{"id":402107,"date":"2019-11-14T10:00:18","date_gmt":"2019-11-14T17:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/?p=402107"},"modified":"2019-11-14T11:19:28","modified_gmt":"2019-11-14T18:19:28","slug":"southern-cal-is-1-in-ncaa-mens-water-polo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/southern-cal-is-1-in-ncaa-mens-water-polo\/","title":{"rendered":"CWPA Top 20 Comes Full Circle: Southern Cal is #1 in NCAA Men\u2019s Water Polo"},"content":{"rendered":"

The 2019 NCAA men\u2019s season reads much like a Hollywood script; the favorite gets pushed around by fresh-faced upstarts, stares blankly into an ignominious end to its season\u2014then rallies behind a grizzled veteran.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s no a script; it\u2019s Trojan pride<\/a> at its finest \u2014 which is why USC has emerged at the top of the latest Collegiate Water Polo Association Top 20 poll.<\/a> Given that the Trojans were #1 in the CWPA\u2019s preseason poll<\/a>, this is not really unexpected. What is surprising is that a down-on-its luck USC got back-to-back wins on consecutive weekends against Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) rivals Stanford and UCLA \u2014 who were each at the top of the CWPA poll until the Trojans beat them behind hat-tricks from senior sharpshooter Marin Dasic<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

As if to affirm that the hierarchy in NCAA men\u2019s polo is immutable, of the Big Four, only Cal has been displaced from the top of the polls. Stanford is tied with USC and UCLA is third in this week\u2019s poll \u2014almost identical to their standings in the preseason, when the Cardinal and Bruins were both ranked second. The Golden Bears are in an unfamiliar place \u2014 seventh in the country \u2014 but they could still rise up and shock their Pac-12 rivals in the MPSF tournament.<\/p>\n

\"harvard-triumphant-aug18\"

Harvard has to get this far to make this season really count. Photo Courtesy: M. Randazzo<\/p><\/div>\n

On the East Coast, Harvard has accomplished what no other NCAA varsity team has before: get through the regular season undefeated. At 27-0 it is by far the greatest season \u2014so far<\/a> \u2014 in Crimson history. Next up: The Northeast Water Polo Conference and a possible return to the national championship tournament.<\/p>\n

[After Hectic Weekend, NCAA Men\u2019s Water Polo Post-Season Picture Comes into Focus<\/em><\/a>]<\/p>\n

#1 (T) USC<\/strong> (12-4; 2-0); what makes this season so surreal is that the Trojans \u2014 in their first year with Marko Pintaric<\/strong> as head coach \u2014 have only lost to non-Pac-12 teams. They beat MPSF foe Cal in a non-conference match in September and have now beaten Stanford and UCLA, with one more conference match to play, this Saturday in Berkeley against the Golden Bears. It has been 28 years \u2014 1991 \u2014 when USC was coached by John Williams and staggering to a 14-15 record that the Trojans lost as many games to teams not in the Pac-12. Given the Lazarus act by Pintaric\u2019s team, it\u2019s hard to see them stumbling against Cal \u2014 or perhaps any other time this season. The win over UCLA last Saturday clinched the regular season title for USC, meaning it\u2019s highly likely the Trojans will be at NCAAs for the 20th straight year.<\/p>\n

#1 (T) Stanford<\/strong> (16-2; 1-1 MPSF); Ben Hallock<\/strong> (57 goals) is the conference’s leading scorer \u2014 and on track for another MPSF Player of the Year award. Tyler Abramson<\/strong> (49 goals) is right behind his Cardinal teammate, while goalie Andrew Chun<\/strong> has a sparkling 7.61 goals against average. But, if the Cardinal stumble this weekend against UCLA they will drop out of a tie for first, and will fall behind the Trojans and Bruins in the race for an NCAA title.<\/p>\n

#3 UCLA<\/strong> (16-2; 1-1 MPSF); just when it seemed that UCLA had a clear path to winning it all again, USC throws out a banana peel. Now the Bruins\u2019 hated rival is on top. What\u2019s surprising is not that they lost to the Trojans \u2014 in their head-to-head competition it\u2019s 87-83-1 in favor of the Bruins \u2014 but that they came out so flat against their arch-rival, falling behind 3-1 early and never catching up. On Saturday there\u2019s a trip up the coast to play Stanford, who UCLA lost to more than a month ago. Ashworth Molthen<\/strong> (34 goals, 39 assists) leads the Bruins, but it may be Nicolas Saveljic<\/strong> (hat trick against USC) who has to step-up if his team is going to walk out of Avery with a win.<\/p>\n

