On to the Postseason! 2021 Men’s Varsity Water Polo Set for Conference Championships
Last weekend saw the conclusion of regular season competition for the 2021 men’s varsity water polo season. Next up: conference tournament play to determine which teams move on in the postseason—and which go home.
By the end of play next Sunday seven spots—five conference berths and two at-large bids—will be decided. Outside of the continued dominance of polo’s “Big Four”—Cal, USC, UCLA and Stanford, which hold the top four spots in the Collegiate Water Polo Association’s (CWPA) Men’s Varsity Poll—question abound as to who will make the cut for this year’s national championship derby,
First, one of the Big Four will NOT make NCAAs. With one automatic berth and potentially two at-large slots, one Mountain Pacific Sport’s Federation (MPSF) team—currently Stanford—will not go. In 2019 the odd MPSF team out was Cal. The Golden Bears have rebounded to become the nation’s top team.
There’s FIVE Golden Coast Conference (GCC) teams in the CWPA’s Top Ten: #5 Long Beach State, #6 UC Santa Barbara, #7 Pacific, #8 San Jose State and #10 Pepperdine. It’s likely that only one will go to NCAAs.
The Western Water Polo Association (WWPA) is as competitive as any time in its history; #9 UC San Diego and #11 UC Davis are the favorites but three other teams—#15 Loyola Marymount, #18 Cal Baptist and #19 Air Force—are capable of a tournament upset. The Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) is not as competitive as in years past. #18 Pomona-Pitzer went undefeated and is a clear favorite to win its fourth title in the last five seasons. The Sage Hens will not be going to the DI tournament; whoever wins the SCIAC crown will host and compete for the 2021 DIII national championship.
In the East, the Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference (MAWPC) and Northeast Water Polo Conference (NWPC) will take place respectively in Annapolis, MD and Princeton, NJ. # 16 Fordham is the clear MAWPC favorite, but #19 (T) Navy finished strong. #12 (T) Harvard and #12 (T) Princeton are both capable of winning the Northeast Water Polo Conference (NWPC); question is: can St. Francis Brooklyn—which has beaten both teams—pull off the upset.
Following are the top 20 teams from the most recent CWPA men’s varsity poll.
1) University of California (20-2; 2-0 MPSF); The Golden Bears have enjoyed an amazing season and are the consensus top team because they’ve beaten everyone else. Oh wait—not everyone! After their big win last weekend over Stanford in the “Big Splash,” Head Coach Kirk Everist’s team had a one last opponent to overcome—#3 UCLA in Berkeley earlier today. A win gave Cal the MPSF regular season title outright—and cements the Golden Bears as favorites for a national championship, which would be their 15th. Besides Nikolaos Papanikolaou, 2020 MPSF Player of the Year (60 goals). Everist has Robert Valera (35 goals, 27 assists) the conference’s top newcomer. And the kid in goal—Adam Weinberg—is pretty good, too (191 saves).
2) University of Southern California (16-1; 2-1); An 8-7 win over arch-rival UCLA last weekend in Los Angeles could be considered payback for losing to the Bruins in the 2020 NCAA final. What would REALLY be payback is a win against Cal in the upcoming MPSF Championships (Nov 19 – 21 at Stanford’s Avery Aquatic Center). Or, better yet, in the 2021 national championship to be held at UCLA’s Spieker Aquatics Center.
UCLA’s Spieker Aquatics Center; what if the Bruins aren’t at NCAAS? Photo UCLA Athletics
3) UCLA (16-3; 1-3 MPSF); The Bruins ended their regular season with a lopsided loss to Cal in Berkeley. What was missing from the last time these two teams played, a 10-9 Golden Bear? Head Coach Adam Wright—sitting out due to a red card assessed to him in last weekend’s loss to USC. Oh, and the vaunted UCLA defense. First time this season Bruins gave up 16 goals in a match and only fifth time they surrendered double-digits. Not the best way to prepare for the MPSF tournament.
4) Stanford University (17-5; 0-3 MPSF); When it comes to the MPSF, it’s been an off year for the Cardinal—which often means they will likely be their conference’s odd team out of NCAAs. With a 12-10 OT loss to Cal last Saturday—despite monster performances by Tyler Abramson (one goals, three assists), Quinn Woodhead (three goals, one assist) and Nolan Krutonog (18 saves) only an upset in the MPSF championship will get Stanford into NCAAs this year (and even that’s not guaranteed). Good news for Cardinal fans; you host MPSF Championships starting on Friday.
