{"id":336031,"date":"2018-11-03T04:45:38","date_gmt":"2018-11-03T11:45:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=336031"},"modified":"2018-11-03T06:09:24","modified_gmt":"2018-11-03T13:09:24","slug":"mpsf-battles-take-center-stage-as-2018-mens-water-polo-regular-season-winds-down","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/mpsf-battles-take-center-stage-as-2018-mens-water-polo-regular-season-winds-down\/","title":{"rendered":"MPSF Battles Take Center Stage as 2018 Men\u2019s Water Polo Regular Season Winds Down"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Michael Randazzo, Swimming World Contributor<\/em><\/p>\n

With one week remaining, a pair of match-ups in Los Angeles today between Mountain Pacific Sports Federation<\/a> (MPSF) rivals set the stage for a compelling finish to the 2018 NCAA men\u2019s 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<\/a> (WWPA) contest<\/p>\n

The biggest change in this week\u2019s Collegiate Water Polo Association Men\u2019s Varsity Top Ten<\/a> saw Cal dislodging UCLA from the #3 spot, the result of a 9-7 win over the Bruins last Saturday in Berkeley. There\u2019s no rest for the Golden Bears<\/a> (16-3; 1-0 MPSF) as they travel south this weekend for another MPSF clash, this time against #1 University of Southern California<\/a> (24-1; 0-1 MPSF). Today\u2019s clash will be broadcast on the Pac 12 Network<\/a> 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<\/strong> 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\u2019s National Team. Since returning, he\u2019s scored 39 goals in 10 matches, including two against UCLA last week.<\/p>\n

Cal Head Coach Kirk Everist<\/strong> will need more than Hooper and lefty Safak Simsek<\/strong>\u2014good for 38 scores this season\u2014to 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<\/strong> and Marko Vavic<\/strong>. Throw in freshman Hannes Daube\u2019s<\/strong> 45 scores and 26 from junior Matt Maier<\/strong> and 25 from senior Zach D’Sa<\/strong> and it\u2019s easy to understand how Jovan Vavic\u2019s team is averaging almost 17 goals a game.<\/p>\n

\"hooper-mpsf-ucsb-oct18\"

Everyone wants to stop Johnny Hooper; can USC succeed? Photo Courtesy: Catharyn Hayne<\/p><\/div>\n

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\u2019 national title aspirations is that Nic Porter<\/strong> has settled in as Vavic\u2019s top net-minding option over fellow freshman Sam Krutonog<\/strong> and sophomore transfer Vaios Vlahotasios<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Stanford is a consolation prize (of sorts) for UCLA after their loss to Cal. The Bruins<\/a> (19-2; 0-1 MPSF) have already played the Cardinal<\/a> (17-1; 1-0) once; an 8-7 non-conference loss in the semifinals of the Mountain Pacific Invitational at Avery Aquatic Center. Today\u2019s 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<\/strong> 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.<\/p>\n

The Bruins have a pair of sensational sophomores of their own; Nicolas Saveljic<\/strong> has 34 goals to lead the team and fellow soph Quinten Osborne<\/strong> is second with 33. However, another low-scoring affair may be in order today; UCLA\u2019s Alex Wolf<\/strong> leads the MPSF in goals against average (6.47) while Oliver Lewis<\/strong> 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\u2014next week in Berkeley\u2014remaining before the MPSF Tournament. Another loss will put Adam Wright\u2019s squad behind the pack with their big rivalry game against USC also taking place next Saturday.<\/p>\n

\"savelijc-ucla-sep18\"

A thunder strike from UCLA’s Nicolas Saveljic. Photo Courtesy: Nicole Maloney<\/p><\/div>\n

Despite a loss last week to top-ranked USC, the Tigers of Pacific<\/a> (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<\/strong> (64 on the year) but could not overcome scores from Garrett Zaan<\/strong> and Max Cusator<\/strong> (three goals on the day) to drop a crucial Golden Coast Conference<\/a> match-up. The big win snaps a five-game losing streak for the 49ers<\/a> (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<\/a> (18-8; 3-1 GCC).<\/p>\n

The Gauchos scored a decisive 14-9 win over UC Irvine yesterday behind hat tricks by Boris Jovanovic<\/strong> (78 goals) and Ivan Gvozdanovic<\/strong> (48). A home win next week over #7 Pepperdine will position UCSB Head Coach Wolf Wigo\u2019s<\/strong> 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\u2019s tournament.<\/p>\n

\"October

UCSB’s Wigo remain’s composed while his Gauchos stay hot. Photo Courtesy: Catharyn Hayne<\/p><\/div>\n

