By Swimming World Staff
Can USC’s New Look Stop a UCLA Repeat at NCAA 2025?
By Swimming World Staff
USC and UCLA collide again for the NCAA men’s water polo crown at Stanford. UCLA is chasing a repeat with a younger core, while USC brings a new, defense-first look with deeper scoring and two elite goalkeepers. Has USC changed enough to flip last year’s result in the same pool?
How We Got Here: Semifinal Wins Set Up a Heavyweight Rematch
USC punched its ticket first with a 16–7 win over Fordham in Saturday’s semifinal. The Trojans turned a 1–1 start into a runaway behind a deep scoring attack and a defense that bottled up one of the country’s most explosive offenses. Fordham came in averaging close to 19 goals per game; USC held the Rams to seven.
The Trojans’ press forced multiple steals and field blocks, and goalkeeper Charles Mills added nine saves as USC broke the game open in the second and third quarters. By the time Fordham found any rhythm, the top seed’s lead was well out of reach.
In the late game, UCLA outlasted host Stanford 9–7 in a defensive grinder. The Bruins saw a 6–4 advantage turn into a 7–6 deficit late in the third quarter before shutting the door. Frederico Jucá Carsalade and Ryder Dodd each scored twice, and redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Nate Tauscher delivered 16 saves as UCLA closed on a 3–0 run to silence the Cardinal crowd and reach a second straight NCAA final.
Those wins set up what everyone circled when the bracket first came out: a UCLA–USC championship rematch in the same venue, with both teams looking just different enough to change the script.
Last Year at Stanford: UCLA’s Late Surge Sinks USC
In the 2024 NCAA final, UCLA and USC went toe-to-toe for three quarters before the Bruins pulled away late for an 11–8 victory. Freshman sensation Ryder Dodd scored twice, UCLA’s veterans controlled the tempo down the stretch, and the Bruin defense held USC to a single goal over the final eight minutes.
That title capped a season where UCLA leaned on veteran goalkeeper Garret Griggs, perimeter sniper Jack Larsen and a deep senior class that had grown up together in Adam Wright’s system. For USC, it was another near miss in a decade full of trips to the last weekend.
Fast forward twelve months and the names have changed – but the stakes haven’t.
What’s Different About UCLA in 2025?
New Last Line of Defense, New Primary Engines
The most obvious change in Westwood is in the cage. UCLA’s 2024 title run rode the steady hand of veteran goalkeeper Garret Griggs, who graduated after anchoring the Bruins for multiple seasons and piling up more than 400 career saves.
The Bruins also waved goodbye to perimeter scoring and leadership from players like Larsen and several fifth-year standouts who used their final eligibility during last year’s championship run. Those departures forced Wright to re-center the offense around a younger core.
That new core looks like this:
- Ryder Dodd – Last year’s freshman star of the NCAA final is now a fully established headliner, capable of creating his own shot and changing momentum with a single possession.
- Frederico Jucá Carsalade – A creative attacker whose role has expanded, Carsalade blends scoring with high-level passing and again led UCLA in points in the semifinal win over Stanford.
- Nate Tauscher – The redshirt sophomore who waited behind Griggs now owns the cage. His 16-save performance against Stanford underlined that UCLA can still ride elite goaltending – just from a different face.
Around them, Bruins such as Ben Larsen, Eli Liechty and a wave of underclassmen have stepped into larger roles, making 2025’s UCLA group a little younger, a little more by-committee, and still suffocating when it locks in defensively.
What’s Different About USC’s “New Look”?
Defense First, Depth Everywhere
If last year’s USC felt like a high-powered attack trying to outgun everyone, this year’s Trojans look more like a boa constrictor. They’ve outscored opponents by nearly 150 goals while piling up more than 200 steals and almost twice as many assists as the teams they’ve faced – evidence of both defensive pressure and unselfish offense.
Against Fordham in the semifinal, USC showcased that identity perfectly: it held a team that had rarely been kept under 10 to just seven goals, turned live-ball turnovers into counterattack chances, and spread 16 goals across 11 different scorers.
The New Spine: Transfers, International Talent and a Captain in the No. 2 Cap
USC’s “new look” is built around a spine that blends returners, transfers and rising internationals:
- Robert López Duart – The leading scorer in 2024 and again in 2025, López Duart has evolved from pure finisher into a closer who thrives in one-goal games.
- Mihailo Vukazić – A graduate transfer and former Cutino Award finalist, Vukazić brought a new dimension to USC’s attack with his shooting range and vision, giving the Trojans another elite left-side threat.
- Stefan Branković (#2 cap) – The Serbian utility has become the symbol of USC’s shift. A captain and do-everything playmaker, he has piled up assists and drawn exclusions all year, turning possessions into either quality shots or 6-on-5 chances.
