Entering the final month of the 2026 season, USC women’s water polo has very little to complain about. The Trojans became the No. 1 team in the country last week for the first time this year, thanks to a 10-game win streak featuring a victory over then-undefeated Stanford, and they sit at 5-0 in official MPSF play as the conference tournament approaches.

However, there’s one glaring exception to that success: crosstown rival UCLA.

The No. 3 Bruins (18-2, 4-1 MPSF) have represented USC’s (20-2, 5-0) Achilles heel all season, handing the Trojans two losses during a two-week span in February. Against all other competition, Head Coach Casey Moon and company are 20-0; against UCLA, they’re 0-2.

As the regular season comes to a close, USC will get one more chance to take down its rival Saturday, when the Trojans host the Bruins at Uytengsu Aquatics Center for both squads’ regular-season finale. A win would all but guarantee USC the No. 1 seed in the upcoming MPSF Tournament, while a loss would likely drop it to second or third.

Ausmus, McAninch lead Trojans during win streak

Ever since the Trojans fell to UCLA on Valentine’s Day, they have been nothing short of unstoppable, racking up 10 consecutive wins against some of the country’s top opponents. Over the past six weeks, USC has taken home five victories over top-five competition, including two wins over conference rival No. 4 UC Berkeley (13-4, 3-2).

The most significant of those wins came on March 22, when the Trojans traveled to Stanford to take on the then-No. 1 Cardinal (10-1, 4-1). USC trailed by three goals late in the third quarter but stormed back to tie up the match, and sophomore attacker Emily Ausmus broke a 10-10 tie with just 10 seconds left to put the Trojans on top.

The victory broke a 11-game road losing streak against Stanford — counting both road and neutral sites — that included losses in the 2022, 2023 and 2025 NCAA championship matches.

Ausmus’ game-winner represented yet another highlight-reel moment for the star sophomore, who continues to solidify her status as one of the best players in the country. A year after breaking USC’s single-season scoring record in her freshman campaign, Ausmus once again leads the Trojans with 60 goals on a stellar .638 shooting percentage, along with 23 assists and a team-high 34 steals.

However, Ausmus wasn’t the top scorer against the Cardinal, as her fourth-quarter goal was her only time finding the net all game. That title belonged to junior attacker Meghan McAninch, who notched one goal per quarter to lead USC with four — just one off her career high — and earn her first career MPSF Player of the Week award.

McAninch’s 50 goals on the season comfortably rank second on the roster, behind only Ausmus, with no other player reaching 40. She also has the second-most assists with 41 and leads the Trojans with 91 overall points.

UCLA represents major offensive threat

If Moon’s squad wants to secure its first win over UCLA since last year’s NCAA Tournament semifinal, it will need to avoid the same pitfalls from its previous two losses, in which the Trojans fell by an average of just two goals.

In both matchups, the Bruins separated themselves with a significant scoring run — a 6-1 advantage in the first half on Feb. 1, and a nine-goal second half on Feb. 14. USC can’t afford to let the UCLA offense get hot for an extended period of time, especially given the plethora of prolific Bruin scorers.

UCLA has three of the top scorers in the MPSF this season, led by senior attacker Taylor Smith, who ranks fourth in the conference with 57 goals. Smith erupted for five goals against the Trojans in their first matchup, including three in the second half to dash any faint hopes of a comeback.

Close behind is senior center Bia Mantellato, who single-handedly accounted for more than half of her team’s offensive output in the second matchup with six goals of her own. Mantellato’s 48 goals rank second on the Bruins’ roster and seventh overall in the MPSF.

On the goalkeeping end, UCLA junior Lauren Steele has outdueled USC redshirt sophomore Anna Reed in both games so far, combining for 18 goals allowed and 27 saves compared to Reed’s marks of 22 and16, respectively. However, the margin is thin enough that the Trojans may be able to close the gap simply by taking more shots.

Though beating the Bruins will be no easy task, USC has taken down plenty of top-ranked opponents since last facing its rivals — including a Stanford squad that bested UCLA twice this season. The Trojans’ experience from the past two months may be just what they need to finally come away with a rivalry win.

USC will host the Bruins on Saturday at 1 p.m. in the final match of the regular season for both teams.