would soon become a rule for international water polo moving toward the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, the NCAA became an early adopter. But after the two-point shot failed to catch on internationally, it was phased out of the college game toward the end of the 90s.
But while it was in play—talk about a game-changer.
Todd Hosmer holds an NCAA record that will likely never be broken. You might recognize his name each year at the NCAA Championships where it's pinned along with all-time most two-point goals in an NCAA Championship game, tournament, and career. The former University of the Pacific great was unaware of his place in history but has fond memories of life beyond seven meters.
"From an offensive perspective, I loved the rule. It was a double-edged sword obviously because you were never out of a game, but you were also on the other end. If you were ahead, it was never secure," said Hosmer. "I had the luxury of being able to shoot [the two-point shot] basically whenever I felt like I could score it. If I was open I had the green light to try and catch goalies and defenses sleeping."
Olympian Jeremy Laster is tied with Hosmer for most two-point goals at the NCAA Championships and enjoys his legacy. "I always tell my kids I'll be in the record books forever," Laster jokes. "It was great, I loved it. It was my game as I was sort of an outside shooter. I'd just hang out there and just make sure I was behind the mark and shoot it."
He also remembers his Stanford team taking full advantage of the shot, a play that wasn't in every team's arsenal. "It was a devastating rule for our opponents; we capitalized on it a lot more than anyone else," said Laster. "The rich got richer, and the poor got poorer; it was kind of unfair."
Hosmer and Laster weren't alone. If you remember someone as a pretty good shooter during the mid to late 90s, chances are the player was pretty good from the two-point distance as well. An unofficial list includes the likes of Uzi Hadar and Mateo Juric from USC, Matt Armato and the late Jim Toring from UCLA, Ross Meachem from UC-San Diego, Ray Rivera and Layne Beaubien from Stanford, Ryan Weir from Cal, and many others.
Merrill Moses played goalkeeper for Pepperdine in the late '90s helping the Waves to a title in 1997 and is now an assistant coach in Malibu. "I had mixed feelings as a goalie on the two-point shot. They score a two-point goal on you, and it puts a lot of pressure on you," Moses said. "I thought it was great when my team scored it, however. It changed the game for years, you had to change your defense around it."
While the three-point shot in basketball did a lot to increase scoring and has been a staple of the game since its introduction, the two-point shot in water polo was too drastic. Having the ability to score double the normal amount too heavily swayed outcomes. While every now and again an underdog could take down a higher-powered team, too often the powerful teams simply piled up the points against lesser opponents.
In addition, some remember it as a rule that referees never totally got comfortable with.
"They were always out of position," said Laster.
A two-point shot that was ruled inside seven meters cost Stanford an undefeated season in 1994, a memory that still sticks with the 1996 Olympian.
In addition, the water polo two-point shot wasn't attempted as often as the NBA three-pointer. Laster remembers shooters pulling up on the counter-attack to catch goalies off guard; Hosmer recalls it not being a very high-percentage shot. In addition defenses were free to foul and drop on anyone they deemed a threat from outside, leaving clean opportunities from deep few and far between.
But Andy Takata refereed water polo internationally and at the collegiate level for 28 years and has fond memories of the rule. "I thought the two-point shot made the game more exciting," he said. "I remember a game where a team was down six and came back to tie it in the fourth period with three two-point shots. It was a more exciting game to watch and referee."
Takata is likely referring to an epic comeback by Villanova over Loyola Marymount using a host of two-point shots. Yet for every Cinderella outcome like that or the game winner from Pintaric, there were a ton of lopsided scores that college coaches deemed unfair.
With the rule gone now for nearly 15 years—and with no signs it will reemerge domestically or internationally—don't expect a comeback. But next time you see someone put one away from deep…remember, it used to count for two.
This article appeared in the Fall 2013 issue of SkipShot magazine
