No. 2 USC Men’s Water Polo Visits No. 8 UC Irvine Saturday

Saturday, September 13

Irvine, Calif.

1:00 p.m.

USC

UC Irvine

Head coach Marko Pintaric and the USC team huddle up before their 2025 home opener.

Photo by: John McGillen

No. 2 USC Men’s Water Polo Visits No. 8 UC Irvine Saturday

September 10, 2025 | Men's Water Polo

WEEKLY RELEASE (PDF)USC-UCI LIVE STATS

Trojans look to expand winning start with a trip to Irvine to take on the Anteaters this weekend.

#2 USC (6-0) at #8 UC Irvine (6-0)
Saturday, Sept. 3 | 1 p.m. | Anteater Aquatics Complex (Irvine, Calif.)
Series Record: USC leads 86-23 (W38)
Last Meeting: USC 15, UCI 11 (Sept. 14, 2024)
LIVE STATS

THIS WEEK
With a 6-0 record in tow, No. 2 USC is set up to pay a visit to UC Irvine this weekend for a 1 p.m. meeting with the Anteaters on Saturday (Sept. 13) in Irvine, Calif.

RANKINGS
USC started the 2025 season ranked No. 2 in the national preseason poll and also second in the preseason MPSF Coaches Poll. Currently 6-0 overall, USC remains at No. 2 in the nation as of the latest set of national rankings (released Sept. 10).

LAST ACTION
USC pushed its winning start to 2025 out to six straight wins in collecting a win over Long Beach State in the Trojans' home opener and then grabbing a road victory at Pepperdine last week. Both USC's goalies went big in their time in the cage, with Charlie Mills hauling in a career-high 14 saves in the win over the Beach and Bernardo Herzer tallying a season-high 15 stops vs. the Waves. Also in Malibu, Robert López Duart scored his 100th career goal as a Trojan during his four-goal outburst at Pepperdine.
#2 USC 13, #7 Long Beach State 9
The game tangled up early as the Trojans took the opening lead on an Andrej Grgurevic lob, only to see the Beach strike twice to take the lead midway through the first frame. Grgurevic sizzled in his second soon after, and then Strahinja Krstić earned a penalty for López Duart to deposit to the back of the net to nudge USC back ahead. In the final tick of the period, however, Long Beach State beat the buzzer on a 6-on-5 to snarl things up 3-3 after eight minutes of action. That seemed to shake the Trojans back into place. USC mounted a four-goal rally to put the Beach behind 7-3 in the second as Mihailo Vukazić, Jack Martin and Evan Ausmus got on the scoresheet in the half. Again, Long Beach State finished off a late power play, and it was 7-4 USC at the break. The Beach would counter an early blast from Jack Vort with a scoring surge of their own in the third, carving the deficit down to one at 8-7 entering the fourth. That's where the Trojans would again find their footing — thanks to another spark from López Duart and a sweet bar-in blast from Grgurevic. A Beach 6-on-5 make it 10-8 with 3:45 to go, but Charlie Mills' saves count continued to climb and the Trojans would knock in three more goals in the final three minutes to lock up the win. Freshmen Efe Naipoglu and Krstić combined for those final three blasts, with Krstić going back-to-back to top off the 13-9 win.
#2 USC 13, #12 Pepperdine 8
USC coasted to an early lead and kept complete control the rest of the way as the Trojans tallied a 13-8 win over No. 12 Pepperdine The Trojans were all business out of the gates, rendering the Waves scoreless while rattling off four goals in the first eight minutes. Goalie Bernardo Herzer denied the Waves four times, including a powerful 5-meter penalty stop, on the defensive end. Offensively, Strahinja Krstić opened USC's account on its first possession, and then Robert López Duart scored back-to-back for the Trojans — first on a 5-meter penalty and then on a sizzling skipper off a feed from Evan Ausmus to go up 3-0. Stefan Branković served up USC's fourth goal with a dirty no-look rocket to get the Trojans a 4-0 lead. USC's scoring surge continued in the second as Luke Nelson and Mihailo Vukazić each unleashed rippers to tug the Trojans ahead 6-0. Pepperdine would break through on a 6-on-5 opportunity next to stop USC's rally, and then converted on a 5-meter penalty to make it 6-2. But the Trojans would fire right back. López Duart found Jack Martin for a 6-on-5 slam to get it to 7-2, and then the USC defense did the rest. Vukazić threw up a couple booming field blocks while Herzer hauled in a couple more power play saves, and USC took the five-goal lead into halftime. The third period was a flurry of action as the teams went goal-for-goal. Five different Trojans would keep the USC offensive chugging along, highlighted by López Duart's 100th career goal and the second tallies of the day from Martin, Vukazić and Kustić. Gavin Conant got on the board along the way as well, helping the Trojans to a 12-6 lead entering the fourth and final frame. There was a downshift in scoring in the last stretch of play. López Duart snapped almost five minutes of scoreless play with a crosscage strike to make it 13-6 USC. Pepperdine would get two to go in the remaining time, and the game wrapped up as a solid 13-8 USC victory in Malibu.
NOTABLE:
- RS SO Charlie Mills set a new career high with his 14 saves vs. Long Beach State.
- USC is now 79-15 all-time against Long Beach State, with wins in the past 39 straight meetings.
- RS JR Bernardo Herzer recorded a season-high 15 saves at Pepperdine.
- With his third goal of the game at Pepperdine Robert López Duart scored his 100th career goal as a Trojan.
- With three goals vs. LBSU and four at Pepperdine, López Duart has scored 101 goals at USC.
- With their goals in both games, López Duart and GS Mihailo Vukazić have scored in all six USC games this season.
- López Duart has had multiple-goal outings in all six USC games this season — he leads the team with 19 total goals so far.
- USC is now 71-20-2 all-time against Pepperdine, with wins in the past six meetings.

