This post was updated Oct. 15 at 10:34 p.m.
No. 2 UCLA men’s water polo (16-1, 1-1 MPSF) has gotten back on track after suffering its first loss of the season to No. 1 Stanford (13-1, 2-0) on Oct. 3. Now, the Bruins will face another heavyweight contender as they renew their crosstown rivalry with No. 3 USC (13-2, 1-1) on Saturday afternoon on the road at Uytengsu Aquatics Center. Daily Bruin staffer Finn Karish analyzes the cardinal and gold ahead of this weekend’s Los Angeles showdown.
USC
Coach: Marko Pintaric
Best Player: Strahinja Krstic
Strength: Forcing turnovers
Weakness: Concentrated goal-scoring threat
X-Factor: Charles Mills
The Bruins have often said they consider themselves the team with a target on its back, and the Trojans may just be the most intent on striking.
USC has two grievances to settle after finishing as runners-up to its crosstown rival in consecutive national championship matchups, and the cardinal and gold have not won a title since 2018.
[Related: UCLA men’s water polo sinks USC 11-10 for back-to-back national championship win]
A key weapon for the Trojans is center Strahinja Krstic. The sophomore leads the team with 41 goals and has earned 60 exclusions, placing him third in the MPSF in the former and first in the latter. Rounding out his statistics with 20 steals – also top-five in the conference – Krstic’s abilities on both sides of the ball earned him the highest performance indicator in the MPSF of 102.40 through Oct. 5 – almost 30 points higher than second place, UCLA junior attacker Ryder Dodd.
The list of Trojan offensive weapons does not end there. Three players have eclipsed 55 points on the season – drivers Efe Naipoglu, Apostolos Georgaras and Robert López Duart. Naipoglu is the league’s second-best assist provider, recording 40 through the season.
López Duart, a 2025 Cutino Award finalist and USC’s top scorer last season, comes in only two goals behind Krstic with 39. The Barcelona, Spain, local is the most experienced player in the squad’s formidable attack, and his two-goal, three-assist performance in USC’s Oct. 4 loss against Stanford showcased his ability to keep the team on track in tough games.
However, this concentration of shooting threat in a few key players can hold the Trojans back against top opponents.
In its first loss of the season to Stanford on Sept. 19, USC managed only eight goals – the first time it failed to reach double digits since losing to UCLA in the 2024 national championship. The four leading goal scorers – Krstic, Naipoglu, Georgaras and López Duart – combined for just three goals on a total of 23 shots. This loss came despite a dominant fourth-quarter performance, where the Trojans shut out the Cardinal offense. Even after establishing a brick wall in front of the cage, they were unable to muster enough goals to overcome a five-goal deficit established in the final seconds of the third quarter.
The Trojans’ second loss of the season, also to the Cardinal, came with their second-lowest goal tally of the season at 12. While the star players were able to dish out more goals and assists, a lack of contributions from other offensive options made Stanford’s job easier.
On the defensive side, USC has excelled in forcing steals to earn extra offensive possessions. With 197 total steals, a figure looming over their opponents’ 62, the Trojans have been able to keep the pressure off their goal and find more opportunities to score.
Goalkeeper Charles Mills has also been laser sharp, holding the MPSF’s second-highest save tally at 107. The Tiburon, California, local has appeared in every game this season.
In both losses, Mills’ save percentage was well under his season average of 45.9%, so in order to beat the Bruins, a lockdown performance in the cage may be the X-factor to come out on top.
Ultimately, if USC’s offensive weapons can escape UCLA’s defense and find space to get shots away, there may just be a chance for the former to get revenge and hand the Westwood side its second loss of the season.
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