No. 2 USC Men’s Water Polo Prepares For Two Top-10 Matchups

Friday, September 4

Long Beach, CA

7:00 p.m.

USC

Long Beach State

Apostolos Georgaras game action vs. Saint Mary's

No. 2 USC Men’s Water Polo Prepares For Two Top-10 Matchups

September 02, 2026 | Men's Water Polo

#USCMWP Notebook (Sep. 2)

LOS ANGELES, Calif. –
No. 2 USC men's water polo will go on the road to face No. 7 Long Beach State on Friday at 7:00 p.m. The Trojans will then return to Uytengsu Aquatics Center for their 2026 home opener, taking on No. 8 Pepperdine on Sunday, Sept. 6 at 1:00 p.m. followed by an exhibition against Golden West at 2:30 p.m..

Schedule
Friday – #2 USC (4-0) at. #7 Long Beach State (6-0) – 7:00 p.m.
Sunday – #2 USC (4-0) vs. #9 Pepperdine (2-2) – 1:00 p.m.
Sunday – #2 USC (4-0) vs. Golden West (0-0) – 2:30 (exhibition)

History
USC is 79-15 all-time against Long Beach State and has won the previous 39 meetings. The Trojans last loss to the Beach came in 1991.

USC is 71-20-2 all-time against Pepperdine. The Trojans have won the past six matchups against the Waves, with the most recent loss coming in 2021.

Rankings
USC opened the year ranked No. 2 in the national polls.

Last Time Out
USC began the 2026 campaign in La Jolla, Calif. with four games at the annual Triton Invitational Tournament. The Trojans dispatched No. 20 Saint Mary's 22-9 on Friday night before rolling through two games Saturday, beating McKendree 30-5 and Claremont-Mudd-Scrips 28-9. USC rounded out the weekend with another ranked victory, taking down No. 15 UC Santa Barbara 27-10. This marks the fourth straight season the Trojans have started the season 4-0.

Scoring
The Trojans offense put on a show at last weekend's Triton Invitational. USC fired home 107 goals across the four games, the most over any four-game span in program history. USC's average winning margin was 18.5 goals for the weekend. It was a balanced attack for the Trojans as every field player got on the scoresheet, but it was USC's returning All-Americans who shined brightest. Robert López Duart and Strahinja Krstic scored 14 and 15 goals respectively over the weekend. López Duart turned in a six goal performance against Claremont-Mudd-Scripps on Saturday, going a perfect 6-6 from the field and setting his USC career high in the process. Not to be outdone, Krstic also set his career high against Claremont-Mudd-Scripps with a six goal outburst of his own and has scored a hat trick in three out of four games this season.

Weekly Awards
Robert López Duart led the Trojan offense to a perfect 4-0 weekend at the Triton Invitational. The senior driver went a perfect 3-3 and added two assists in the season opener to take down #20 Saint Mary's. He followed that up with an astounding six-for-six outing against Claremont-Mudd-Scripps and tacked on two helpers for eight total points. In all four games, López Duart scored at least two or more goals, including three against #15 UCSB. López Duart finished the weekend 14-for-16 with five assists and four steals.

Tyler Anderson had a strong start to his collegiate campaign with a 2-2 game and racked up seven drawn exclusions against #20 Saint Mary's. The freshman out of Newport Beach, Calif. went 7-for-9 through the four games and drew a team high 12 exclusions.

The Duo At 2-Meter
USC's 2-meter pair of Strahinja Krstic and Tyler Anderson had high expectations coming into the season, and they delivered in the opening weekend. Krstic, coming off an outstanding freshman season in which he won the MPSF Newcomer of the Year, picked up right where he left off last season, scoring a team-high 15 goals over the four games. He scored at least four goals in all but one game and set his career high with six against Claremont-Mudd-Scripps. Anderson, a true freshman, opened his account with eight goals in the first four games, including a first quarter hat trick against McKendree. Additionally, both centers drew double digit exclusions, with Anderson at 12 and Krstic at 11. Anderson drew seven of those 12 in his first collegiate game Friday night against No. 20 Saint Mary's, the most for a Trojan since Krstic last season who drew nine Nov. 15 against UCLA.

Trojan Personnel
USC had five total All-Americans including two First Team All-America selections and three will be back in the Trojan lineup for 2026.

Cutino Award finalist Robert López Duart led USC in scoring for the second straight season and will look to be an offensive catalyst in his senior season. López Duart tallied 66 goals and had a team best 17 multiple-goal outings. A First Team All-America selection, López Duart added 27 assists, 23 steals and 11 blocks to the stat sheet in a strong 2025 campaign. The senior driver was also named to the NCAA All-Tournament First Team, MPSF All-Tournament Team and All-MPSF Second Team.

