No. 3 USC Men's Water Polo Prepares for No. 13 Tigers and No. 1 Bruins

Tuesday, October 14

Los Angeles, Calif.

5:00 p.m.

USC

Princeton

USC men's water polo player takes aim at the goal in a game at Uytengsu Aquatics Center

No. 3 USC Men's Water Polo Prepares for No. 13 Tigers and No. 1 Bruins

October 13, 2025 | Men's Water Polo

#USCMWP Notebook (Oct. 13)2025 USC Schedule

The Trojans will meet Princeton at home and then take on UCLA on the road

LOS ANGELES – No. 3 USC (13-2, 1-1 MPSF) hosts 13th-ranked Princeton (14-6, 4-1 NWPC) for a midweek home contest at Uytengsu Aquatics Center on Tuesday (Oct. 14, 5 p.m. PT) and then faces crosstown rival No. 1-ranked UCLA (18-0, 2-0 MPSF) in the first of two regular-season meetings at the Bruins' Spieker Aquatics Center on Saturday (Oct. 18, 1 p.m.). Both games will be shown live on overnght.com streams. The Trojans' only two losses have come in 13-11 results to California—once at the MPSF Invitational and another in a road game in Berkeley for conference play. It will be nine days between games when the Trojans get in the pool with the Tigers on Tuesday evening.

THIS WEEK
GAME #16 • Tuesday, Oct. 14 • 5 p.m. PT
No. 3 USC (13-2) vs. No. 13 Princeton (14-6)
Uytengsu Aquatics Center • Los Angeles, Calif.
SERIES RECORD: USC leads, 9-0 (1.000)
LAST MEETING: W 11-8 (Dec. 1, 2022 • Westwood, Calif.)
TV/STREAM: overnght.com
OPPONENT WEBSITE: GoPrincetonTigers.com

GAME #17 • Saturday, Oct. 18 • 1 p.m. PT
No. 3 USC (13-2, 1-1) at No. 1 UCLA (18-0, 2-0)
Spieker Aquatics Center • Los Angeles, Calif.
SERIES RECORD: USC leads, 80-74-1 (.519)
LAST MEETING: L 11-8 (Dec. 8, 2024 • Stanford, Calif.)
TV/STREAM: overnght.com
OPPONENT WEBSITE: UCLABruins.com

OPENING SPRING (TL;DR)

USC is led by seventh-year head coach Marko Pintaric. Overall, Pintaric is 113-40 (.739) as the Trojans' head coach. He is also 82-9 as head coach of USC's women's team and led the Women of Troy to the 2021 NCAA title.
The Trojans are ranked No. 3 in the Oct. 8 CWPA Coaches Poll.
USC is 2-0 at home and 6-1 on the road this season.
The Men of Troy will face crosstown rival UCLA in the first of two regular-season meetings. USC was 1-4 in five games against the Bruins in 2024. The win (Nov. 24) came in the MPSF championship game.
USC has outscored opponents 231-143 in 15 games and averages 15.4 goals per game. The Trojans also average 10.8 saves per game.
Four Trojans have scored 20-plus goals this season led by 39 from Robert López Duart. Mihailo Vukazic (36), Strahinja Krstic (26), and Jack Martin (22) follow closely. All four have scored in at least 10 games while López Duart and Vukazic have each scored in all 15 of USC's contests.
USC goalies have combined to allow just 143 goals (9.53 gaa) and have produce 10.80 saves per game.

POLL POSITION | USC started 2025 ranked No. 2 in the national preseason poll and was second in the MPSF Coaches Poll. The Trojans are No. 3 in the Oct. 8 poll.

LAST TIME OUT | The Trojans went to Northern California and split a pair of road games to open MPSF play. The Trojans collected a 14-10 win over No. 4 Stanford on The Farm behind a 13-save performance from Bernardo Herzer. Jack Vort, Andrej Grgurevic, and Mihailo Vukazic each scored three goals apiece in the win. In their second Bay Area game, the Trojans went into halftime tied with the No. 2-ranked Golden Bears, five-all, but Cal built a 13-10 lead with just 11 seconds left before USC scored one more with six seconds to play. Charlie Mills went wire-to-wire in the cage and produced 11 saves in the loss. Vukazic picked up a second hat trick on the weekend with three goals against the Bears.

BY THE NUMBERS | Through 15 games, Robert López Duart leads USC's scoring charge with 39 goals, having struck at least once in every game with multiple goals tallied in a team-best 10 games. Newcomer Mihailo Vukazic has also scored at least one goal in all 15 games in his first season as a Trojan and has 36 goalsto date. On the setup side, Stefan Brankovic leads the team with 30 assists and is third on the team with 45 points. On defense, three goalies have seen time in the cage. Redshirt sophomore Charlie Mills has capped up in 11 games, redshirt junior Bernardo Herzer in eight and redshirt freshman Nemo Pavoggi with one appearance. The goalkeeping corps has combined for an average of 10.80 saves per game. As a team, USC has outscored its opponents 231-143 for an average of 15.4 goals per game offensively and a 9.5 goals-against average.