- Two elite goalkeepers – With both Charles Mills and Bernardo Herzer seeing high-leverage minutes, USC effectively has two “captains in red.” That depth in goal has given the Trojans unusual flexibility in how they press, drop and counter.
USC did lose big bodies like longtime center Max Miller and defensive anchor Luka Brnetic to graduation, but has reloaded with a deeper two-meter rotation (including Strahinja Krstić) and a more cohesive defensive unit in front of the cage.
How USC Beat UCLA Earlier This Season
USC 13, UCLA 12 – Stealing One in Westwood
The first sign that USC’s changes were real came in Westwood. UCLA entered on a long win streak dating back to 2024; the Trojans walked out with a 13–12 upset.
The Bruins led 3–1 early before USC’s new spine took over. Grad-transfer Vukazić poured in a first-half hat trick with multiple assists, López Duart and Efe Naipoğlu added multi-goal outings, and USC led 7–6 at halftime.
Late in the fourth, the teams were tied 12–12 when senior center Jack Martin ripped the winner with under a minute to play off a Vukazić feed. USC then came up with the final defensive stop – exactly the kind of close-out sequence that had eluded it in last year’s NCAA final.
USC 14, UCLA 11 – MPSF Title at Avery
The second statement came back at Stanford in the MPSF Championship game. USC blitzed UCLA early, building a 10–5 halftime lead and never letting the Bruins closer than three the rest of the way in a 14–11 victory that secured a fourth straight MPSF tournament crown.
The keys that day:
- Efficiency: USC converted a high percentage of its shots, while UCLA needed far more attempts to reach its total. The Trojans simply got better looks and finished them.
- Depth scoring: Eight different Trojans scored, making it impossible for UCLA to key on one or two stars.
- Front-court defense: USC’s retooled defense forced UCLA into more perimeter heaves and limited clean post entries, even while the Bruins scraped together goals on the power play.
The One That Got Away: UCLA 14, USC 13 at Uytengsu
Of course, the rivalry has stayed volatile. In the regular-season finale at Uytengsu, UCLA flipped the script, rallying to beat USC 14–13 and reclaim the No. 1 ranking heading into the postseason. USC’s offense was still dangerous – the Trojans scored 13 and were excellent on the power play – but defensive lapses and late-game execution swung back toward the Bruins.
That three-game arc – USC’s road comeback in Westwood, the Trojans’ MPSF burst at Avery and UCLA’s late-season answer in Los Angeles – is the friction that sits underneath Sunday’s “rubber match” for the NCAA title.
Keys to Sunday’s Final: New Look vs. Repeat Bid
For USC
- Keep it a defensive game: If the Trojans hold UCLA to the low teens again and win the steal/field-block battle, their depth and counterattack should carry.
- Let the spine cook: López Duart, Vukazić and Branković have to dictate tempo and touches, turning possessions into either high-percentage shots or man-up chances.
- Goalie edge: If Mills (and/or Herzer) wins the goalie battle over Tauscher, USC’s “new look” may finally deliver a championship payoff.
For UCLA
- Lean on big-game equity: Dodd, Carsalade and Wright have already navigated this exact stage and pool. That experience in closing time was the difference last year.
- Protect the ball and the paint: Minimizing turnovers and managing center matchups will be critical against USC’s physical front-court defense.
- Tauscher’s moment: If Tauscher comes close to repeating his 16-save semifinal performance, UCLA’s younger version of its title team may look every bit as hard to crack as the 2024 edition.
How to Watch & What’s at Stake
The 2025 NCAA Men’s Water Polo Championship game between USC and UCLA is scheduled for Sunday, Dec. 7 at 3:00 p.m. PT (6:00 p.m. ET) at Avery Aquatic Center. The game will air live on ESPNU and stream on the ESPN App and NCAA.com.
For UCLA, it’s a shot at a 14th national title and a rare back-to-back over its crosstown rival. For USC, it’s a chance to prove that its new defensive identity, deeper roster and evolved spine have closed the gap that showed up late in last year’s final. Same rivalry, same stakes – with just enough change on both sides to make a different ending feel very real.
References
- NCAA.com – 2025 NC Men’s Water Polo Championship: bracket, schedule and scores.
- NCAA and USA Water Polo – coverage of UCLA’s 2024 NCAA men’s water polo championship win over USC.
- USC Athletics – 2025 men’s water polo stats, MPSF Championship recap and Fordham semifinal recap.
- UCLA Athletics – 2025 men’s water polo season releases and Stanford semifinal recap.
- Game recaps and box scores from 2025 USC–UCLA meetings in Westwood, at the MPSF Championship (Stanford) and at Uytengsu Aquatics Center.