CWPA Top 20 Week Two: No Stopping Cal, Stanford, UCLA or USC
The Collegiate Water Polo Association Top 20 is out, and what draws immediate attention is the difference between the top four teams and everyone else. After two weekends of competition, the combined records of the four Pac12 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF)—considered to be the “Big Four” of collegiate polo—is 25-0. Only two other teams in the Top-20 are undefeated; #6 Long Beach State is 8-0; a record will be tested later today when the 49ers host the top-ranked Bruins at Ken Lindgren Aquatics Center.
UC-Davis, the other unbeaten squad, will bring together seven ranked teams, including the Golden Bears and the Trojans, this weekend at the Aggie Invitational. There might be some dents in the currently invincible armor of the Big Four but right now it appears that only no one outside of the MPSF can stop this colossus. Which makes next weekend’s MPSF Invitational—with most of the Top 20 descending upon Cal’s Spieker Aquatics Complex—the best early-season barometer of which is the country’s best team..
Other notable developments from this week’s poll are those teams that have dropped out. Brown (record)—which was ranked as high as 18 in the preseason poll—is no longer in the Top 20. Navy (record), which started in the 19 spot, is also out.
1) (T) UCLA (7-0); Heavy is the head that wears the crown; this phrase—taken from Shakespeare—might apply to the Bruins. They’ve stayed unbeaten but had close calls versus UC-Santa Barbara and Cal Baptists. Now Adam Wright’s squad travels to Long Beach for a match-up against the unbeaten 49ers. One might quip that non-conference matches mean little, but Bruin pride dictates a win over LBSU, which UCLA hasn’t lost to since 2015—and only once in the past decade (in 13 contests). Also on tap: a rematch on Saturday with the dangerous Gauchos, this time in Santa Barbara. Getting old for UCLA: Chase Dodd has been named MPSF KAP7 Newcomer of the Week… again.
1) (T) USC (4-0); At the moment it’s a bit challenging to appraise the Trojans. They’ve played (mostly) lesser opponents (Pepperdine—a 22-7 victim, is #10 in the country) and they’re absent Marko and Stefan Vavic. Marko of course is an Olympian and therefore one of the 10 best American polo players. They don’t need him now BUT one would hope whatever is keeping him / his younger brother glued to Marko Pintaric’s bench will be resolved before next weekend, when USC will participate in the MPSF Invite.
Remember this guy? You’re more likely to see Marko Vavic playing for USA than USC
3) Stanford (8-0); The Cardinal came East and overwhelmed the competition. No match was even remotely close; in five games Stanford never trailed and outscored its opponents by 60 goals (86-26). Unless the East can do better against the country’s best teams, it’s hard to understand why they’ll keep coming early in the season (though everyone likes a trip to New York City). This weekend Head Coach John Vargas’ team faces Pepperdine in Malibu on Saturday; that will not be a 10+-goal blowout.
4) California (6-0); The Golden Bears have gotten off to a great start without three of their key players. George Avakian, Adrian Weinberg and Sam Untrecht spent the first week of September with the U.S. Junior National Team at the 2021 FINA Junior World Championships. All are back, with Avakian (a goal) and Weinberg (10 saves) immediately contributing to Sunday’s 16-9 win over #11 San Jose State. Cal will travel to Davis for the Aggie Roundup and games against Cal Baptist, Pacific, the Spartans (again) and the host Aggies—who in 2019 beat Cal for the first time since the 1970s.
5) UC-Santa Barbara (10-1); After an opening week loss to UCLA, the Gauchos had reeled off six-straight wins against lesser opponents; they made it seven in last night, beating Golden Coast Conference foe Pepperdine 12-9 in a non-conference match-up. This is a major win; at the GCC Championships in 2019 the Waves ended the Gauchos’ NCAA hopes. On Saturday, UCSB hosts #9 UC San Diego and then hosts a rematch with UCLA. This is must-watch polo; sadly—unless there’s a dad in the stands who is streaming the match—stats via The Fosh will have to suffice. Sawyer Rhodes has continued to rake; he has 37 goals already and is looking like the best pick-up in the country.
6) Long Beach State (8-0); Head Coach Gavin Arroyo’s side survived a scare from Pomona-Pitzer—coached by Alex Rodriguez, a fellow U.S. national team coach—which drew within a goal with 18 seconds left before succumbing 15-14. The rest of the weekend went swimmingly, with the 49ers winning the next three matches handily. Now they face the mighty Bruins, who may be looking ahead to a rematch against UCSB. A win against UCLA at home would be particularly sweet for Arroyo, who has had to watch Bruins domination for his entire 13-season tenure in Long Beach, with a lone 5-3 victory six years the only time his team was on the winning side of the ledger.
7) Pacific (2-2); The Tigers will open the Aggie Invite tomorrow against host UC Davis, then face a tough Cal Baptist squad on Saturday before a rematch against Cal, which beat Pacific 13-6 on September 11 without their top goalie (Weinberg). Wins of course matter, but Tigers’ head man James Graham knows that the only ones that truly matter are in the GCC Tournament.
8) UC-Davis (5-0); As host of the Aggie Invite, UCD is inviting some of the nation’s best teams to their home pool in Northern California. Over two days (Friday and Saturday) Head Coach Daniel Leyson’s team will face #1 (T) USC, #4 Cal, #7 Pacific and #11 San Jose State. A great test for a squad that hopes to get back to NCAAs for the fourth time in five years.
