After a weekend where No. 3 men’s water polo suffered its first loss of the season, USC will be on the road for its next two matches, both against top-10 teams. No. 10 University of the Pacific will host the Trojans on Friday for their first game on a two-stop weekend road trip to Northern California. The Trojans will then face No. 8 UC Davis on Sunday. 

USC (10-1) and Pacific (6-2) are no strangers to one another. The two programs have faced off 67 times, with USC holding an ample 55-12 lead in the series. The two teams last faced each other in 2023, when the Trojans decisively took the contest in a 16-6 performance. 

Pacific has shown itself to be a strong defensive and offensive team. In five of six wins of the year, the Tigers have allowed less than 10 goals. Offensively, Pacific has been a high scoring team with 20 or more goals in three games this season. Freshman attacker Apostolos Georgaras leads the way for the Tigers with 24 goals and an impressive 0.706 shooting percentage. 

“Our biggest challenge is going to be pushing all four quarters,” said freshman driver Gavin Conant of the matchup. “They played a good game against [UC Berkeley] in the first half, and then they kind of slowed down in the second half. So just staying consistent throughout the game is definitely going to be very important.”

Pacific’s ability to draw crowds and its unique pool setup where fans can stand right behind the goal, present other challenges that redshirt sophomore goalie Charles Mills is especially aware of. 

“Their student section and all their fans will go right behind the cage,” Mills said. “So to be able to manage them yelling while we’re in the middle of play will be interesting.”

On Sunday, the Trojans will look to preserve their perfect all-time record against the Aggies with their 26th matchup. Meanwhile, Davis (5-6) will be searching for its first home win of the season as a tough slate of ranked opponents have kept the Aggies in the losing column more often than not this year. 

The two teams are familiar with each other after playing three times in 2024, which USC won by a combined 22 goals. While history is on the Trojans’ side, Head Coach Marko Pintaric said he still wants his team to play with caution. 

“Davis is coached by a very experienced coach. It’s a very well disciplined team, well conditioned,” Pintaric said. “We know what to expect from them definitely, so it’s going to be a little easier to prepare. But, then again, it’s very [cautious], because we have to stay disciplined.”

Junior driver Robert López Duart found a lot of success against Davis last season, scoring 8 goals across their three matchups in 2024. Junior utility Stefan Brankovic earned 10 points in those matches. 

The Trojans will continue to rely on López Duart, who has continued his outstanding form this season. He has added to his stellar season with 11 goals across the team’s last four matches taking him to a team-leading 31 goals on the year.

“[López Duart] works hard, and he loves, lives and breathes water polo,” Pintaric said. “As a result, you have a player that is consistently producing for the team and being one of the best players on the team.”

The Aggies will also have returning players who excelled against the Trojans, including redshirt sophomore attacker Thomas Kiesling, who had 10 goals against USC in 2024. Kiesling has scored 20 goals this season,with sophomore attacker Oleg Shatskikh close behind with 18. 

Two new Trojans, senior driver Mihailo Vukazić and freshman 2-meter Strahinja Krstic, have made immediate impacts for the USC attack. Vukazić and Krstic are second and third on the team in goals with 25 and 21, respectively.

Meanwhile, veteran Trojans have continued to reinforce USC’s offense. Brankovic had eight assists during last weekend’s Overnght Invitational, making him the team leader with 19. He sits third on the team in scoring with 34 points so far. 

Behind Brankovic sits senior utility Andrej Grgurevic, who has been a consistent contributor to the Trojan offense in his time at USC. This season, Grgurevic has scored 11 goals, including a 5-goal performance to keep USC competitive in its loss to No. 2 UC Berkeley (10-1) on Sept. 20.

The Trojans will be back in action against Pacific on Friday at 7 p.m. at Chris Kjeldsen Pool in Stockton. They will then face the Aggies on Sunday at noon at Schaal Aquatics Center in Davis.