5) Long Beach State (20-5; 5-0 GCC); Since starting Golden Coast Conference play on October 9 with a 9-8 win over UC Santa Barbara, the 49ers have won eight times (including two exhibition matches) and lost once—a 13-9 defeat to USC. They are tops in their conference and completed an undefeated GCC season with a 12-5 win Saturday over UC Irvine at Ken Lindgren Aquatics Center. Leading the way for Head Coach Gavin Arroyo’s team have been Rafael Real Vergara (63 goals – likely GCC Player of the Year) and goalie Andrej Bosanac (212 saves).
6) UC-Santa Barbara (21-8; 3-2); Saturday’s win over Pepperdine was a big plus for a Gauchos side picked to win the GCC this year and advance to their first NCAA tournament since 1990. Following back-to-back losses to Pacific and Cal in mid-October, UCSB has now ripped off wins in six of seven contests. The team’s only loss in that stretch was by four goals to #2 USC. Sawyer Rhodes leads the team with 55 goals—and is second on the conference behind LBS’s Vergara. In a three-way race with the 49ers and #7 Pacific for a GCC crown, will the transfer from USC be a difference maker? Or will it be Leo Yuno, the Gaucho’s superb playmaker (38 assists)?
7) Pacific (9-11; 3-2 GCC); Tigers’ head man James Graham bet on players from Canada’s national team—specifically Jeremie Cotes (46 goals), Bogdan Djerkovic (45 goals) and Reuel D’Souza (25 goals, 27 assists)—to deliver an NCAA berth this year. The results have been mixed; big wins against Long Beach State, UC Santa Barbara and Pepperdine—and a damaging loss last week to UC Irvine. Graham has always figured out how to get the most out of his roster of imported talent—Pacific is the only non-Pac12 team since Pepperdine won NCAA’s in 1997 to advance to a national championship final (2012, 2019). Should anyone REALLY bet against the Tigers—even though they’re on a three-match slide going into the GCC Championships?
8) San Jose State (15-14; 2-3 GCC); It’s taken six years for the Spartans to crack the CWPA top 10, and now that SJS is there, they’re NOT going to leave quietly (and yes, your correspondent acknowledges that Head Coach Bruce Watson squad achieved these lofty ranking heights in the spring BUT how many believe that the 2020 men’s season was an accurate measure?). With wins over Pepperdine (twice) and UC San Diego and a puncher’s chance for the program’s first NCAA berth since 1973—taking into account a four decade absence—the Spartans go into the post season with seven wins in their last nine matches. Bende Pardi (52 goals, 20 assists) leads the SJS attack.
9) UC San Diego (13-8; 6-2 WWPA); The Tritons put a jolt in their season—and to the WWAC playoff picture—with an eye-opening 11-10 win over UC Davis in both team’s regular season finale. It’s noteworthy because the Aggies had won the previous meeting this year by a goal; the loss was UCD’s first this season in conference play. It’s likely the Tritons and the Aggies will meet in the WWPA final next Sunday as they did every year from 2015-19. In the 2020 abbreviated season Cal Baptist and Air Force played for the title with the Lancers capturing the WWPA’s automatic NCAA bid.
10) Pepperdine (14-12; 1-4 GCC); A 17-12 win on September 4 by UC San Diego really rocked the Waves—and Head Coach Terry Schroeder has spent much of the next two month righting the ship. Seniors Balazs Kosa (47 goals, 49 assists) and Sean Ferrari (41 goals) have delivered for Pepperdine; goalie John Claude Marco (212 saves, 11.67 GAA) has not. After Saturday’s 16-13 loss to UCSB, Schroeder and top assistant Merrill Moses—who backstopped the US men to silver at the 2008 Beijing Games—can perhaps sort out the Waves problems.
11) UC-Davis (15-8; 7-1 WWPA); Raise your hand if you thought that the Aggies success this season—wins over Pacific, UC San Diego. San Jose State and narrow losses to Cal and UCSB—meant smooth sailing to yet another NCAA berth (which would be the program’s fourth in the past five seasons). Then a tough loss to UC San Diego brings a dose of reality to Head Coach Daniel Leyson’s team—not that the former USC star needed it. Should be a great time this weekend at the Aggies’ Schaal Athletic Center.
