The 6-1 No. 3 USC Trojans are ready to host California’s top talent for this year’s Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Invitational this weekend at Uytengsu Aquatics Center.

In the week two polls, USC and crosstown rival UCLA switched seeding, with the Trojans falling to No. 3 and the Bruins rising to No. 2. Despite sliding a spot down in the NCAA rankings, last week’s 16-8 dominant win over No. 11 UCSB has the Trojans ready to play in the tournament at home.

“Despite the loss to Cal, we’ve really played well at home,” fifth-year Head Coach Marko Pintaric said in an interview with the Daily Trojan Tuesday. “We’re always excited to play in front of our home crowd, in front of the whole staff, and in our school.”

Taking what they learned from matches so far, the Trojans seek to measure and continue their growth heading into the weekend. With the season still in its early weeks, the opportunity to play in its first tournament, instead of single matches, will test USC’s progress. 

“We’re still working on every part of our game, and what I’ve taken is that the season is still young,” Pintaric said. “We’re 6-1 because we’re consistently working on our defense to protect our young goalies. We are really looking to see how we improve in a tournament format.”

Seeded on the same side of the bracket as UCLA and No. 8 UC Davis, the Trojans will have two top teams to go through if they hope to reach the championship final. 

Last year, the Trojans lost to UCLA in the semifinals, then again to Cal in the 4th place match. Regardless, the Trojans remain confident in their abilities, and don’t plan to overlook or prepare for any one opponent despite the shared history between coaches.

“Danny [Leyson] and myself coached here at USC a long time ago, and then Adam [Wright and Leyson] coached together and collaborated for many years. There’s a lot of similarities that these three teams play,” Pintaric said. “Preparing for one can definitely [be] used for another, but again, it’s a tournament — you never know who you’re going to play.”

Even with top competition like Cal, Stanford, UCLA and Pepperdine University participating in this tournament, USC’s focus is solely on its development through the still-young season. For Pintaric and his group, the invitational allows them to see where they stand in the competition.

“We’re focusing on our team. We’re adjusting to different teams in terms of strategy, in terms of matchups, in terms of the way water polo is played,” Pintaric said. “But we’re mainly addressing our own current status on a team filling up different roles.”

Looking ahead to its potential matchups in UCLA and Davis, the Trojans can see how they fare against the two before they meet as scheduled individual matches later this season. Coming off two strong performances against UCI and UCSB, senior 2-meter captain Max Miller noted the excitement that comes with the likelihood of facing their rival.

“Davis had a pretty close game with Cal this weekend. So obviously, we’re not going to take any of the games lightly,” Miller said. “And UCLA. We’re always excited to play them. It’s fun to beat them.”

This tournament will allow the Trojans to roll over momentum sparked from recent success — momentum not just for the Invitational but for the remaining season.

“We’re feeling pretty good. This weekend was a really good one that we had,” Miller said. “I think everyone’s feeling excited for the next part of the season.”

USC will open the tournament with a match against Pomona-Pitzer Friday at 1:30 p.m.