#4 Pacific<\/strong> (15-3; 4-0 GCC); should anyone feel sorry for the Tigers? They\u2019ve won four straight against conference foes \u2014 including ending a torrid Pepperdine winning streak \u2014 but have gotten pushed out of the NCAA at-large bid picture by USC. This likely burns Pacific Head Coach James Graham<\/strong> because his team has beaten the Trojans twice this season. And look who\u2019s at the top! A consolation is a 19-9 win over UC Irvine last Saturday that clinched the GCC regular season title and made the Tigers the top seed in the playoffs for the second straight year. But, they were number one in their conference last year, got upset by Long Beach State in the GCC final \u2014 and missed NCAAs.<\/p>\n

\"September

UCSB’s Cole Brosnan. Photo Courtesy: Catharyn Hayne<\/p><\/div>\n

#5 UC Santa Barbara<\/strong> (19-5; 3-1 GCC); like the Tigers, there\u2019s only one path to NCAA for the Gauchos; win the GCC tournament and capture the conference\u2019s automatic bid. That\u2019s a distinct possibility for a UCSB program that’s won four straight after a five-match losing streak. First, the Gauchos have a chance to beat Pepperdine for the fourth time in 2019; the last time they won four times in a season against one team was UCLA in 1979. The last win was for the national championship.<\/p>\n

[Remembering the Remarkable \u201979 UCSB Gauchos\u2014NCAA Men\u2019s Water Polo Champs<\/em><\/a>]<\/p>\n

#6 Pepperdine<\/strong> (21-7; 3-1 GCC); having won 11 of 13 matches, the Waves are on their best run of the season. Last Saturday they escaped with a 10-9 win over Long Beach State on the strength of Chris Dilworth\u2019s<\/strong> hat trick. The senior has gotten hot lately, with five goals during a four-game win streak to push his season total to 32. But it\u2019s Balazs Kosa<\/strong> and Marko Asic<\/strong> who have been the difference makers for Head Coach Terry Schroeder<\/strong>\u2014and he\u2019ll need all the scoring he can get for his team to beat high-scoring UC Santa Barbara.<\/p>\n

[From the Vault: Pepperdine\u2019s Schroeder Talks NCAA Water Polo, 2016 US Olympic Men, MPSF & GCC Split<\/em><\/a>]<\/p>\n

#7 Cal-Berkeley<\/strong> (12-9; 0-2 MPSF); there\u2019s only one pathway for the Golden Bears to the national championship; win the MPSF tournament, something they haven’t done since 2006. After a 15-8 loss last weekend to cross-Bay rival Stanford, Cal will host a red-hot USC squad this Saturday. The MPSF playoffs start on November 22; Cal will kick it off with a match against either Austin College or Penn State Behrend.<\/p>\n

#8 Long Beach State<\/strong> (14-12; 1-3 GCC); the 49ers have played ten games decided by two goals or less \u2014 and lost half of them. This just may not be their year; they close out the regular season with matches against Loyola Marymount Thursday and UC Irvine Saturday. Then, it’s on to the GCC tournament, which LBS won last year.<\/p>\n

#9 Harvard<\/strong> (27-0; 10-0 NWPC); it\u2019s been the greatest regular season in program history, but it will be for naught if the Crimson don\u2019t get back to NCAA for the third time in the past four seasons. Convincing wins last weekend over conference rivals Brown and MIT demonstrate that Head Coach Ted Minnis<\/strong> has his troops ready for a deep dive in NCAAs. Up next: the NWPC playoffs hosted by MIT; Harvard gets a bye into the semifinals.<\/p>\n

[Winning is Contagious: Ted Minnis and Charlie Owens of Harvard Men\u2019s Water Polo<\/em><\/a>]<\/p>\n

#10 UC Davis<\/strong> (13-7; 7-0 WWPA); a big win last Saturday over WWPA rival UC San Diego sets the Aggies up for the top seed in their conference tournament. They\u2019ll face Fresno Pacific on November 22; if they win this year it will be UCD\u2019s third trip to NCAAs in four years.<\/p>\n

