{"id":326804,"date":"2018-08-24T07:26:38","date_gmt":"2018-08-24T14:26:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=326804"},"modified":"2018-08-24T10:00:04","modified_gmt":"2018-08-24T17:00:04","slug":"2018-mens-water-polo-preview-the-western-water-polo-association","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/2018-mens-water-polo-preview-the-western-water-polo-association\/","title":{"rendered":"2018 Men\u2019s Water Polo Preview: The Western Water Polo Association"},"content":{"rendered":"

Starting today, Swimming World will post previews of the six conferences that will send teams to the 2018 NCAA Men\u2019s Water Polo Tournament, to be held November 29 \u2013 December 2 at Stanford\u2019s Avery Aquatic Center. Look to SW for in-depth stories and game recaps of all the action from this year\u2019s exciting NCAA men\u2019s varsity action.<\/em><\/p>\n

Play for 2016-2017 Western Water Polo Association<\/a> (WWPA) defending champions University of California at Davis opens on Saturday, September 1, as the Aggies travel East to take on Harvard in the Bruno Classic<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"wwpa-logo-apr-17\"According to Steve Doten<\/strong>, the WWPA Commissioner, 2018 will be a season of fine-tuning conference play, a process that has been ongoing since he arrived in 2017.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are working on improving the conference in every way possible and this year we are working with Bob Corb<\/strong><\/a> (NCAA Director of Officials), Mitch Carty<\/strong> (WWPA Director of Officials) and the National Evaluator\u2019s Group to raise our level of officiating,\u201d Doten said in an email to Swimming World<\/em>. \u201cLast year, we brought in referee headsets so the officials could communicate better. That was a big hit.\u201d<\/p>\n

As part of his effort to push his conference to a \u201chigher level,\u201d Doten was recently at Stanford for the Referee Coach Education School presented by Corb.<\/p>\n

\"doten\"

Photo Courtesy: Steve Doten<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cThe game is inherently competitive, we all know this, and our coaches and teams are very competitive,\u201d Doten said. \u201cWe also need to realize that\u2026 [c]ooperation between coaches, officials, etc. is the key to success. Through cooperation we become more competitive.\u201d<\/p>\n

No matter how the game is played and officiated, it will be hard to deny UC Davis a three-peat in 2018, though Doten notes that University of San Diego\u2019s Denny Harper<\/strong>\u2014currently the longest-tenured coach in NCAA varsity polo\u2014wants to get back to the NCAAs before he retires. With four teams<\/a> in the Collegiate Water Polo Associations 2018 Men’s Varsity pre-season poll,\u00a0 the prospects are good for an exciting 2018 WWPA season.<\/p>\n

Balancing Harper, with 38 years at UCSD, is Air Force\u2019s Ryan Brown<\/strong>, entering his first season<\/a> as the Falcon\u2019s coach.<\/p>\n

\"uc-davis-aggies\"<\/p>\n

UC Davis<\/strong><\/a> (#7 CWPA pre-season poll) has captured the WWPA\u2019s automatic NCCA qualifier spot the past two season, and 2016 + 2017 WWPA Coach of the Year Dan Leyson\u2019s<\/strong> latest squad appears poised for a third straight trip. Ido Goldschmidt<\/strong> (62 goals, 43 assists) led the Aggies last season, when the now-senior from Israel garnered All-America honors, He was also selected first-team All-Western Water Polo Association. Senior Marcus Anderson<\/strong> (45 goals, 35 assists) was close behind Goldschmidt on the UC Davis scoring chart. R.J. Quigley<\/strong> (21 starts, 114 saves, 8.7 goals against) returns to the Aggie nets this fall for his senior year.<\/p>\n

The Aggies sustained losses to graduation\u2014Spencer Galli<\/strong> (37 goals, 14 assists) and Morgan Olson-Fabbro<\/strong> (37 goals, 11 assists)\u2014but they\u2019ve more than compensated for them with eight newcomers. Among the class of 2022 are Seif Elmankabadi,<\/strong> a freshman from Thousand Oaks High, who will provide depth to the center position. More immediate help for the Aggies\u2019 pivot will come from Nir Gross<\/strong>, who followed his countryman Goldschmidt to Northern California.<\/p>\n

Perhaps the biggest question facing Keyson\u2019s squad is: having achieved a program high #8 poll spot in 2017, can they break through to the NCAA tournament\u2019s Final Four this season.<\/p>\n

Key Match-Up:<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong>Saturday, November 3 vs. UC San Diego<\/p>\n

\"uc-san-diego\"<\/p>\n

The past few season the WWPA has been a two-team race; the Tritons of UC San Diego<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0(#12 CWPA) had a run of three straight titles (2013-15) terminated by the Aggies in 2016. After a 6-1 WWPA regular season in 2017, UCSD is likely to again face UC Davis in the conference final. Before looking ahead, Harper will likely ensure his squad isn\u2019t over-taken by an improving Cal Baptist squad.<\/p>\n

Graduation claimed Arman Momdzhyan<\/strong> (54 goals), who was named ACWPC DII Player of the Year for the second consecutive year.<\/p>\n

