No 3. USC Men’s Water Polo Cruises Past Air Force

Saturday, October 24

Los Angeles, Calif.

12:00 p.m.

USC

14-3

Air Force

16-12

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
Air Force Men 2026	1	1	4	2	8
USC (M)	5	6	7	3	21

October 24, 2026 | Men's Water Polo

Box Score

LOS ANGELES – In its final home game of the regular season, No. 3 USC Men's Water Polo took down Air Force 21-8. The Trojans move to 14-3 on the season and close their home game record at 6-2.

#3 USC 21, Air Force 8
Ante Jerkovic got the scoring started for USC off a Gavin Conant assist at 6:22 in the first quarter. Four other Trojans scored in the first frame as USC led 5-1 after the first eight minutes.

Air Force scored the first goal of the second quarter but the Trojans responded with six straight goals to take an 11-2 lead into the half time break.

USC continued to dominate in the second half as Strahinja Krstic scored a hat trick in the third quarter alone. The Trojans led wire to wire and secured the 21-8 victory.

Krstic led the way with five goals, bringing his season total to a team-high 47. Luke Nelson added a hat trick and Efe Naipoglu led USC with four assists.

The Trojans stood tall on the defensive side of the ball, holding the Falcons to just eight goals in the contest while three different players registered three or more steals.

Notables

Strahinja Krstic matched his career high with six points, his third six-point game of the season.
Gavin Conant matched his career high with five points on two goals and three assists.
Efe Naipoglu has scored in all 17 games for the Trojans. It is also Naipoglu's third straight game with four assists.
With a hat trick today, Luke Nelson has scored at least three goals in three of the past five games.
It is USC's sixth game of the season scoring at least 20 goals.
The Trojans have tallied at least two field blocks in eleven straight games.

Scoring: Strahinja Krstic (5), Luke Nelson (3), Gavin Conant (2), Efe Naipoglu (2), Robert López Duart (2), Marc Angelescu (2), Reed Hanna, Camden Kocur, Ante Jerkovic, Tyler Anderson, Nate Simoncelli

Saves: Charles Mills (4), Nemo Pavoggi (1)

Up Next
USC returns to MPSF action with two road matchups in Northern California. The Trojans will take on No. 2 Stanford on Saturday at 1 p.m. and No. 4 California on Sunday at 1 p.m. Both games will be streamed live on overnght.com.