Charles Mills will be the main man in the cage for the second straight season. Mills took a big step forward in 2025 with 177 saves and .501 save percentage in goal. The redshirt junior was named the MPSF All-Tournament MVP thanks to 21 saves, two steals and two assists at the conference tournament. Mills was named to the All-America Third Team, the first All-America honors of his career. He also garnered All-MPSF Honorable Mention recognition and was the MPSF All-Tournament Team goalie.

The 2025 MPSF Newcomer of the Year Strahinja Krstic will help lead a daunting two-meter crew for the Trojans. Krstic drew a team high 65 exclusions and scored 49 goals. Krstic collected All-America Second Team honors as well as NCAA Tournament First Team, All-MPSF

Last Season
USC finished the 2025 campaign as the runner up at the NCAA Championships. The Trojans posted a 23-4 overall record, going 6-1 at home and 8-1 on the road. Of USC's 23 wins, 19 of them came against ranked opponents.

USC opened the season with nine straight wins including winning the Triton Invitational. The Trojans went 4-2 in regular season conference play and won their fourth straight MPSF tournament to earn the No. 1 overall seed for the NCAA Tournament.

USC reached the final of the NCAA tournament for the fifth time in the past six seasons and 19 of the past 21. The Trojans have qualified for the NCAA tournament in every season since 2005.

New Faces To Uytengsu
USC will welcome seven newcomers for the 2026 season. The group features three attackers, two center defenders, one utility and one center.

The lone incoming transfer was a big one for the Trojans. Apostolos Georgaras (Attacker/Patras, Greece) joins the squad following a strong freshman season at the University of the Pacific in which he was named a Third Team All-American and the WCC Freshman of the Year. Georgaras led the Tigers in goals (73) and total points (93).

Georgaras will be joined by six true freshmen – Tyler Anderson (Center/Newport Beach, Calif.), Marc Angelescu (Center Defender/Barcelona, Spain), Ante Jerković (Attacker/Dubrovnik, Croatia), Camden Kocur (Attacker/Thousand Oaks, Calif.), Adrian Senciac (Utility/Palos Verdes, Calif.) and Nathan Simoncelli (Center Defender/Corona Del Mar).

First Year Phenoms
This season, USC boasts three players who won conference Newcomer or Freshman of the Year awards. Strahinja Krstic, Apostolos Georgaras and Robert López Duart have each taken home the award throughout their respective careers. The Trojans are the only team in the country to have three such award winners on its roster.

Krstic was named the 2025 MPSF Newcomer of the Year after an outstanding freshman season at USC. He tallied 49 goals, which included a 22-game scoring streak, and led the Trojans with 65 drawn exclusions. He was also named to the All-American Second Team and earned NCAA Tournament First Team honors.

Apostolos Georgaras joins the Trojans fresh off being named the 2025 WCC Freshman of the Year after a stellar campaign at the University of Pacific. He led the team in goals (73), points (93) and steals (37) while also being named to the All-American Third Team and All-WCC First Team.

Before his two outstanding seasons at USC, Robert López Duart won the 2023 Big West Freshman of the year award while at Long Beach State. In that season, he was the team's top scorer with 87 goals, second most in a single-season in LBSU history, and led the team with 30 assists. That season, López Duart was also named to the All-American Second Team and the All-Big West First Team.

Comforts of Home
In 2025, the Trojans hosted just seven home games at the Uytengsu Aquatics Center. USC went 6-1 in those contests and will look to capitalize on that success with 10 home matchups in 2026 in addition to hosting the MPSF Tournament.

This will be the first time the Trojans have hosted the MPSF Tournament since 2022, when the Trojans began their run of four consecutive conference championships.

International Experience
The 2026 Trojan squad was well represented across several national teams throughout the offseason.

Charles Mills, Luke Nelson, Gavin Conant and Tyler Anderson each suited up for the United States. Mills and Nelson competed in the World Cup Qualifiers. Mills then returned to the squad with Conant for the exhibition series against Montenegro.

Anderson was a member of the Youth National Team that helped the United States reach the title game at the World Aquatics Youth World Championship. The U.S. won silver in a historic run, marking the highest ever finish for Team USA at the event. Anderson was named the Best Player of the Tournament – the second consecutive year the award went to an incoming Trojan.

Ante Jerković (Croatia), Strahinja Krstic (Serbia) and Efe Naipoglu (Türkiye) all competed at the U20 European Aquatics Championships to round out the slate. Jerkovic helped Croatia earn gold at the tournament. Krstic was named captain of the Serbian squad that placed sixth. Naipoglu racked up 33 goals in the tournament as was the top scorer of the event.