Following two ranked wins against No. 9 Pepperdine University and No. 7 Long Beach State University, No. 2 USC men’s water polo came into Saturday’s matchup looking to keep its momentum going against another tough opponent in No. 13 UC Irvine.

On paper, the Trojans (7-0) did their job:  USC defeated the Anteaters (7-3) 24-15, marking its 50th consecutive win against UC Irvine.

But while the Trojans’ offense was nothing short of dominant, Head Coach Marko Pintaric said their defense needs to be refined heading into conference play.

“That was the main focus for this week. We did work to fix our defense, and obviously we failed the test,” Pintaric said in a postgame interview with the Daily Trojan. “It was a great win … but we didn’t achieve our goal.” 

Offense wields lots of firing power

The Trojans set the pace strong, scoring five unanswered goals from five different players in the first seven minutes of the match. The game opened with goals from sophomore 2-meter Strahinja Krstic and freshman defender Marc Angelescu, both of whom ultimately posted hat tricks. Krstic also led the team with five earned exclusions and three steals. 

Freshman driver Ante Jerkovic and freshman 2-meter Tyler Anderson also found the back of the net in the first period, increasing both of their goal totals to nine this season. 

Senior utility Luke Nelson was the other scorer in the opening period; he would later add another goal and draw an exclusion. 

“The team is very offensively oriented [and] has a lot of firing power,” Pintaric said. 

Overall, USC scored 24 times on 43 attempts for a shooting percentage of 55.8%, besting UC Irvine’s 48.4%. 

With 10 steals, USC found itself with a plethora of offensive opportunities, allowing 12 different players to score. Among the pack was senior driver Robert López Duart, the team’s second-highest goal scorer of the season so far.

After previously earning MPSF Player of the Week honors on Aug. 31 for his 15 goals at the Triton Invitational, López Duart’s performance remained strong Saturday, leading the offense with four goals to bring his tally to 23 for the season.  

Little things leave more to be desired

Despite their offensive performance, the Trojans found themselves dissatisfied with how they played defensively, allowing a season-worst 15 goals to UC Irvine — a sum Pintaric said was “unacceptable.”

“We’ll go on these streaks where people are playing for each other, but what we need to keep up is consistency,” redshirt junior goalie Charlie Mills said in a postgame interview with the Daily Trojan. “When we let in three goals back to back, those little streaks add up towards the end of the game.”

Mills totaled six saves with a 37.5% save percentage, a lower mark than in the two top-10 wins the week prior. Up 19-11 going into the fourth period, Mills was substituted for redshirt freshman goalie Luke Harris, who added two saves but allowed another four goals.

After gaining momentum in the second period, the Anteaters were able to cut the Trojans’ lead down to two. The momentum came from USC’s mistakes, as throughout the second period, UC Irvine netted four of its goals on earned exclusions and one on a penalty. 

The Anteaters leveraged power-play opportunities, as the Trojans accumulated a season-high 16 exclusions throughout the game, allowing UC Irvine to score seven goals while man up. 

“We shouldn’t be giving them that many exclusions in the first place,” Mills said. “If we’re going to put ourselves in that position back to back to back times, it’s difficult for us.”

On the contrary, the Anteaters only gave up 11 exclusions, six of which the Trojans were able to capitalize on. 

In a postgame interview with the Daily Trojan, López Duart said the team needs to not “lose the focus” and hone in on their “consistency and defense” ahead of their upcoming tournament. 

Up next, the Trojans head on the road to the 2026 Overnght MPSF Invitational hosted by Stanford, where their first match will take place Friday at Avery Aquatic Center.