No. 2 USC Men’s Water Polo Seeks 4th Straight MPSF Tournament Title

Friday, November 21

Stanford, Calif.

4:00 p.m.

USC

Austin College

Stefan Brankovic looks to shoot in a game at UCLA

Photo by: John McGillen

No. 2 USC Men’s Water Polo Seeks 4th Straight MPSF Tournament Title

November 20, 2025 | Men's Water Polo

MPSF Tournament Central Game Notes (PDF)

The Trojans head to Palo Alto for the conference tournament.

LOS ANGELES - After a stellar regular season, the No. 2 USC men's water polo team (18-3, 4-1 MPSF) begins postseason play with the MPSF tournament as the #2 seed. The Trojans will start the tournament on Friday (Nov. 21), facing the winner of a matchup between Austin College and Wheaton. With a win, semifinal play will be on Saturday, before the tournament concludes Sunday with the championship and consolation games. USC holds the No. 2 ranking in the latest CWPA poll and is coming off a tight home loss over No. 1 UCLA.

THIS WEEK
First Round of MPSF Tournament • Friday, Nov. 21 • 4pm PT
No. 2 USC (18-3, 4-2) will begin the MPSF Tournament Friday evening, then subsequent games on Saturday and Sunday
Avery Aquatic Center • Pato Alto, Calif.
SERIES RECORD: 14 MPSF Tournament Titles
LAST YEAR: 2024 MPSF Tournament Champions
STREAM: overnght.com

OPENING SPRINT (TL;DR)

USC is led by seventh-year head coach Marko Pintaric. Overall, Pintaric is 118-41(.742) as the Trojans' head coach. He is also 82-9 as head coach of USC's women's team and led the Women of Troy to the 2021 NCAA title.
The Trojans are ranked No. 2 in the Nov. 19 CWPA Coaches Poll.
USC is 6-1 in home water at Uytengsu Aquatics Center
USC has outscored opponents 320-214 in 21 games.
Seven Trojans have scored 20-plus goals this season led by 55 from Robert López Duart. Mihailo Vukazic (46), Strahinja Krstic (39), Jack Martin (29), Efe Naipoglu (24), Andrej Grgurevic (23) and Stefan Brankovic (22) follow. López Duart has scored at least one goal in all 21 of USC's contests.
USC goalies have combined to allow just 210 goals and have produced 10.05 saves per game.
Freshman Strahinja Krstic was named the MPSF Newcomer of the Year, the conference announced. Krstic was third for USC with 39 goals, scoring in all but two games. He also was second in all of the MPSF in exclusions drawn.
Seven Trojans were named to All-MPSF teams with Mihailo Vukazic and Andrej Grgurevic taking home All-MPSF first team honors. Robert López Duart, Strahinja Krstic and Stefan Brankovic were named to the All-MPSF second team while Jack Martin and Charlie Mills were All-MPSF honorable mentions.

POLL POSITION | USC started 2025 ranked No. 2 in the national preseason poll and was picked second in the MPSF Coaches Poll. The Trojans are No. 2 in the Nov. 19 CWPA poll.

LAST TIME OUT | The Trojans five game winning streak was snapped by the hands of No. 1 UCLA. The Bruins started fast, scoring the first three goals of the game, before USC responded to score the next three. From there it was a back and forth affair with neither team leading by more than two. It was UCLA who landed the final blow, scoring a penalty with just over a mintue left to earn the 14-13 victory. Stranhinja Krstic led the way offensively for USC, scoring four goals and drawing nine exclusions. Robert López Duart had three goals and Stefan Brankovic chipped in with two goals and a team-high five assists. Charlie Mills played the majority of the game in the cage, racking up nine saves while allowing 10 goals.

BY THE NUMBERS | Through 21 games, Robert López Duart leads USC's scoring with 55 goals He has struck at least once in every game with multiple goals in a team-best 15 games. Newcomer Mihailo Vukazic has scored at least one goal in 19 games in his first season as a Trojan with 12 multi-goal games and 46 goals to date. On the setup side, Stefan Brankovic leads the team with 44 assists and is third on the team with 66 points. On defense, three goalies have seen time in the cage. Redshirt sophomore Charlie Mills has capped up in 17 games, redshirt junior Bernardo Herzer in 12 and redshirt freshman Nemo Pavoggi with two appearances. The goalkeeping corps has combined for an average of 10.0 saves per game. As a team, USC has outscored its opponents 320-214 for an average of 15.23 goals per game offensively and a 10.09 goals-against average.