No. 2 USC men’s water polo finds itself in familiar waters after another third-place finish at the Overnght MPSF Invitational. Similarly to last year, the Trojans entered the tournament riding a 7-0 start before falling just short of the tournament championship match. 

USC (10-1) started the weekend strong, picking up wins over No. 16 California Baptist University (11-3) and No. 11 San Jose State University (5-6) before falling to No. 3 Stanford (8-1) in a late-night thriller. However, the Trojans bounced back and finished the weekend strong, coming back in the final quarter to beat No. 4 UC Berkeley (8-2). 

“We were going into a tournament to win it all … understanding this is a completely new team,”  Head Coach Marko Pintaric said in an interview with the Daily Trojan. “This is the first tournament that really tested [our] new team against the top opponents. … Overall, not pleased with the end result, but [we’re] happy with a lot of little things that are looking very promising for the future.”

Trojans dominate early matchups

USC came out of the gate fast against the Lancers, jumping out to a 4-0 lead spearheaded by two goals from sophomore 2-meter Strahinja Krstić. The Trojans carried that momentum into the second quarter, adding six more goals to extend their lead to 11-4. 

Picking up from his impressive campaign last season, senior driver Robert López Duart notched a hat trick and a steal in the second quarter alone. López Duart has once again established himself as an offensive threat this season, scoring 30 goals and adding 13 assists.

While CBU cut the deficit to four with 2:24 left in the fourth quarter, the Trojans’ lead gave them the leeway to trade goals and ultimately keep the game out of reach for the Lancers. USC finished the tournament’s opening round with a 17-13 win, setting up a date against San Jose State. 

“This is exactly the thing that we tried to polish before the tournament. We were … giving up over 10 goals [on] average, prior to the tournament, to lower-ranked opponents — so defense was my concern,” Pintaric said. “As the tournament progressed, that’s actually the part that we improved the most.”

Learning from their opening match, the Trojans would play a much more consistent game against the Spartans, putting up a clean four goals in each quarter while keeping San Jose State under double digits in a 16-7 win. 

USC dominated time of possession, putting up 35 shots on goal to the Spartans’ 24. The team shared the wealth in the process, with 11 different Trojans finding the back of the net.  

On the defensive end, while redshirt junior goalie Charles Mills spent most of the match in the cage, redshirt freshman goalie Luke Harris and junior goalie Nemo Pavoggi both got minutes in the fourth quarter. The three keepers combined for nine total saves, ensuring the Spartans never scored more than three goals in a quarter. 

Cardinal chop down Trojans

With just a little over a six-hour turnaround, USC met MPSF opponent Stanford on its own turf to decide who’d advance to the championship round. 

Opening the first quarter, Krstić established his presence down in 2-meter, scoring the first goal of the game and drawing an early exclusion to kick off a volley of goals bookended by a Cardinal penalty conversion. Unfortunately for USC, whose identity revolves heavily around its potent offense, Stanford’s two field blocks and five keeper saves kept them out of the net. Taking advantage, the Cardinal rattled off three straight goals to lead 6-2 at the half.

Opening up the second half, López Duart scored his first and only goal of the game to cut the deficit to three. However, the Cardinal offense showed no signs of stopping, tallying two more goals to extend their lead to 8-3. 

With a chance to bring it within four, López Duart stepped up for a penalty but was blocked by his former teammate, redshirt senior goalie Bernardo Herzer. Herzer spent four seasons with the Trojans from 2022 to 2025 before joining Stanford for his last year of NCAA eligibility. 

“It’s obviously a very difficult task because [Herzer] does know our shooters [and] our offensive schemes in and out. He’s been developing those for four years, so he’s a great asset for Stanford right now, being a backbone of their defense,” Pintaric said. “We will adapt and reevaluate because we do know his tendencies as well.”

In the final quarter, USC scored three straight goals and held the Cardinal scoreless, but it wasn’t enough as the Trojans suffered their first loss of the season, 10-8.  

Trojans finish strong versus Cal

Rounding out the weekend against another MPSF opponent, USC faced Cal and came out on top, 13-12, to end the weekend with a top-four win. 

After a back-and-forth from start to finish, freshman driver Ante Jerković drew a crucial exclusion, giving USC one last chance to take the lead with just 1:30 left. Out of a timeout, the Trojans found Krstić, who delivered the winning goal with just 51 seconds left, putting USC ahead for the first time since the game’s opening goal. 

In just 11 games, Jerković has tallied 16 goals and 13 assists, and is quickly shaping up to be one of the Trojans’ most impactful players.

Needing just one defensive stand, Mills and company held off Cal’s offense, allowing USC to run the clock out and secure the comeback win. 

“They stayed with Cal’s tough defense, they didn’t back away and they waited for this window that was given in the fourth quarter for them to take the lead,” Pintaric said. “I was impressed in that game under that pressure with a high pulse, the way the team executed defense, because Cal is loaded with talent offensively. It was a very tough, physical game. I’m very proud of the guys.”

Despite the win, the Trojans will likely drop to No. 3 in the national rankings, in line with their tournament finish behind Stanford and No. 1 UCLA (12-0). USC will return home to host the No. 10 University of the Pacific (3-4) Sunday at 1 p.m. at Uytengsu Aquatics Center.