With about a month remaining in the men’s water polo regular season, No. 3 USC will face No. 1 UCLA in a Saturday afternoon showdown in Westwood. As they head into the final stretch of the season, the Trojans will face the undefeated Bruins for the first time since the 2024 NCAA championship, where USC lost 11-8. 

USC (14-2, 1-1 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) will look to overcome the challenge of defeating a higher-ranked team. Despite beating ranked opponents in 12 of its 14 wins this season, both of the Trojans’ losses have come against No. 2 UC Berkeley (12-2, 1-1). Meanwhile, the Bruins (18-0, 2-0) have also faced a murderers’ row of opponents this year and have dispatched conference rivals No. 4 Stanford (9-4, 0-2) and Cal in lopsided tilts. 

USC goes into the match off a narrow 15-13 win against No. 15 Princeton (14-7, 4-1 Northeast Water Polo Conference) on Tuesday. Meanwhile, UCLA heads into the match off a much cleaner 23-10 win against Princeton on Saturday. 

After an evenly matched first half that had the Trojans ahead 6-5, a six-goal third quarter allowed USC to pull ahead and not relinquish the lead for the rest of the game. The Trojans’ ability to capitalize with seven power play goals of their own helped give them an edge, despite collecting a season-high 19 exclusions that led to six Princeton power play goals.

On the other hand, UCLA overpowered Princeton with a nine-goal first quarter, quickly turning the match into a blowout. The Trojans have to contend with the Bruins’ high-powered offense, which has scored 20 or more goals in eight games and at least 10 in all 18.

The Trojans will need to remain disciplined as they head into Bruin territory. UCLA has maintained a positive exclusion differential throughout the season, with 154 exclusions to the 183 exclusions they have drawn. Meanwhile, USC has struggled with exclusions throughout the year, with 205 exclusions to the 172 earned exclusions. Though the Trojans have shown they are capable of protecting the net, they do not want to give the top-ranked team any advantage. 

USC must also continue to see the best from its key players, like its dynamic freshmen, who were essential to defeating the Tigers. Freshman 2-meter Strahinja Krstić scored four goals against Princeton, bringing his total up to 30, the third most on the team.

Freshman driver Efe Naipoglu had three goals, one assist and two steals against Princeton. Naipoglu, who earned MPSF Newcomer of the Week honors on Oct. 6 after his four-point and six-steal weekend against Stanford and Cal, leads the team with 20 steals. 

Team-leading goal scorer junior driver Robert López Duart added three goals of his own against Princeton, bringing his season total to 42. Junior utility Stefan Brankovićc has been a key offensive distributor this season, leading the team with 31 assists. 

On the other side, sophomore attacker Ryder Dodd leads the way for UCLA. Following up on a record-setting All-American season with another impressive season, Dodd has 60 goals, making him UCLA’s leading scorer as well as the MPSF’s leading scorer by a wide margin. Dodd has been successful in finding the back of the net against USC in the past, scoring 13 goals across four matches last year. 

The Bruins have also been aided by the impressive goaltending of redshirt sophomore Nate Tauscher, who comes second in the MPSF in saves and save percentage with 133 and 57.88%, respectively. 

In a clash of two impressive programs, USC will meet UCLA at Spieker Aquatics Center at 1 p.m. Saturday for the first of two remaining meetings against its rivals in the regular season.