The No. 4 USC Trojans will return home to host No. 3 Stanford this weekend. The match marks USC’s first home game since early October and the team’s third meeting with the Cardinal this season.

USC (11-5, 0-4 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) snapped a three-game losing streak last week, defeating No. 8 Long Beach State University (15-10, 2-2 Big West) 16-13. Stanford (14-5, 2-2 MPSF) is riding a four-game win streak, blowing out No. 16 University of the Pacific (11-11, 0-3 West Coast Conference) 17-8 last week.

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After stopping the team’s losing streak, fifth-year Head Coach Marko Pintaric said he doesn’t see last month as a late-season skid.

“I don’t take any streaks winning [or] losing; we always take one game at a time,” Pintaric said in an interview with the Daily Trojan. “You just feel better when you win. So for us, it was very important to go to Long Beach and play the way we play.”

USC and Stanford have split the series with one victory apiece this season. Both matches have gone to overtime, with the Trojans claiming a 13-12 win during the Overnght Invitational. In the rematch, the Cardinal avenged their loss with a 14-13 win over USC.

Since the last meeting, the Trojans have focused on areas that have plagued the team all season.

“We had a weekend off as really a good chance to reshape our physical shape, refocus and work on minor issues that were bugging us throughout the season,” Pintaric said. “To adjust, to fine-tune so it’s not a break. It was just fine adjustments.”

Even with these adjustments, redshirt junior utility Reed Stemler expects Saturday’s match to be an even tougher battle than the previous two.

“They’re a really tough team,” Stemler said. “They’re fast, well-conditioned and they play a really strong defense, so it’s definitely gonna be hard to break.”

Freshman driver Zach Bettino has continued his stellar freshman year campaign. Bettino posted four goals to lead the Trojans in their victory versus Long Beach and has tallied 19 total on the season. In the team’s first meeting with the Cardinal, he scored the game-winner with one second left in overtime and has five goals total in the two games against them.

The Trojans are averaging almost 13 goals per game with just nine goals allowed, with 6v5 offense and defense critical to their success.

Redshirt freshman goalkeeper Bernardo Herzer has led USC’s defense with 105 saves, averaging 8.8 goals allowed per game. In the loss to the Cardinal, Herzer had 10 saves.

“[We’ve] definitely [been] playing for each other,” Stemler said. “Stressing the importance of teamwork and playing as a unit and as a whole, and that’ll definitely translate to our six on five, which we’ve really been working on [these] past few weeks.”

For Stanford, senior driver Jackson Painter has been their offense’s catalyst, scoring 48 goals on the season. Behind him, senior driver Riley Pittman has scored 46 goals and leads the teams in assists with 31.

Stanford’s redshirt freshman goalkeeper Griffen Price has also had a strong season, tallying 143 saves in 18 games, averaging 7.8 goals allowed per game. In the victory over USC, Price had 11 saves.

“The past two times we’ve played them, they’ve really come out strong,” senior driver Tom McGuire said. “It’s hard to move the ball around. So we just got to stay active, to get ourselves open.”

Saturday’s match holds significant NCAA implications for both teams, as a victory for either will strengthen a late-season playoff push. With USC hosting the NCAA Tournament this year, the stakes are even higher.

“In terms of making the NCAA Tournament at the end of the year, we need all the wins we can get,” McGuire said.

USC will host Stanford at noon Saturday at Uytengsu Aquatics Center.