Don\u2019t expect the Waves to roll over for UCSB; Pepperdine<\/a> (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<\/strong> would like nothing more than to reward the\u00a0Wave faithful with his program’s second GCC title in three years.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s<\/strong> squad already owns a 12-11 win this season over UC San Diego\u2014a non-conference match two weeks ago at the MPSF Invitational. The only blemish on Denny Harper\u2019s<\/strong> 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\u2019s seat for the WWPA Tournament, to be hosted starting November 16 by Fresno Pacific.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4875,"featured_media":336034,"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":[47732,47734,70533,63511,70418,2829,68435,66899,70534,64874,62272,7060,65987,64812,62606,47737,71972,60192,71291,63748,71293,63372,61418,66894,64928,69574,60272,382,63426,66046,67121,61959,63503,71971,559,64930],"class_list":["post-336031","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-water-polo","tag-alex-wolf","tag-ben-hallock","tag-boris-jovanovic","tag-cal-water-polo","tag-dan-leyson","tag-denny-harper","tag-garrett-zaan","tag-hannes-daube","tag-ivan-gvozdanovic","tag-jacob-mercep","tag-johnny-hooper","tag-kirk-everist","tag-long-beach-state-water-polo","tag-luke-pavillard","tag-marko-vavic","tag-matt-maier","tag-max-cusator","tag-michael-randazzo","tag-nic-porter","tag-nicolas-saveljic","tag-oliver-lewis","tag-pacific-water-polo","tag-pepperdine-water-polo","tag-quinten-osborne","tag-safak-simsek","tag-sam-krutonog","tag-stanford-water-polo","tag-terry-schroeder","tag-uc-davis-water-polo","tag-uc-san-diego-water-polo","tag-uc-santa-barbara-water-polo","tag-ucla-water-polo","tag-usc-water-polo","tag-vaios-vlahotasios","tag-wolf-wigo","tag-zach-dsa"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\r\nMPSF Battles Take Center Stage as 2018 Men\u2019s Water Polo Regular Season Winds Down - Swimming World<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"With 1 week left, a pair of match-ups in Los Angeles between MPSF rivals promise a compelling end to the 2018 men\u2019s water polo regular season\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/mpsf-battles-take-center-stage-as-2018-mens-water-polo-regular-season-winds-down\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"MPSF Battles Take Center Stage as 2018 Men\u2019s Water Polo Regular Season Winds Down\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"With 1 week left, a pair of match-ups in Los Angeles between MPSF rivals promise a compelling end to the 2018 men\u2019s water polo regular season\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/mpsf-battles-take-center-stage-as-2018-mens-water-polo-regular-season-winds-down\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Swimming World\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SwimmingWorld\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-11-03T11:45:38+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-11-03T13:09:24+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/porter-usc-nov18.jpeg\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2200\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1467\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Michael Randazzo\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@swimmingworld\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@swimmingworld\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Michael Randazzo\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\r\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/mpsf-battles-take-center-stage-as-2018-mens-water-polo-regular-season-winds-down\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/mpsf-battles-take-center-stage-as-2018-mens-water-polo-regular-season-winds-down\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Michael Randazzo\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/fb1d58ba008040c3ad837f46defed7bb\"},\"headline\":\"MPSF Battles Take Center Stage as 2018 Men\u2019s Water Polo Regular Season Winds Down\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-11-03T11:45:38+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-11-03T13:09:24+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/mpsf-battles-take-center-stage-as-2018-mens-water-polo-regular-season-winds-down\/\"},\"wordCount\":1089,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/mpsf-battles-take-center-stage-as-2018-mens-water-polo-regular-season-winds-down\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/porter-usc-nov18.jpeg\",\"keywords\":[\"Alex Wolf\",\"Ben Hallock\",\"Boris Jovanovic\",\"Cal Water Polo\",\"Dan Leyson\",\"Denny Harper\",\"Garrett Zaan\",\"Hannes Daube\",\"Ivan Gvozdanovic\",\"Jacob Mercep\",\"Johnny Hooper\",\"Kirk Everist\",\"Long Beach State Water Polo\",\"Luke Pavillard\",\"Marko Vavic\",\"Matt Maier\",\"Max Cusator\",\"Michael Randazzo\",\"Nic Porter\",\"Nicolas Saveljic\",\"Oliver Lewis\",\"Pacific Water Polo\",\"Pepperdine Water Polo\",\"Quinten Osborne\",\"Safak Simsek\",\"Sam Krutonog\",\"Stanford Water Polo\",\"Terry Schroeder\",\"UC Davis Water Polo\",\"UC San Diego Water Polo\",\"UC Santa Barbara Water Polo\",\"UCLA Water Polo\",\"USC Water Polo\",\"Vaios Vlahotasios\",\"Wolf Wigo\",\"Zach D'Sa\"],\"articleSection\":[\"-Home Slider\",\"Water Polo\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/mpsf-battles-take-center-stage-as-2018-mens-water-polo-regular-season-winds-down\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/mpsf-battles-take-center-stage-as-2018-mens-water-polo-regular-season-winds-down\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/mpsf-battles-take-center-stage-as-2018-mens-water-polo-regular-season-winds-down\/\",\"name\":\"MPSF Battles Take Center Stage as 2018 Men\u2019s Water Polo Regular Season Winds Down - Swimming World\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/mpsf-battles-take-center-stage-as-2018-mens-water-polo-regular-season-winds-down\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/mpsf-battles-take-center-stage-as-2018-mens-water-polo-regular-season-winds-down\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/porter-usc-nov18.