No. 1 USC Men's Water Polo Takes on No. 10 Gauchos

Saturday, November 8

Los Angeles, Calif.

1:00 p.m.

USC

UC Santa Barbara

USC men's water polo player takes a shot during a game against California at the Uytengsu Aquatics Center

Photo by: Bryce Dechert

No. 1 USC Men's Water Polo Takes on No. 10 Gauchos

November 05, 2025 | Men's Water Polo

#USCMWP Notebook (Nov. 5)2025 USC Schedule

The Trojans are on a four-game win streak

LOS ANGELES – No. 1 USC (17-2, 4-1 MPSF) rides a four-game win streak into a nonconference meeting with the Big West's No. 10-ranked UC Santa Barbara (16-12). The Trojans and Gauchos will take the water for a 1 p.m. PT contest on Saturday (Nov. 8) at Uytengsu Aquatics Center and be shown live on an overnght.com stream. USC holds the No. 1 ranking in the latest CWPA poll and is coming off a pair of home wins over No. 4 California (12-9) and No. 3 Stanford (14-9). The win over the Golden Bears avenged the Trojans' only two regular-season losses; both by 13-11 counts away from home. USC's game against the Gauchos is the team's last before a regular-season finale against crosstown rival UCLA set for Nov. 15.

THIS WEEK
GAME #20 • Saturday, Nov. 8 • 1 p.m. PT
No. 1 USC (17-2) vs. No. 10 UC Santa Barbara (16-12)
Uytengsu Aquatics Center • Los Angeles, Calif.
SERIES RECORD: USC leads, 80-13-2 (.842)
LAST MEETING: W 16-10 (Aug. 30, 2025 • La Jolla, Calif.)
STREAM: overnght.com (Avi Singh & Julia Apodeca)
OPPONENT WEBSITE: http://www.UCSBGauchos.com

OPENING SPRINT (TL;DR)

USC is led by seventh-year head coach Marko Pintaric. Overall, Pintaric is 117-40 (.745) 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. 1 in the Nov. 5 CWPA Coaches Poll.
USC is 5-0 in home water at Uytengsu Aquatics Center and plays its two remaining regular-season games at UAC.
The Trojans' four-game win streak equals the second longest run of victories this season (Sept. 21-Oct. 4). USC won nine games in a row to open the season (Aug. 29-Sept. 20).
USC has outscored opponents 285-186 in 19 games.
Six Trojans have scored 20-plus goals this season led by 49 from Robert López Duart. Mihailo Vukazic (44), Strahinja Krstic (33), Jack Martin (27), Efe Naipoglu (22), and Andrej Grgurevic (21) follow. López Duart has scored at least one goal in all 19 of USC's contests.
USC goalies have combined to allow just 186 goals (9.8 gaa) and have produced 10.1 saves per game.
Freshman Strahinja Krstic was named the MPSF Newcomer of the Week for the fourth time on Nov. 3 (Sept. 1, 8, 29). Fellow first-year Trojan Efe Naipoglu has also received the same honor twice (Oct. 6, 20).

POLL POSITION | USC started 2025 ranked No. 2 in the national preseason poll and was picked second in the MPSF Coaches Poll. The Trojans are No. 1 in the Nov. 5 CWPA poll; the second straight week USC has held the top ranking.

LAST TIME OUT | The Trojans opened November with two resounding conference victories in home water. USC used a 4-0 fourth-quarter outburst to overcome No. 4 California, 12-9. Robert López Duart and Mihailo Vukazic each scored four goals against the Golden Bears and had the first and last goals, respectively, of the fourth quarter to lead the Trojan charge. Charles Mills went wire-to-wire in the cage and had seven saves in the win. After going into the half down, 6-3, against No. 3 Stanford, the Trojans mounted an incredible 11-3 effort in the second half to complete a 14-9 win over the Cardinal. USC outscored Stanford, 6-1, in the third quarter to wrestle the lead away and got a pair of assists from Mills on long outlet passes. This time, Luke Nelson had the hat trick in the win while Stefan Brankovic, Jack Martin, and Jack Vort each scored two goals apiece.

BY THE NUMBERS | Through 19 games, Robert López Duart leads USC's scoring with 49 goals and is on pace to breach the 50-goal mark for the second time in his career. He has struck at least once in every game with multiple goals in a team-best 13 games. Newcomer Mihailo Vukazic has scored at least one goal in 18games in his first season as a Trojan with 11 multi-goal games and 44 goals to date. On the setup side, Stefan Brankovic leads the team with 37 assists and is third on the team with 56 points. On defense, three goalies have seen time in the cage. Redshirt sophomore Charlie Mills has capped up in 15 games, redshirt junior Bernardo Herzer in 10 and redshirt freshman Nemo Pavoggi with one appearance. The goalkeeping corps has combined for an average of 10.05 saves per game. As a team, USC has outscored its opponents 285-186 for an average of 15.05 goals per game offensively and a 9.79 goals-against average.