Men’s water polo earned a third place finish at the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Invitational over the weekend after games against Pomona-Pitzer, UC Davis, UCLA and Stanford.

The Trojans entered the MPSF Invitational with a 6-1 record and opened the action Friday with a dominant 18-8 victory over Pomona-Pitzer.

USC started strong against the Sagehens as the Trojans jumped out to an early 3-0 lead after goals from senior 2-meter Max Miller, redshirt junior utility Joshua Waldoch and sophomore utility Andrej Grgurevic. From there, the Trojans went on a 7-0 scoring run in the second period and took an 11-3 lead into halftime.

Pomona-Pitzer was outscored 7-5 by the Trojans in the second half in a game USC’s defense shined. Redshirt freshman goalie Bernardo Herzer and redshirt sophomore goalie Eric Hubner combined for a season-high 18 saves. A variety of players were able to get in on the scoring action against Sagehens, as 15 different Trojans scored in the victory.

“Every single player on this team can play,” Head Coach Marko Pintaric said. “We’re just going to keep searching for ways to give opportunities to players that earn it in practice and games.”

In the first game of Saturday’s tournament action, the Trojans secured a 9-3 victory over the No. 8 UC Davis. The Trojans again dominated defensively as the Aggies were shut out through the first 11 minutes of the game. Herzer led the charge with 11 saves. Herzer’s saves gave him three double-digit save games in his first season with the Trojans.

In the second half, USC’s defense shut out the Aggies, and although the Trojans did not score in the third quarter, USC scored four goals in the fourth quarter to put the game away.

USC’s win over UC Davis earned them a spot in a semifinal matchup against the crosstown rival UCLA. The Trojans started fast and took a quick 2-0 lead thanks to scores from graduate driver Massimo Di Martire and Miller. The Bruins responded with three consecutive goals to take the lead before senior driver Tom McGuire would score a goal to tie it at three. The No. 2 ranked Bruins proved too much for the Trojans as UCLA rallied four straight goals to retake the lead and would not end up trailing for the rest of the game.

“You win and lose on defense,” Pintaric said. “We didn’t protect our goal to the best of our ability, and we thought we had open looks. We just have to see how and why we didn’t finish them.”

The Trojans were able to get within two scores on multiple occasions throughout the game, but the Bruins responded each time and ended up winning the game 14-10.

Di Martire and senior driver Carson Kranz led the way with three goals each for the Trojans. 

“I think we came out really strong and the energy was there,” Kranz said. “I think we’re right there in terms of getting over the hump and beating those guys.”

Kranz’s three goals against the Bruins matched his career high.

“I was proud of how I played overall,” Kranz said. “In the beginning I could have put in some more shots, but overall I was leading in the water and setting the right example.”

The Trojans’ tournament action was capped off with a thrilling double overtime victory over Stanford Sunday. The Trojans found themselves trailing 11-8 in the second half after five consecutive Stanford goals but scored three straight goals late in the fourth to force overtime.

Both teams scored a goal in the first overtime period with the game tied at 12 going into the second overtime. Freshman driver Zach Bettino scored a game-winning goal with one second left to give the Trojans the victory. Bettino finished the game with four goals, which set a new career high.

“I’m just proud of the boys, we all came out and showed we weren’t afraid,” Bettino said. “When we went down we really picked up the effort, came back and had a good win.”

The Trojans went 3-1 on the weekend overall, and the win over Stanford was critical after a close loss to UCLA in the team’s previous outing.

“We made it a strong point that we need to come back to prove to everyone that we’re not to be messed with,” Bettino said. “This is our home and we need to defend it.”

The Trojans’ season continues next Sunday when they host University of the Pacific at 1:00 p.m.