No. 1 USC Men's Water Polo Defeats No. 4 Cal with Dominant Fourth Quarter Offense

Saturday, November 1

Los Angeles, Calif.

1:00 p.m.

USC

16-2

California

14-4

California (M)

USC (M)

Photo by: Bryce Dechert

No. 1 USC Men's Water Polo Defeats No. 4 Cal with Dominant Fourth Quarter Offense

November 01, 2025 | Men's Water Polo

Box Score

The Trojans allowed no goals in the fourth quarter to reclaim the lead

LOS ANGELES — The No. 1 USC men's water polo team defeated No. 4 Cal with a 12-9 victory in front of an electric home crowd on Saturday at the Uytengsu Aquatic Center. Robert López Duart and Mihailo Vukazic led the Trojans' offensive attack with four goals each.

"As a team, I saw the willingness to play for each other," said Head Coach Marko Pintaric. "Our team stepped it up and didn't allow the next mistake to happen. It was a great team effort and I'm very happy for the guys."

USC took an early lead with Vukazic scoring and López Duart adding another in the first quarter. Cal responded quickly, but the Trojans' López Duart struck again to make it 3-1. The Golden Bears converted a penalty shot to close the first quarter at 3-2.

The second quarter saw back-and-forth scoring with Strahinja Krstic finding the net. Cal responded with two consecutive goals, but Efe Naipoglu and López Duart ensured a halftime lead of 7-6.

In the third quarter, Cal answered back with a penalty. Both teams continued to respond as the Golden Bears led 9-8 at the end of the third.

The Trojans surged in the fourth as López Duart, Luke Nelson, Connor Cohen, and Vukazic tallied four unanswered goals. USC shut down the Golden Bears' offense with no goals allowed in the fourth quarter. The Trojans came away with nine steals on the day to secure a 12-9 victory.

López Duart led the offensive charge with four goals and one assist. Vukazic contributed significantly, scoring four goals and adding three assists while also tallying three steals. Krstic made an impact with one goal and two assists, drawing four exclusions. Charles Mills was dominant in goal all 32 minutes with seven saves.

The Trojans will look to build off the win with another ranked matchup against No. 3 Stanford tomorrow. The game is set for a 1 p.m. start at the Uytengsu Aquatic Center and will be streamed through overnght.com.