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-11-03T11:45:38+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-11-03T13:09:24+00:00\",\"description\":\"With 1 week left, a pair of match-ups in Los Angeles between MPSF rivals promise a compelling end to the 2018 men\u2019s water polo regular season\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/mpsf-battles-take-center-stage-as-2018-mens-water-polo-regular-season-winds-down\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/mpsf-battles-take-center-stage-as-2018-mens-water-polo-regular-season-winds-down\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/mpsf-battles-take-center-stage-as-2018-mens-water-polo-regular-season-winds-down\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/porter-usc-nov18.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/porter-usc-nov18.jpeg\",\"width\":2200,\"height\":1467,\"caption\":\"Photo Courtesy: Catharyn Hayne \/ USC Athletics\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/mpsf-battles-take-center-stage-as-2018-mens-water-polo-regular-season-winds-down\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"MPSF Battles Take Center Stage as 2018 Men\u2019s Water Polo Regular Season Winds Down\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Swimming World\",\"description\":\"The Global Leader in Aquatic News\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Swimming World\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/SWorld_BLKBKG-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/SWorld_BLKBKG-1.jpg\",\"width\":1799,\"height\":900,\"caption\":\"Swimming World\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SwimmingWorld\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/swimmingworld\",\"https:\/\/instagram.com\/swimmingworldmag\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/SwimmingWorldSPI\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/fb1d58ba008040c3ad837f46defed7bb\",\"name\":\"Michael Randazzo\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f34baabfc0ac0cea197ffefec898a876?s=96&d=blank&r=pg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f34baabfc0ac0cea197ffefec898a876?s=96&d=blank&r=pg\",\"caption\":\"Michael Randazzo\"},\"description\":\"Michael Randazzo is a freelance contributor at Swimming World focusing on water polo. He covers polo all over the United States for SW and other publications, including the Collegiate Water Polo Association, Skip Shot, The New York Times, Total Water Polo, Water Polo Planet and others. He lives in Brooklyn with his wife and two children and roots for St. Francis Brooklyn polo.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/author\/michael-randazzo\/\"}]}<\/script>\r\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"MPSF Battles Take Center Stage as 2018 Men\u2019s Water Polo Regular Season Winds Down - Swimming World","description":"With 1 week left, a pair of match-ups in Los Angeles between MPSF rivals promise a compelling end to the 2018 men\u2019s water polo regular season","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/mpsf-battles-take-center-stage-as-2018-mens-water-polo-regular-season-winds-down\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"MPSF Battles Take Center Stage as 2018 Men\u2019s Water Polo Regular Season Winds Down","og_description":"With 1 week left, a pair of match-ups in Los Angeles between MPSF rivals promise a compelling end to the 2018 men\u2019s water polo regular season","og_url":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/mpsf-battles-take-center-stage-as-2018-mens-water-polo-regular-season-winds-down\/","og_site_name":"Swimming World","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SwimmingWorld","article_published_time":"2018-11-03T11:45:38+00:00","article_modified_time":"2018-11-03T13:09:24+00:00","og_image":[{"width":2200,"height":1467,"url":"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/porter-usc-nov18.jpeg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Michael Randazzo","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@swimmingworld","twitter_site":"@swimmingworld","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Michael Randazzo","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/mpsf-battles-take-center-stage-as-2018-mens-water-polo-regular-season-winds-down\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/mpsf-battles-take-center-stage-as-2018-mens-water-polo-regular-season-winds-down\/"},"author":{"name":"Michael Randazzo","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/fb1d58ba008040c3ad837f46defed7bb"},"headline":"MPSF Battles Take Center Stage as 2018 Men\u2019s Water Polo Regular Season Winds