12 (T) UC-Irvine (8-12; 1-4); The Anteaters’ golden goal win over Pacific a week ago was the team’s first against a Top Ten opponent since a 5-4 win over then-#9 UC San Diego early in 2019. They finished their regular season at Long Beach State, which is gunning for a GCC crown. The loss stuck them in the GCC basement behind San Jose State and Pepperdine.
Anteater Aquatics Complex will host the GCC Championships. Photo: UCI Athletics
12 (T) Princeton (23-7; 8-2 NWPC); After a stunning road win against Harvard two weeks ago, the Tigers stumbled badly against St. Francis at home last weekend. They were missing Vladan Mitrovic, who may be the team’s most essential newcomer in a freshman class that includes leading scorer Roko Pozaric (59 goals, 38 steals). Mitrovic—who at 22 is no ordinary freshman—quarterbacks the team. If he’s not 100% it will be hard for Princeton to overcome Harvard or perhaps even St. Francis, which has revived their season with the win over the Tigers and a win last night in the Bronx against Fordham. The Tigers host this year’s NWPC championships; gotta be an edge for Head Coach Dustin Litvak’s side.
12 (T) Harvard (25-4; 9-2 NWPC); Another impressive year for Head Coach Ted Minnis’ program, which has totaled one less win the last two seasons (54) than in his first four in Cambridge (55). All indications are that the Crimson and the Tigers, the league’s best teams, should meet for the fourth-straight year in the NWPC final, with an NCAA tournament berth on the line.
15) Loyola Marymount (10-13; 6-2 WWPA); The Lions are tied with UC San Diego and Cal Baptist for second behind UC Davis. Junior Blazo Mitrovic (81 goals, 103 points) has had a brilliant season and last weekend lit up #5 Long Beach for six goals and two assists in a 13-12 loss decided in the final minutes.
16) Fordham University (23-6; 11-1 MAWPC); There is joy in the Bronx, as the Rams captured their first league title since 2009. With the 2021 MAWPC regular season crown in hand after a 13-11 win over George Washington, not even a loss at home Friday night against St. Francis Brooklyn could dampen the spirits of the Fordham faithful—even with goalie Bailey O’Mara and leading scorer Dimitris Koukias resting up before the postseason begins next Friday.
17) California Baptist (18-13; 6-2 WWPA); A glance at the WWPA stats shows that the Lancers have seven players in the top ten for assists in the conference, led by Zach Lowery’s 62 dimes to go along with 38 goals. If you’re CBU head coach Kevin Rosa, you’d have to be pleased that the team has generated 383 assists on 417 goals scored. Hard to say what this means in the upcoming WWPA tournament; the Lancers have won seven of their last ten, including five straight.
18 Pomona-Pitzer (23-8; 14-0 SCIAC); The Sage Hens have returned to form in the SCIAC; the closet conference game they’ve played in 2021 was a 12-9 decision over Redlands (5-22; 2-11 SCIAC). With a Senior Day match today against Whittier (13-12; 10-3 SCIAC), the defending conference champs. With the four teams having their berths in the SCIAC Championships, to be held next week at Pomona, the biggest question for Head Coach Alex Rodriguez is: Will he regret that the top two finisher in the championships are ticketed for the 2021 NCAA DIII championships.
Grant Snyder (#15) has had a banner year for the Falcons. Photo: Air Force Athletics
19 (T) Air Force (17-7; 5-3 WWPA); Four losses in their past five matches should not take any of the sheen off of what has been a successful Falcon season. A win over #9 UC San Diego in early October was the first against a Top Ten team in Head Coach Ryan Brown’s four years in Colorado Springs. That, a great won-loss record, and a win over service academy rival Navy are signs of a successful rebuild. Grant Snyder (81 goals, 24 assists) and Sam Fuller (55 goals) have been supported by the strong play of A.J. Kuypers and Anthony Tolbert (combined 242 saves in 23 games).
19 (T) Navy (14-12; 9-3 MAWPC); Coming up is a big weekend for the Navy rebuilding program which Luis Nicolao launched when he returned to his alma mater as head coach four years ago. Hosting the MAWPC conference championships, with the #2 seed in hand and a weakened Bucknell program means the Mids have a great opportunity to reverse 13 years of NCAA futility—something that rarely happened during Mike Schofield’s tenure (14 times berths in 29 seasons) We’ll see if 2021 is the year for this drought to end; Fordham likely stands in the way of Navy success.