No. 3 USC Men’s Water Polo Falls To No. 3 California

Sunday, November 1

Berkeley, Calif.

1:00 p.m.

USC

14-5

California

14-4

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
USC (M)	4	4	1	2	11
California (M)*	4	4	5	5	18

November 01, 2026 | Men's Water Polo

Box Score

BERKELEY, Calif. – In the second game of the weekend, the USC men's water polo team faced off against the California Golden Bears. After the score stood tied 8-8 at the half, the Trojans ultimately dropped the contest to the Golden Bears 18-11.

#3 USC 18, #3 California 11
California struck first with a goal at the 6:48 mark of the first quarter. Ante Jerkovic found the back of the cage on a USC power play to open the scoring for the Trojans. Robert López Duart, Efe Naipoglu and Apostolos Georgaras all got their names on the stat sheet as the score stood at 4-4 following eight minutes of play.

López Duart and Jerkovic fired home two quick goals to begin the second, but a 6-on-5 tally and a penalty goal kept the game even once again. Tyler Anderson earned an exclusion for another man advantage opportunity and scored from center to go up by one. California and USC each came up empty on their next possessions, before Camden Kocur cashed in a no-look goal from the point. The Golden Bears scored before the end of the half as the score remained tied at 8-8.

The Trojans scored three goals in the second half courtesy of Strahinja Krstic, Anderson and Zach Bettino, but could not hold off the Golden Bears' attack as the game ended with a final score of 18-11.

Scoring: Ante Jerkovic (2), Robert López Duart (2), Tyler Anderson (2), Apostolos Georgaras, Camden Kocur, Strahinja Krstic, Zach Bettino

Saves: Mills (6)

Notables

Efe Naipoglu has scored in all 19 contests this season
Strahinja Krstic and Tyler Anderson combined for 10 earned exclusions, with each center drawing five apiece
Robert López Duart registered his 14th multi-goal outing of 2026.

Up Next
With two weeks left in the regular season, USC will take a break from conference play with a road contest against No. 11 UC Santa Barbara with the game set for 1:00 p.m..