Down","datePublished":"2018-11-03T11:45:38+00:00","dateModified":"2018-11-03T13:09:24+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/mpsf-battles-take-center-stage-as-2018-mens-water-polo-regular-season-winds-down\/"},"wordCount":1089,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/mpsf-battles-take-center-stage-as-2018-mens-water-polo-regular-season-winds-down\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/porter-usc-nov18.jpeg","keywords":["Alex Wolf","Ben Hallock","Boris Jovanovic","Cal Water Polo","Dan Leyson","Denny Harper","Garrett Zaan","Hannes Daube","Ivan Gvozdanovic","Jacob Mercep","Johnny Hooper","Kirk Everist","Long Beach State Water Polo","Luke Pavillard","Marko Vavic","Matt Maier","Max Cusator","Michael Randazzo","Nic Porter","Nicolas Saveljic","Oliver Lewis","Pacific Water Polo","Pepperdine Water Polo","Quinten Osborne","Safak Simsek","Sam Krutonog","Stanford Water Polo","Terry Schroeder","UC Davis Water Polo","UC San Diego Water Polo","UC Santa Barbara Water Polo","UCLA Water Polo","USC Water Polo","Vaios Vlahotasios","Wolf Wigo","Zach D'Sa"],"articleSection":["-Home Slider","Water Polo"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/mpsf-battles-take-center-stage-as-2018-mens-water-polo-regular-season-winds-down\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/mpsf-battles-take-center-stage-as-2018-mens-water-polo-regular-season-winds-down\/","url":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/mpsf-battles-take-center-stage-as-2018-mens-water-polo-regular-season-winds-down\/","name":"MPSF Battles Take Center Stage as 2018 Men\u2019s Water Polo Regular Season Winds Down - Swimming World","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/mpsf-battles-take-center-stage-as-2018-mens-water-polo-regular-season-winds-down\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/mpsf-battles-take-center-stage-as-2018-mens-water-polo-regular-season-winds-down\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/porter-usc-nov18.jpeg","datePublished":"2018-11-03T11:45:38+00:00","dateModified":"2018-11-03T13:09:24+00:00","description":"With 1 week left, a pair of match-ups in Los Angeles between MPSF rivals promise a compelling end to the 2018 men\u2019s water polo regular season","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/mpsf-battles-take-center-stage-as-2018-mens-water-polo-regular-season-winds-down\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/mpsf-battles-take-center-stage-as-2018-mens-water-polo-regular-season-winds-down\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/mpsf-battles-take-center-stage-as-2018-mens-water-polo-regular-season-winds-down\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/porter-usc-nov18.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/porter-usc-nov18.jpeg","width":2200,"height":1467,"caption":"Photo Courtesy: Catharyn Hayne \/ USC Athletics"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/mpsf-battles-take-center-stage-as-2018-mens-water-polo-regular-season-winds-down\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"MPSF Battles Take Center Stage as 2018 Men\u2019s Water Polo Regular Season Winds Down"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/","name":"Swimming World","description":"The Global Leader in Aquatic News","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#organization","name":"Swimming World","url":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/SWorld_BLKBKG-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/SWorld_BLKBKG-1.jpg","width":1799,"height":900,"caption":"Swimming World"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/SwimmingWorld","https:\/\/x.com\/swimmingworld","https:\/\/instagram.com\/swimmingworldmag\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/SwimmingWorldSPI"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/fb1d58ba008040c3ad837f46defed7bb","name":"Michael Randazzo","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f34baabfc0ac0cea197ffefec898a876?s=96&d=blank&r=pg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/f34baabfc0ac0cea197ffefec898a876?s=96&d=blank&r=pg","caption":"Michael Randazzo"},"description":"Michael Randazzo is a freelance contributor at Swimming World focusing on water polo. He covers polo all over the United States for SW and other publications, including the Collegiate Water Polo Association, Skip Shot, The New York Times, Total Water Polo, Water Polo Planet and others. He lives in Brooklyn with his wife and two children and roots for St. Francis Brooklyn polo.","url":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/author\/michael-randazzo\/"}]}},"cc_featured_image_caption":{"caption_text":"USC's Nic Porter is totally focused on Trojan success in 2018. Photo Courtesy: Catharyn Hayne ","source_text":"","source_url":""},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/porter-usc-nov18.jpeg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p56Jja-1ppR","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/336031","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4875"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=336031"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/336031\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/336034"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=336031"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=336031"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=336031"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}