Every year, the collegiate men’s water polo season starts at the Triton Invitational: a three-day event hosted by UC San Diego that brings together some of the best teams from across the country.

Every year, USC crushes its competition — and this year’s tournament was no different.

Over the weekend, the No. 2 Trojans (4-0) cruised to victory in all four of their matches in La Jolla. Head Coach Marko Pintaric’s squad earned two ranked wins over No. 20 Saint Mary’s College (2-4) and No. 15 UC Santa Barbara (4-2), also handling business against Division II McKendree University (0-6) and Division III Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (0-2).

Though USC didn’t face any of its formidable MPSF rivals — including No. 1 UCLA (2-0) and No. 4 UC Berkeley (2-0), which both swept their own matchups at the invitational — the Trojans’ dominant weekend was still an excellent start for a squad looking to finally win its next NCAA title.

Goals galore for relentless USC offense

In Friday’s season opener, USC found itself in an early hole against Saint Mary’s, trailing 1-0 after just 34 seconds. However, the Trojans proceeded to fire off seven consecutive goals, quickly evaporating what would be their only deficit of the invitational.

That seven-goal burst was a taste of things to come for USC, which unleashed a weekend-long onslaught of offense against its four opponents. The Trojans ultimately won their four matches with a combined score of 107-33, recording at least 22 goals in each match and peaking at 30 against McKendree.

Spearheading the charge were USC’s two strongest returners: senior driver Robert López Duart, a three-time All-American, and sophomore 2-meter Strahinja Krstic, the 2025 MPSF Newcomer of the Year.

After back-to-back seasons leading the Trojans in goals scored, López Duart looks poised to repeat the feat for a third time in 2026. The former Cutino Award finalist totaled 14 goals across four matches — including six against Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, his most in a match at USC — while adding five assists and four steals in an all-around dominant performance.

If the weekend’s results are any indication, however, Krstic may end up challenging his veteran teammate for the scoring title. Krstic scored 15 goals over the weekend, racking up a career-high six against the Stags while adding four each against both the Gaels and Gauchos. He also proved he’s willing to put the team on his back, totaling 20 shots to just one assist.

Despite the pair’s impressive work on the other side of the pool, they were far from the only Trojans to make an impact on offense: Sophomore driver Apostolos Georgaras showed out in his first appearances for USC, putting up nine goals and 12 assists for a team-high 21 points on the weekend. After winning West Coast Conference Freshman of the Year honors with the University of the Pacific, Georgaras will likely be a fixture in the lineup for his new squad.

In total, all 18 field players on USC’s roster scored at least once during the invitational, with nine accumulating double-digit points. Though the Trojans boast some of the best players in the country, their remarkable depth from top to bottom may be what pushes them over the championship edge.

Goalkeeping trio keeps opponents at bay

While USC’s offense terrorized the opposition throughout the invitational, its defense was just as commanding. The Trojans allowed just over eight goals per game — less than a third of their goals scored — and let only UC Santa Barbara reach 10, holding the other three teams to single digits.

After splitting his playing time with now-graduated goalkeeper Bernardo Herzer last season, redshirt junior Charles Mills is set to take on the starting role for what could be his final season at USC. Mills started all four matches and proved to be effective in front of the net, tallying 19 goals and 19 saves — all while recording eight steals, nearly as many as he had in 23 matches last season.

Meanwhile, redshirt freshman goalkeeper Luke Harris got his first taste of collegiate action against Saint Mary’s, making three saves in the final quarter. Though he struggled to contain the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps offense, letting in six goals on just one save, Harris should still prove a viable backup option behind Mills.

But perhaps the strongest performance of the invitational belonged to junior goalkeeper Nemo Pavoggi, who put up a dominant showing against McKendree. Across three quarters, Pavoggi saved a career-high 11 shots and let only four get past him, posting a stellar .733 save percentage.

With multiple promising options at the goal — not to mention an abundance of scorers backing them up — the future looks bright for Pintaric and company.

However, with back-to-back top-10 matchups rapidly approaching, the path ahead won’t be nearly as forgiving as the Triton Invitational.

After traveling to face No. 7 Long Beach State University (6-0) on Friday at 7 p.m., the Trojans will return home Sunday to host No. 8 Pepperdine University (2-2) at 1 p.m. and Golden West College at 2:30 p.m.