9) UC-San Diego (6-2); The Tritons have already faced three teams in the Top Ten and lost to two of them—#1 (T) UCLA and #6 Long Beach State. On Saturday they will go up against #5 UC Santa Barbara and may catch a break; later that afternoon the Gauchos face the Bruins and may be looking ahead.
10) Pepperdine (5-3); After an unexpected loss to the Tritons and a drubbing by the Trojans, the Waves got a shot at UC Santa Barbara at Pepperdine’s Raleigh Runnels Memorial Pool. A 12-9 setback should not discourage Head Coach Terry Schroeder; his team lost its first three matches in 2019 against the Gauchos before coming up big when it counted in the GCC tournament. Visiting Malibu on Saturday are #3 Stanford and #11 (T) Princeton.
11 (T) San Jose State (2-4); Traveling up to Davis for the Aggie Invitational, on Friday the Spartans will face USC and the host Aggies, Cal on Saturday and Redlands and Santa Clara on Sunday. A great test for Head coach Bruce Watson’s side; hard to see them beating the Trojans or Golden Bears but wins again the other three teams are realistic.
11 (T) Princeton (7-2); Last weekend at its invitational the Tigers won all the games they were expected too and lost big to Stanford, which was also expected. A Sunday afternoon match-up against Fordham saw Head Coach Dusty Litvak’s squad respond to a one-goal halftime deficit with an 8-0 second-half spurt to cap a 13-6 win. Now comes the first of two scheduled trips west for Princeton. While in California the Tigers will face #17 Loyola Marymount and host Pepperdine on Saturday and #13 UC Irvine on Sunday. Rookie Roko Pozaric is off to a blazing start with 27 goals.
Roko Pozaric, a freshman from Croatia, is off to a great start for Princeton
13) University of California-Irvine (4-1); The Anteaters have a chance to extend their best start in years when they face Princeton on Sunday in Irvine. With a single (and respectable) loss to UCLA, Head Coach Marc Hunt’s squad is more than half-way to 2019’s total of 7 wins—and has a match against Concordia next week. Which is a good thing because next weekend is the MPSF Invitational, and UCI opens against UC Santa Barbara.
14) Santa Clara (4-2); After a 4-0 start in the East, the Broncos came back to Earth with losses last week to Stanford and San Jose State. Up next are the Trojans on Saturday at the Aggie Invitational, followed by Redlands, then a rematch against San Jose State.
15) Bucknell (3-5); The Bison had a tough weekend in Princeton going 1-3. They beat Cal Baptist by two then dropped matches to Harvard, host Princeton and Stanford. The match against the Crimson was the first time the two teams had met since the two teams met in a 2019 NCAA play-in game. In that match, the Bison ended Harvard’s undefeated season and advanced to an NCAA quarterfinal for the first time since 1985. Hosting their own invitational, this weekend Bucknell will have four chances to get back on the winning track, with matches against Fordham and Wagner on Saturday and St. Francis Brooklyn and Salem on Sunday.
16) Pomona-Pitzer (3-3); The trends for the Sagehens look good. Wins against Biola, LMU and Westcliff, a narrow loss to LBSU and expected losses to UCLA and UC Santa Barbara—though the Bruins match was a 24-7 affair. Now comes conference play, starting with road matches on Saturday against Chapman and Claremont-Mudd-Scripts, and a chance to get off to a fast start in the SCIAC.
17) Loyola Marymount (2-3); a tough 11-10 overtime loss to Pepperdine last Sunday is a good sign for Head Coach John Laughton’s team. It took the Waves a goal with 32 seconds remaining to get them to overtime, where they triumphed with a one second remaining in the 2nd overtime. Now the Lions host a Princeton squad that will have traveled across the country for an early morning—Pacific Time—match Saturday morning.
18) Harvard (6-1); The Crimson avenged their only loss of 2019 when they beat Bucknell at the Princeton Invite. Next up are George Washington and Northeast Water Polo Conference rival Brown in a non-conference match-up. Head Coach Ted Minnis’ squad will have a single match (against Air Force) next week before the opening of NWPC play when it takes on the Tigers, the Terriers of St. Francis and the Gaels of Iona on October 2 and 3—a road trip which may identify just how good this year’s Harvard team is.
19) Cal Baptist (2-6); Lancers’ head coach Kevin Rosa is a looming presence on the pool deck. His team has talent in the water; Senior Hunter Barnett (18 goals) and graduate student PJ McDonough (17 goals) will score while sophomore Caleb Teraoka (8 goals) looks to be a future gem. Their trip East did not go as hoped; losses to Bucknell, Princeton and Wagner perhaps motivated Rosa and his squad to a big win against Fordham. Now back West, CBU travels north for the Aggie Invitational and a match tomorrow against Cal and then Pacific and Redlands on Saturday.
20 Fordham (4-3); Rams’ head coach Brian Bacharach finally got to see Jacopo Parrella, his prized freshman, in action. Alas, the results were not perfect; the young Italian had a hat-trick in a 14-10 win over St. Francis but a lone goal as the Ram offense was stifled in the second half by Princeton in a 13-6 loss. This weekend Parrella and his teammates have four matches in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania at the Bucknell Invitational. First up on Saturday are the host Bison followed by Mercyhurst Saturday afternoon then Wagner and Mount St. Mary’s on Sunday. Three of their four weekend opponents—Bucknell, Mount St. Mary’s and Wagner—are Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference foes. Two of the matches—against the Bison and the Seahawks—count in the conference standings.