No. 3 USC Men’s Water Polo beats No. 4 California in Sudden Death Thriller

Saturday, October 3

Los Angeles, Calif.

1:00 p.m.

USC

12-1

California

9-3

Team	1	2	3	4	OT	OT	SD	Final F
California (M)*	3	3	4	2	1	1	0	14
USC (M)	3	4	3	2	2	0	1	0	0	0	0	15

Luke Nelson game tying goal celebration vs California

No. 3 USC Men’s Water Polo beats No. 4 California in Sudden Death Thriller

October 03, 2026 | Men's Water Polo

Box Score

Strahinja Krstic scored the winning goal with 0:56 left in double overtime

LOS ANGELES – The No. 3 USC men's water polo team opened MPSF conference play with a riveting 15-14 double-overtime win over No. 4 California. It is the Trojans' second win over the Bears within the past 14 days.

#3 USC 15, #4 California
It was a back and forth affair all game as California opened the scoring in the first quarter before Apostolos Georgaras equalized on the power play. The Trojans took a 3-1 lead thanks to goals from Gavin Conant and Efe Naipoglu, but the Bears tied it up after eight minutes.

The two teams traded goals for most of the second quarter until Charles Mills saved a penalty shot and Naipoglu scored with four seconds left in the first half to give USC a 7-6 lead at the break.

The second half was more of the same as neither team led by more than one for the rest of the half. Luke Nelson scored two goals in the third frame as the teams were deadlocked 10-10 going into the fourth quarter.

López Duart scored a power-play goal which put USC ahead by one with 6:05 to go, but the Trojan offense would go quiet for the next six minutes as California took a 12-11 lead and had the ball with 35 seconds to go. USC collected the ball with five seconds left, earned an exclusion and Nelson fired home his third goal of the game off a Georgaras assist. The goal came with under a second left in regulation and sent the game into overtime.

In the first overtime, Mills saved his second penalty of the game which led to López Duart's fourth tally. Conant scored to put USC up by two, but California climbed back into it, equalizing on a power-play goal with 1:06 left. Neither team could find a winner in the first overtime which sent the game into sudden death.

In double overtime, USC looked to have the game won, earning a penalty with California's goalkeeper getting ejected. USC was unable to convert on the 5-meter, but less than 30 seconds later, Strahinja Krstic fired home the golden goal winner from an Ante Jerkovic assist.

López Duart led USC with four goals, followed by a hat trick from Nelson. Jerkovic paced the team with four assists. Krstic drew a season eight exclusions along with the winning goal. Mills went the distance in the cage for the Trojans and set his career high with 15 saves.

Notables

Charles Mills set his career high with 15 saves with two big penalty saves for his first double-digit save performance of the year.
It is the Trojans first sudden death victory since Dec. 6, 2014 where they defeated Stanford in the NCAA tournament semifinal.
This was the second time in as many games Strahinja Krstic has scored the game winning goal against California.
Strahinja Krstic has scored in every game this season with 10 multi-goal outings.
The Trojans moved to 75-73 all-time against California.
Five different Trojans recorded field blocks in the contest.
With four goals in today's contest, Robert López Duart recorded his seventh hat trick of the season.
This was the seventh straight game that USC has registered two or more field blocks.
Ante Jerkovic dished out a career-high four assists.
With eight drawn exclusions, Strahinja Krstic established a new season high.

Scoring: Robert López Duart (4), Luke Nelson (3), Strahinja Krstic (2), Gavin Conant (2), Apostolos Georgaras (2), Efe Naipoglu (2)

Saves: Charles Mills (15)

Up Next
The Trojans will return to the Uytengsu Aquatics Center for the second game of the weekend where they will host the No. 2 Stanford Cardinal in a rematch of the Overnght MPSF semifinal game. The contest is set for 1:00 p.m..