No. 3 USC Men’s Water Polo Drops Contest To No. 2 UCLA

Saturday, October 17

Los Angeles, Calif.

1:00 p.m.

USC

13-3

UCLA

17-1

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
UCLA (M)	6	3	3	3	15
USC (M)	2	3	2	2	9

Photo by: Bryce Dechert

No. 3 USC Men’s Water Polo Drops Contest To No. 2 UCLA

October 17, 2026 | Men's Water Polo

Box Score

LOS ANGELES – No. 3 USC Men's Water polo took on the No. 2 UCLA Bruins at the Uytengsu Aquatics on Saturday afternoon. After falling behind early, the Trojans were unable to cut into the opposing team's lead as they fell to the Bruins 15-9.

#3 USC 9, #2 UCLA 15

UCLA won the opening sprint and got on the board with the first goal of the game. Ben Mirisch and Strahinja Krstic both scored to keep the game knotted at two apiece before the Bruins pulled ahead by a score of 6-2 after the first quarter.

Both squads put up three goals each in the second quarter as UCLA maintained a 9-5 advantage at the half.

The teams traded goals once again throughout the second half, but the Trojans were unable to mount a comeback as USC fell to UCLA by a score of 15-9.

Luke Nelson was Trojan's lead scorer of the game, coming in with four goals before the start of the fourth quarter.

Notables

Luke Nelson tallied a new career best four goals in the contest for his eighth multi-goal outing of the season.
Efe Naipoglu tied for the team high in points with five off four assists and one goal.
This was the tenth straight game that USC has registered two or more field blocks.

Scoring: Luke Nelson (4), Robert López Duart, Strahinja Krstic, Ben Mirisch, Zach Bettino, Efe Naipoglu

Saves: Charles Mills (10)

Up Next
The Trojans will return to the Uytengsu Aquatics Center next weekend for a matchup against No. 23 Air Force. The game is at 12:00 p.m. and will be live on overnght.com. Following the contest, USC will host its annual alumni day game.