After a crushing loss to crosstown rival No. 1 UCLA this past weekend, No. 2 USC men’s water polo is looking to bounce back in a big way in its final home game of the season against No. 10 UC Davis.

While USC (15-3, 1-2 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) has a much better record and ranking than UC Davis (10-10, 2-0 Big West), the squads share one thing in common: the Trojans and Aggies are both coming off a close 3-goal loss to UCLA (18-1, 2-1 MPSF) over the weekend. The Trojans lost 13-10 to the Bruins Saturday, and the Aggies lost 16-13 Sunday.

Ahead of the top-10 showdown, USC sixth-year Head Coach Marko Pintaric commented on his respect for UC Davis Head Coach Daniel Leyson and the Aggies water polo program. Leyson is a USC alum and was a four-year starter on the men’s water polo team.

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“[Leyson] is a seasoned, experienced coach [who] runs the program well, and it’s a disciplined team that you need to get ready [for] like we do for every opponent,” Pintaric said in an interview with the Daily Trojan. “We are getting ready for them like it’s an NCAA [Final] for us.”

The one bright spot from USC’s tough loss over the weekend was sophomore driver Robert López Duart, who scored four goals and led USC in scoring against the Bruins. Similar to USC, the one bright spot in UC Davis’ tight loss was redshirt freshman attacker Thomas Kiesling, who scored four goals and led UC Davis in scoring against the Bruins as well.

After struggling with UCLA over the weekend, USC and UC Davis now focus on their faceoff with each other.

“[We are] definitely focusing on improving our press defense and coming back into our zone a little faster,” said fifth-year driver Tom McGuire. “We were lacking in that part of our game on Saturday, so just looking to improve that going forward.”

The Aggies are led by Kiesling, who has racked up 35 goals on 61 shot attempts this season. For context, that is almost twice the amount of goals and shot attempts as their next most productive player, graduate utility Aleix Aznar Beltran, who has 17 goals on 34 shot attempts.

Despite a significant record difference, USC and UC Davis share similar offensive stats this season. The Trojans average 14.8 goals per game, while the Aggies average 13.6 goals per game. On the defensive end of the pool, the Trojans allow 9.2 goals per game and the Aggies allow a slightly higher 10.8 goals per game.

Although both Pintaric and his players are preparing for a tough battle against UC Davis, USC comes into this game with a significant advantage, having already beat the Aggies twice this season. The Trojans crushed the Aggies 18-12 the first time they met and beat them again 17-9 Sept. 20.

“It’s technically our last game that [the] seniors will actually play at USC,” Pintaric said. “I think [the] team wants to make a statement and really go with the W in both games, first against Davis, and then [against] alumni.”

This coming Saturday is also Alumni Day for the Trojans. After the game, Pintaric and his squad will welcome its water polo alumni to the pool for a special ceremony at Uytengsu Aquatics Center.

Before hitting the road to close out its season, USC will host UC Davis Saturday at noon for its final home game of the 2024 season.