BY THE NUMBERS
Six games into the 2025 season, Robert López Duart leads USC's scoring charge with 19 goals, having tallied multiple goals in all six opening games. Newcomer Mihailo Vukazić also has scored at least one goal in all six games in his first action as a Trojan. On the assists side, Stefan Branković and Efe Naipoglu have each served up 10 apiece so far. On the defensive end, two goalies have seen time in the cage, with redshirt junior Bernardo Herzer and redshirt sophomore Charlie Mills each capping up in four games, combining for an average of 11.5 saves per game. As a team, USC has outscored its opponents 95-56 for an average of 15.8 goals per game offensively and 9.3 goals-against per game defensively.

SWEEPS WEEK
USC earned an awards sweep in the first week of 2025 action, with Robert López Duart and Strahinja Krstić recognized as MPSF Player of the Week and MPSF Newcomer of the Week honors, respectively, on Sept. 1. It's the first such honor for both Trojans. López Duart was a four-time MPSF Newcomer of the Week last season in his first action as a Trojan, and he's now kicked off year two with his first MPSF Player of the Week pick. True freshman Krstić, meanwhile, opens his Trojan career with MPSF Newcomer of the Week honors. A two-meter man hailing from Belgrade, Serbia, Krstić scored seven goals for USC at the Triton Invitational over the weekend. He had one assist in his debut outing — a 10-7 win at No. 12 UC San Diego — before pinning up back-to-back multiple-goal games on day two of competition. He had a hat trick in a 23-9 win over George Washington before upping his career high to four goals with his performance in a 16-10 win over No. 15 UC Santa Barbara. On the final day, he drew a whopping eight exclusions against No. 10 San José State to help USC finish up 4-0 with a 20-13 win over the Spartans. Along the way, he also handed out two assists and had two steals at the Triton Invite. An All-American, López Duart was USC's top scorer at the Triton Invitational with 12 goals, scoring multiple goals in all four USC wins at the event. He scored four goals each in wins over the Gauchos and the Spartans after having tallied two each in the victory at UC San Diego and over George Washington. López Duart also assisted on goals in three games, topping out with two vs. GW.

