No. 2 USC Men’s Water Polo Knocks Off No. 7 Long Beach State

Friday, September 4

Long Beach, CA

7:00 p.m.

USC

5-0

Long Beach State

6-1

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
Southern California	5	4	4	4	17
Long Beach State	1	6	3	1	11

No. 2 USC Men’s Water Polo Knocks Off No. 7 Long Beach State

September 04, 2026 | Men's Water Polo

Box Score

Krstic and Naipoglu combined for 11 of USC’s 17 goals in the win.

LONG BEACH, Calif. - No. 2 USC Men's Water Polo picked up their fifth straight win to open the season, taking down No. 7 Long Beach State 17-11 on the road Friday night. The Trojans led wire-to-wire to pick up their third win over a ranked opponent in the first five games.

#2 USC 17, #7 Long Beach State 11
Ante Jerkovic got the scoring started for the Trojans before Strahinja Krstic buried back-to-back goals to put USC up 3-0 early. USC led 5-1 after the first eight minutes. The Trojans then led by as many as five in the second quarter, but held just a 9-7 advantage at the half as The Beach worked to get back into the contest.

The second half quickly turned into the Efe Naipoglu show as the sophomore driver scored a third quarter hat trick. The Trojans led 13-10 after three quarters and clamped down on defense to earn the 17-11 victory.

Krstic led USC with six goals to tie his career high, which he set just one weekend ago against Claremont-Mudd-Scripps. He has scored at least four goals in all but one game so far this season. Naipoglu set his career high with five goals, along with a team-high four assists and three steals. Robert López Duart chipped in with two goals and Charlie Mills went four quarters in the cage, racking up nine saves.

Scoring: Strahinja Krstic (6), Efe Naipoglu (5), Robert López Duart (2), Gavin Conant, Apostolos Georgaras, Ante Jerkovic, Luke Nelson

Saves: Charlie Mills (9)

Notables:

Efe Naipoglu set his career high in goals with five. Naipoglu also set a new career high in points with nine.
Strahinja Krstic tied his career high in goals with six
Strahinja Krstic has scored at least four goals in four out of five games.
Robert López Duart has scored multiple goals in all five games this season.
The Trojans went 17-for-31, firing at a .548 clip. Seven different players scored for USC in the win.
USC is now 80-15 all-time against Long Beach State, having won 40 straight games.
USC had started the season 5-0 for the third straight year.
It is USC's third win over a ranked opponent to begin the 2026 season

Up Next
USC will play in home water for the first time this season, taking on No. 9 Pepperdine followed by an exhibition match against Golden West. The games will be Sunday, Sept. 6 at 1:00 p.m and 2:30 p.m at Uytengsu Aquatics Center and streaming on Overnght.com