After a weekend filled with mixed results, No. 4 USC men’s water polo is looking to bounce back big against No. 14 UC Santa Barbara in its second to last game of the regular season Sunday. 

The Trojans (17-4, 2-3 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) dropped a close game to No. 2 Stanford (16-3, 3-2 MPSF) in a key MPSF matchup last Saturday, losing 9-5. USC and Stanford battled back and forth in the first half in what turned out to be a low-scoring, defensive battle. Similar to many games this season, the Trojans lost the game in the third quarter after allowing a 5-meter penalty shot and two 6-on-5 goals. 

USC bounced back Sunday against No. 7 UC Berkeley (11-10, 1-4 MPSF) with a tight 17-15 overtime victory in another key MPSF matchup. Although the Golden Bears forced overtime, key goals from sophomore utility Stefan Brankovic and fifth-year 2-meter Max Miller helped close out the game for the Trojans. 

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Despite its loss to Stanford, sixth-year Head Coach Marko Pintaric was pleased with how his team responded against Cal the following day.

“You can’t labor on a loss when you have another important conference game the day after. We hate losing — emotionally, it kind of sucks, but you’re there to take care of the business and that’s exactly what the guys did,” Pintaric said in an interview with the Daily Trojan.

USC now shifts its focus away from the Bay Area and to Santa Barbara, where it will face the Gauchos (14-10, 1-3 Big West) in a non-divisional matchup. UC Santa Barbara will look to break its four-game losing streak this weekend after dropping its latest game to UC San Diego (14-10, 2-2 Big West) in an ugly 16-8 loss. 

After studying film from USC’s games against Stanford and Cal over the weekend, redshirt senior utility Reed Stemler discussed some ways they hope to improve in the pool this week. 

“Offensively we need to work on just finishing,” Stemler said. “We have all the weapons [and] we’re trying to work on the chemistry within the team — counterattack, finishing our chances and attacking every possession like it’s the last.”

On offense, the Trojans are led by sophomore driver Robert López Duart, who leads USC in scoring this season with a whopping 43 goals. Max Miller is second on the team in scoring with 38 goals. Both López Duart and Miller have scored at least one goal in 19 of 21 games for USC this season.

On defense, the Trojans are led by redshirt sophomore goalie Bernardo Herzer, who has racked up 143 saves in 17 games played this season. Herzer will look to stop the Gauchos’ leading scorer, redshirt junior attacker Brock Zamanian, who has scored 47 goals this season. 

The Trojans hope to end the regular season on a high note and use these final two games as preparation for the playoffs — first at UC Santa Barbara this weekend and then against No. 1 UCLA the following week. 

“The main statement we really want to make is showing that we’re up there with Stanford and UCLA and we’re contending for a national championship,” Stemler said. “These last few games are going to be a really big test for us.”

USC will hit the road again this weekend to face off against UC Santa Barbara at Dos Pueblos High School on Sunday at 1 p.m. in their second to last game of the regular season. The Gauchos will honor and celebrate their graduating seniors in a special ceremony for Senior Day.