Luckily, Harper\u2019s youthful 2017 squad (18 underclassmen) now has a year of experience to draw on. 2017 WWPA Freshman of the Year as well as an All-WWPA Second Team selection\u00a0Connor Turnbow-Lindenstadt<\/strong> (team-high 56 goals and 36 steals) will again lead the way. Juniors Skyler Munatones<\/strong> (25 goals, 29 assists), Alessandro Valania<\/strong> (17 goals, 19 assists, team-high 33 assists) and Cooper Milton<\/strong> (21 goals) will also provide leadership.<\/p>\n

Red-shirt junior Sam Thompson<\/strong> (225 saves), who started all 25 matches in the Triton net, returns for his third year after being named 2017 ACWPC All-America First Team goalie and All-WWPA First Team.<\/p>\n

Key Match-Up:<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong>Friday, October 5, Cal Baptist<\/p>\n

\"cal-baptist\"<\/p>\n

The Cal Baptist Lancers<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0(#16 CWPA) have been chasing the Aggies and the Tritons the past few seasons, and now may be the right moment for Kevin Rosa\u2019s<\/strong> squad to leapfrog both the Tritons and the Aggies and get to their first-ever NCAA men\u2019s water polo tournament.<\/p>\n

A key newcomer is\u00a0\u00a0Thomas Appel<\/strong>, a graduate student who played two seasons at California (2014, 2015)\u2014one of the country\u2019s best programs. He will join seniors goalie Tanner Shore<\/strong> (52 goals, team-high 43 assists), Kyle Christian<\/strong> (35 goals, 42 assists), Ryan Sargis<\/strong> (20 goals, 24 assists) and goalie Matt Miller<\/strong> (135 saves; 11.19 GAA) to provide the veteran leadership needed if the Lancers are to make it to the WWPA final.<\/p>\n

They\u2019ll need to overcome the loss to graduation of Jonny Lotero<\/strong> (87 goals, 14 assists), who led CBU in goals. Junior Dominick Nevarez<\/strong> (55 goals, 40 assists) returns, as does Gabe Throne<\/strong> (244 saves; 11.78 GAA) who will battle it out with Miller for the Lancers\u2019 top netminder job.<\/p>\n

Key Match-Up:<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong>Saturday, September 22, UC Davis<\/p>\n

\"air-force-logo\"<\/p>\n

A change in leadership at the Air Force Academy<\/strong><\/a> (tied for #20 CWPA) will have a profound impact on the present and future of Falcon polo. After seven years assisting Jeff Heidmous<\/strong>\u2014who retired<\/a> last spring after 25 years and 328 wins, the most in program history\u2014Ryan Brown<\/strong> ascends to the top spot on the Falcon bench. Brown’s new responsibilities will not be made easier with a freshmen-laden squad; 11 newcomers dot Brown\u2019s extended roster, with only three seniors are among the 33 players.<\/p>\n

Riley Thompson<\/strong> (46 goals, 27 assists), a first-team all-Western Water Polo Association selection, is gone as is Garrett Fisk<\/strong> (27 goals, 12 assists, team-high 18 steals), but senior Justin Harrison<\/strong> (40 goals, 9 assists) returns, as does junior Michael Miller<\/strong> (21 goals). Having sophomore James Burke (198 saves, 12.18 GAA) in nets will likely provide some comfort in Brown\u2019s inaugural season as Falcons’ head coach.<\/p>\n

Key Match-Up:<\/strong>\u00a0<\/strong>Saturday, September 8, U.S. Naval Academy at Princeton Invitational<\/p>\n

\"concordia-logo\"<\/p>\n

2017 turned out to be a very good year for Concordia<\/strong><\/a>; the question is will 2018 continue a positive upward trend for Head Coach Dreason Barry\u2019s<\/strong> squad? A relative newcomer to the WWPA after arriving in 2015, the Eagles delivered an impressive 12-11 record in 2017, including a 4-3 record in conference play after going winless the previous two season in WWPA play.<\/p>\n

Concordia will not be able to take conference foes by surprise this season\u2014but will be competitive with an experienced line-up of 14 upperclassmen, anchored by seniors Angel Rojas<\/strong> (41 goals, 45 steals, 9 assists) and goalie Alfredo De La Mora<\/strong> (180 saves). Dynamic sophomore Patrick Zsiros<\/strong> (37 goals, 11 assists, 21 steals) returns after a freshman campaign that saw the Hungarian native selected for the 2017 WWPA All Freshman Team<\/p>\n

Barry, who for his coaching efforts was awarded the\u00a02017 Monte Nitzkowski Distinguished Coaching Award, may again find a way to finish in the upper half of the conference. He\u2019ll have to do it without Spencer Hosch<\/strong> (34 goals, 12 assists, 22 steals).<\/p>\n

Key Match-Up:\u00a0<\/strong>Saturday, September 1, Air Force at Triton Invitational<\/p>\n

