MPSF Battles Take Center Stage as 2018 Men’s Water Polo Regular Season Winds Down

USC's Nic Porter is totally focused on Trojan success in 2018. Photo Courtesy: Catharyn Hayne

By Michael Randazzo, Swimming World Contributor

With one week remaining, a pair of match-ups in Los Angeles today between Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) rivals set the stage for a compelling finish to the 2018 NCAA men’s varsity water polo regular season. #3 Cal will travel to Uytengsu Aquatics Center to face #1 USC, while #4 UCLA will host the second-ranked Stanford. A key Western Water Polo Association (WWPA) contest

The biggest change in this week’s Collegiate Water Polo Association Men’s Varsity Top Ten saw Cal dislodging UCLA from the #3 spot, the result of a 9-7 win over the Bruins last Saturday in Berkeley. There’s no rest for the Golden Bears (16-3; 1-0 MPSF) as they travel south this weekend for another MPSF clash, this time against #1 University of Southern California (24-1; 0-1 MPSF). Today’s clash will be broadcast on the Pac 12 Network at 1 p.m. (PST); the Trojans already own a 13-6 non-conference win over the Golden Bears three weeks ago, but that was before Johnny Hooper was fully integrated into the Cal offense. Hooper has been on a tear since missing the first nine matches of his senior season, when he was in Europe with the U.S. Senior Men’s National Team. Since returning, he’s scored 39 goals in 10 matches, including two against UCLA last week.

Cal Head Coach Kirk Everist will need more than Hooper and lefty Safak Simsek—good for 38 scores this season—to top USC in its own pool, and a strong defensive effort led by Hoopers four steals may prove instructive. The Trojan offense boast a pair of 50-goal scorers in sophomores Jacob Mercep and Marko Vavic. Throw in freshman Hannes Daube’s 45 scores and 26 from junior Matt Maier and 25 from senior Zach D’Sa and it’s easy to understand how Jovan Vavic’s team is averaging almost 17 goals a game.

Everyone wants to stop Johnny Hooper; can USC succeed? Photo Courtesy: Catharyn Hayne

Since stumbling a month ago against #2 Stanford, USC has won eight straight, including a 10-5 win last Sunday over #5 Pacific. Besides multiple scoring options, a key development for the Trojans’ national title aspirations is that Nic Porter has settled in as Vavic’s top net-minding option over fellow freshman Sam Krutonog and sophomore transfer Vaios Vlahotasios.

Stanford is a consolation prize (of sorts) for UCLA after their loss to Cal. The Bruins (19-2; 0-1 MPSF) have already played the Cardinal (17-1; 1-0) once; an 8-7 non-conference loss in the semifinals of the Mountain Pacific Invitational at Avery Aquatic Center. Today’s rematch at 3:30 p.m. (PST) will be at the Speiker Aquatics Center; the last time the Bruins lost to the Cardinal at home was 2002, when George W. Bush was in his first year as president and current Stanford star sophomore Ben Hallock was in kindergarten. Hallock has been behind a Cardinal revival this season; he leads his teammates with 51 goals including a career-high eight in a 16-10 drubbing of #11 UC Irvine last week.

The Bruins have a pair of sensational sophomores of their own; Nicolas Saveljic has 34 goals to lead the team and fellow soph Quinten Osborne is second with 33. However, another low-scoring affair may be in order today; UCLA’s Alex Wolf leads the MPSF in goals against average (6.47) while Oliver Lewis of Stanford is third at 6.88. If the Cardinal manage to eke out a win in LA they will be poised for a sweep of MPSF opponents in 2018 regular season play, with only arch-rival Cal—next week in Berkeley—remaining before the MPSF Tournament. Another loss will put Adam Wright’s squad behind the pack with their big rivalry game against USC also taking place next Saturday.

A thunder strike from UCLA’s Nicolas Saveljic. Photo Courtesy: Nicole Maloney

Despite a loss last week to top-ranked USC, the Tigers of Pacific (10-10; 3-1 GCC) returned to their accustomed #5 slot in the polls, but they are not likely to stick; yesterday #8 Long Beach State pulled off an upset on the road, winning a 14-13 overtime thriller at Chris Kjeldsen Pool Complex. UOP got four goals from Luke Pavillard (64 on the year) but could not overcome scores from Garrett Zaan and Max Cusator (three goals on the day) to drop a crucial Golden Coast Conference match-up. The big win snaps a five-game losing streak for the 49ers (8-11; 1-2 GCC) and positions them to move up in the polls if they can top #20 San Jose State tomorrow on the road. With two regular season matches left, the Tigers are tied for tops in the conference with #6 UC Santa Barbara (18-8; 3-1 GCC).

The Gauchos scored a decisive 14-9 win over UC Irvine yesterday behind hat tricks by Boris Jovanovic (78 goals) and Ivan Gvozdanovic (48). A home win next week over #7 Pepperdine will position UCSB Head Coach Wolf Wigo’s team for the top seed in the GCC Tournament, which may prove essential if the Gauchos are to deny the Tigers a second-straight GCC title and an automatic berth in the 2018 NCAA men’s tournament.

October 21, 2018; Spieker Aquatics Complex, Berkeley, CA, USA; Collegiate Mens Water Polo: California Golden Bears vs UC Santa Barbara Gauchos; UC Santa Barbara Head Coach Wolf Wigo Photo credit: Catharyn Hayne

UCSB’s Wigo remain’s composed while his Gauchos stay hot. Photo Courtesy: Catharyn Hayne

Don’t expect the Waves to roll over for UCSB; Pepperdine (13-10; 2-1 GCC) travels to San Jose to face the Spartans today and then has a non-conference match-up tomorrow against #14 Santa Clara before the match next Saturday in Malibu against the Gauchos. A key consideration for the GCC tournament; it will be played at Pepperdine from November 16 – 18; Head Coach Terry Schroeder would like nothing more than to reward the Wave faithful with his program’s second GCC title in three years.

Scrambling to win their conference are #9 UC Davis and #10 UC San Diego. The Aggies of UCD ran their WWPA record to 6-0 with an 11-10 win Thursday over #15 Loyola Marymount. They have one final conference game remaining: today at the Schaal Aquatics Center against the visiting Tritons. Head Coach Dan Leyson’s squad already owns a 12-11 win this season over UC San Diego—a non-conference match two weeks ago at the MPSF Invitational. The only blemish on Denny Harper’s WWPA record this season is a 10-9 loss to #12 Cal Baptist; a road win against the Aggies would put his team in the driver’s seat for the WWPA Tournament, to be hosted starting November 16 by Fresno Pacific.

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