SWEEPS WEEK | USC swept MPSF weekly awards the first week the season, with Robert López Duart (Player of the Week) and Strahinja Krstic (Newcomer of the Week) selected on Sept. 1. It was a first for both Trojans. López Duart was a four-time MPSF Newcomer of the Week in 2024. A two-meter man from Belgrade, Serbia, Krstic scored seven goals for USC at the Triton Invitational and had one assist in his debut outing, a 10-7 win at No. 12 UC San Diego. He followed that with back-to-back multi-goal games and then had a hat trick in a 23-9 win over George Washington. An All-American, López Duart was USC's top scorer at the Triton Invitational with 12 goals and scored multiple goals in all four USC wins.

MIHAILO MAKES HIS MARK | Sr. Mihailo Vukazic exploded for a career-high eight goals—second most by a Trojan in a game—during USC's 13-8 win at No. 8 UC Irvine (Sept. 13) and earned MPSF Player of the Week honors on Sept. 15. It was his first MPSF award with USC. He scored USC's first four goals of the game and had six of seven by halftime. His seventh goal was the game-winner as he put the Trojans on top 9-6. Vukazic's eight goals matched UCI's total as a team. He also added two steals, an assist and had three drawn exclusions.

FRESH WATER | Fr. Strahinja Krstic earned has earned the MPSF Newcomer of the Week award three times this fall (Sept. 1, Sept. 8, Sept. 29). His third came following a 2-0 week for the Trojans on wins over Pacific and UC Davis. Against the Tigers, Krstic scored one goal. In the second game, he had two goals and an assist, picked up two steals and drew a pair of exclusions. To date, the first-year Trojan has scored in 13 games for a total of 26 goals and has produced eight games with multiple goals. Fr. Efe Naipoglu picked up his first-career Newcomer of the Week award on Oct. 6 to give Trojans a total of four on the season. He had three goals and an assist in USC's MPSF opening weekend on the road.

LOCKED AND LOADED | Seven players return to the water for USC in 2025 who scored 20 or more goals in 2024, including top scorer Robert López Duart, who was an NCAA all-tournament team honoree alongside goalie Bernardo Herzer and Andrej Grgurevic. López Duart's team-leading 64 goals last season was just one more than USC's incoming powerhouse first-team All-American and 2024 Cutino Award finalist Mihailo Vukazic who joined the Trojans as a grad transfer from Pacific. Vukazic is one of three talented Serbian products to cap up in Cardinal and Gold this season. An All-America honorable mention recipient in his first season at USC, Stefan Brankovic is joined by fellow countrymen Vukazic and freshman Strahinja Krstic.

SET STRENGTH | Fr. Strahinja Krstic is tabbed for duty as a member of USC's daunting two-meter crew. His talents were on display the past two summers while competing for Serbia at the 2025 U20 and 2024 U18 World Championships. Despite the graduation of longtime hole man Max Miller, USC's two-meter depth will be bolstered by Krstic's arrival and the return of veterans Jack Martin, Zac Crenshaw, Connor Cohen, and Spencer Averitt.

PERIMETER ATTACK | When it comes to outside firepower, proven Trojan talents Robert López Duart and captain Andrej Grgurevic have reinforcements from several key returners. Lefties Jack Vort and Zach Bettino are back for more while Luke Nelson and Evan Ausmus are primed to power the Trojan offense after another year in the pool. Sophomores Chase Landa, Taj Whitehead and Ben Mirisch are also set to factor into USC's offensive onslaught.

CAGE FIGHTERS | Not one but two of USC's captains will be capped up in red—goalies Bernardo Herzer and Charles Mills. Both spent time with Team USA in the summer and competed with the U.S. Senior and Junior national teams, respectively. The duo will be a tough tandem to crack and their leadership in and out of the cage will help develop USC's two younger goalies, Nemo Pavoggi and Luke Harris. Pavoggi is in line to see time in the cage following his redshirt freshman season, while Harris will redshirt in 2025.

NEW CREW | There are seven true freshmen on the USC roster, including a set of U.S. Youth National teamers Colt Bradley, Gavin Conant, Reed Hanna, and Luke Harris, who competed for Team USA together at the 2024 U18 World Championships. The international experience in this freshman class expands further with the addition of Breydon Congo, who competed for Canada's Junior National Team, and Turkish talent Efe Naipoglu, who is a member of the Türkiye National Team.

PINTA'S PROGRAM | Head coach Marko Pintaric—who has been part of 14 NCAA championships during his 25 years on the USC coaching staff—is in his seventh year at the helm of the Trojan men's program. Last season, he guided the Trojans to a 20th consecutive NCAA appearance and helped USC reach the NCAA final for the 19th time. He also led the Trojans to their third straight MPSF tournament championship. An All-American and a member of USC's 1998 NCAA championship team, Pintaric served as co-head coach for the USC men for three seasons (2016-18) and most recently helped the Trojans win the 2018 NCAA championship. His USC coaching career began as an assistant coach to both the USC men and women's programs in 2001.