\"lmu-logo\"<\/p>\n

After finishing just ahead of last-place Fresno State in 2017, Loyola Marymount<\/strong><\/a> will look to move up in the WWPA. Success in 2018 for John Loughran\u2019s<\/strong> squad may rest on the Shaw brothers of Irvine, CA. Sophomore Joseph Shaw<\/strong> (29 goals, 27 assists) was second on the Lions in scoring; his brother Tim (45 saves, 10.09 GAA) backed up the now-graduated Dominick Beaudine<\/strong> (194 saves, 10.12 GAA). The red-shirt senior is the likely starter for LMU this season.<\/p>\n

The younger Shaw is part of a lion youth movement; fellow underclassmen\u00a0Alessio Brunocelli<\/strong> (36 goals, 11 assists) and Jacob Markle<\/strong> (17 goals) will combine with juniors Matt Braun<\/strong> (team-high 47 goals and 40 steals) and Austin Clark<\/strong> (29 goals, 8 assists) to help improve an LMU offense which tallied 227 goals last year, far behind CBU\u2019s conference-leading total of 446. Defense may also be an issue for the Lions, as their relatively stingy (288 goals) backline lost Beaudine.<\/p>\n

Key Match-Up:\u00a0<\/strong>Saturday, October 27 vs. Concordia<\/p>\n

\"santa-clara\"<\/p>\n

Santa Clara<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0returns\u00a0Sam Toriggino <\/strong>(17 goals), Reilley May <\/strong>(29 goals, 41 assists), Mac Carey<\/strong> (29 goals, 41 assists), Shane Hughes<\/strong> (22 goals, 27 assists), Patrick Kirk<\/strong> (32 goals, 8 assists) and Emil Huebner<\/strong> (25 games started, 163 saves, 226 goals allowed) from a Broncos squad that in 2017 went 8-17 and finished fifth in the WWPA.<\/p>\n

Lost to graduation are DeMarco Orella<\/strong> (26 goals, team-high 33 assists, 22 steals) and John Raineri<\/strong> (27 goals); Keith Wilbur\u2019s<\/strong> squad should have more than enough talent to avoid the WWPA basement. Question is, can they break into the upper half of the conference in 2018?<\/p>\n

Key Match-Up:\u00a0<\/strong>Saturday, November 3 vs. Loyola Marymount<\/p>\n

\"fresno-pacific\"<\/p>\n

Fresno Pacific<\/strong><\/a> has much to do this season to reverse two negative trends from 2017; goals scored and goals against. Last season, the Sunbirds scored 204 goals in going winless in the conference\u2014their second straight season without a WWPA victory. On the other side of the ball, Bryan Suhovy\u2019s<\/strong> team allowed 344 goals, second most in the conference behind Cal Baptist\u2014though the Lancers also scored a conference-high 446.<\/p>\n

Both Josh Ramage<\/strong> (14.20 GAA) and Joseph Costa<\/strong> (12.53 GAA) will need to do a better job in the Sunbirds\u2019 net. On offense seniors\u00a0Lazar Raca<\/strong> (30 goals, 37 assists, 34 steals), Kyle Eoff<\/strong> (season-high 46 goals;ACWPC Division II All-American First Team) and Richard Szepesi<\/strong> (30 goals, 15 assists) will need to boost their play if\u00a0Fresno Pacific\u2014which will host the 2018 WWPA Men’s Water Polo Tournament\u2014is to escape the conference cellar.<\/p>\n

The good news? Of Suhovy’s top scorers, only\u00a0Erik Brown<\/strong> (17 goals, 31 assists) was lost to graduation.<\/p>\n

Key Match-Up:\u00a0<\/strong>Wednesday, October 10 vs. Santa Clara<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Starting today, Swimming World will post previews of the six conferences that will send teams to the 2018 NCAA Men\u2019s Water Polo Tournament, to be held November 29 \u2013 December<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4875,"featured_media":326821,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"dois","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3,12],"tags":[10988,70421,65028,63435,63434,70422,70418,2829,63433,70428,70420,63429,20139,70423,2640,63428,70429,70426,30640,70427,70424,6842,63432,70425,50705,70419,66046,1401,63427],"class_list":["post-326804","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-water-polo","tag-air-force-academy","tag-arman-momdzhyan","tag-bob-corb","tag-bryan-suhovy","tag-concordia-water-polo","tag-connor-turnbow-lindenstadt","tag-dan-leyson","tag-denny-harper","tag-dreason-barry","tag-fresno-pacific","tag-ido-goldschmidt","tag-jeff-heidmous","tag-john-loughran","tag-jonny-lotero","tag-keith-wilbur","tag-kevin-rosa","tag-kyle-eoff","tag-loyola-marymount-water-polo","tag-matt-braun","tag-patrick-kirk","tag-riley-thompson","tag-ryan-brown","tag-santa-clara-water-polo","tag-spencer-hosch","tag-steve-doten","tag-uc-davis-mens-water-polo","tag-uc-san-diego-water-polo","tag-western-water-polo-association","tag-wwpa"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\r\n2018 Men\u2019s Water Polo Preview: The Western Water Polo Association - 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