BACK-TO-BACK
Just two weeks into his Trojan playing career, freshman Strahinja Krstić earned his second set of MPSF Men's Water Polo Newcomer of the Week honors after another big week of work that helped keep USC undefeated on the year. Krstić had two strong performances for the Trojans in wins over No. 7 Long Beach State and No. 12 Pepperdine, tallying four goals with three steals and a combined eight drawn exclusions. In USC's home opener against the Beach, he scored twice in the fourth period and accumulated seven drawn exclusions and two steal in the game to help the Trojans to a 13-9 win. At Pepperdine, Krstić scored the first goal of the game and added his second during the third quarter while finishing with another steal and drawn exclusion in the Trojans' 13-8 road win over the Waves. With 11 goals so far this season, Krstić is USC's second leading scorer.

LOCKED AND LOADED
USC returns seven players who scored 20 or more goals for the Trojans in 2024, including top scorer Robert López Duart, who was an NCAA All-Tournament team honoree along with goalie Bernardo Herzer and senior Andrej Grgurevic. López Duart's team-leading 64 goals last season was just one more than USC's incoming powerhouse — USC's third First Team All-American who also was a 2024 Cutino Award Finalist, Mihailo Vukazić, who has joined the Trojans as a grad transfer out of Pacific. He is one of three talented Serbian products to cap up in Cardinal and Gold this season. An All-American Honorable Mention recipient in his first season of action at USC, Stefan Branković now has fellow countrymen Vukazić and freshman Strahinja Krstić by his side for 2025.

SET STRENGTH
Strahinja Krstić is tabbed for duty as a member of USC's daunting two-meter crew, having served Serbia well in the past two summers while competing at the 2025 U20 and 2024 U18 World Championships. Despite the graduation of longtime hole man Max Miller, USC's two-meter depth is deep thanks to Krstić and returning veteran tough guys Jack Martin, Zac Crenshaw, Connor Cohen and Spencer Averitt.

PERIMETER ATTACK
When it comes to outside firepower, USC's proven top guns like Robert López Duart and senior captain Andrej Grgurevic get further reinforcements in the form of several returners who have upped their games as they've gained experience as Trojans. Lefties JackVort and Zach Bettino are back for more on that side of the attack, while junior Luke Nelson's shot just seems to get stronger and Evan Ausmus is primed to shine in his senior campaign.  Now with a season of work under their caps, sophomores Chase Landa, Taj Whitehead and Ben Mirisch are also set to factor into USC's offensive onslaught.

CAGE FIGHTERS
Two of USC's captains are capped up in red — goalies Bernardo Herzer and Charles Mills. Both spent time with Team USA over the summer, competing with the U.S. Senior and Junior national teams, respectively. Their leadership skills aside, the two also boast impressive wing spans to help control the cage. They'll be a tough tandem to crack.Their leadership in and out of the cage is sure to help develop USC's two younger goalies in Nemo Pavoggi and Luke Harris. Pavoggi is in line to see his first time in the cage as a Trojans in his redshirt freshman season, while Harris will redshirt this year.

NEW CREW
USC's 2025 roster boasts seven true freshmen, 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
Marko Pintaric, who has been part of 14 NCAA championships during his 24 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, reaching the NCAA final for the 19th time in that span after also winning a third straight MPSF Tournament title. An All-American and 1998 NCAA champion as a player at USC, Pintaric served as co-head coach for the USC men for three seasons (2016-18), most recently helping the Trojans to the 2018 NCAA Championship. His USC coaching career began as an assistant coach to both the USC men and women in 2001.

THE PLACE TO BE.
The University of Southern California is the undeniable, unequaled and unquestioned top destination for student-athletes. USC is both home to 136 national team championships and one of the top-ranked private research institutions in the world. Located in the heart of the thriving Los Angeles metropolitan area, it is situated in one of the most diverse and visible media markets in the world. USC's campus is driving distance from the beautiful beaches of Southern California, the majestic mountains range of the Sierra Nevada, the sprawling splendor of the Redwood and Sequoia national forests, and the mysterious Mojave Desert. The student-athlete experience at USC is truly unmatched. •