#11 UC San Diego<\/strong> (18-7; 6-1 WWPA); a deflating loss last Saturday to UC Davis puts UCSD in a first-round playoff match against Air Force. The WWPA tournament is a toss-up between the Tritons and the Aggies; they\u2019ve met in the past four conference finals, with the teams splitting the results. Which team will break the tie? Will both even advance?<\/p>\n

#12 San Jose State<\/strong> (7-17; 1-3); a regular season-ending match against Pacific will determine where the Spartans are seeded for their conference tournament. They\u2019ve yet to finish above the bottom of the GCC; this is the year SJSU can beat out UC Irvine and move up the ranks of their conference pecking order.<\/p>\n

#13 Loyola Marymount<\/strong> (13-10; 5-2); the Lions could be spoilers in the upcoming WWPA playoffs. First, there\u2019s a match against Long Beach State, then they\u2019ll open their conference tournament against Santa Clara, who LMU beat earlier this season. What will make for great theater is if the Lions face UCSD in the WWPA semifinals; they own a one-goal win over the Tritons earlier this season.<\/p>\n

#14 UC Irvine<\/strong> (7-13; 0-4 GCC); a 16-5 win over Concordia snapped an Anteater ten-match losing streak. They have a final regular season match against conference rival Long Beach State, then it\u2019s on to the playoffs, where UCI \u2014 seeded last \u2014 will open against either Pepperdine or UC Santa Barbara.<\/p>\n

\"destici-gw-nov18\"

GW’s Atakan Destici. Photo Courtesy: George Washington Athletics<\/p><\/div>\n

#15 Bucknell (<\/strong>18-8; 9-2 MAWPC); a loss last Sunday to George Washington will make a match this Saturday against Fordham decisive in determining the conference\u2019s top seed. Bucknell owns a home victory over the Rams earlier this season; the Bronx won\u2019t be so inviting to the visiting Bison.<\/p>\n

#16 Fordham<\/strong> (22-5; 8-2 MAWPC); with seven straight wins, the Rams are one of the hottest team in the East. A win Saturday against visiting Bucknell will give the Rams their first conference title since 2009 \u2014 and demonstrate that they\u2019re fit enough to qualify for the national championship for the first time ever.<\/p>\n

#17 Cal Baptist<\/strong> (15-14; 4-3 WWPA); at one point the Lancers had an unsightly 5-11 record. But a 10-3 sprint has boosted their hopes considerably. Locked into the third spot in their upcoming playoffs, Cal Baptist will face Concordia \u2014 who they\u2019ve already beaten twice \u2014 and will likely face UC Davis in the WWPA semifinal. This is not a slam-dunk match for the conference top seed; CBU is very competitive at home, and they\u2019re hosting at the Lancer Aquatic Center.<\/p>\n

#18 George Washington<\/strong> (20-8; 9-3 MAWPC); an unexpected loss to Navy appears to have kept the Colonials down in the polls, but the performances that stick out are a win over Fordham without star striker Atakan Destici<\/strong>, and a win last Sunday over Bucknell, where Destici had a hat trick. GW now has two weeks to rest up before the MAWPC tournament, where they\u2019ll look to capture a third-straight title; what\u2019s still in doubt is where they\u2019ll be seeded. At the moment, they\u2019re third behind Bucknell and Fordham who face off Saturday.<\/p>\n

#19 (T) Princeton<\/strong> (15-14; 7-3 NWPC); after playing the toughest schedule in the East \u2014 with matches against Western powers Stanford, UCLA, USC and UC San Diego \u2014 the question for the Tigers is: are they good enough to beat Harvard? If the seeding holds for the NWPC tournament they\u2019ll face the Crimson in the final for the third-straight time. That’s the match that all this season\u2019s prep has been meant for.<\/p>\n

19 (T) Brown<\/strong> (20-11; 6-4 NWPC); a late season sprint, where the Bears won 11 of 13, has positioned them to avoid Harvard in the NWPC semifinals. But, that means they\u2019ll face the Tigers, with whom they have split two matches this season. Right now, everyone in the conference is second to Harvard; a 10-4 loss last Saturday suggests Brown is not at the same level as the Crimson. But Head Coach Felix Mercado<\/strong> hopes that conference play is a different story; first the Bears have to get past Iona on November 22nd.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The 2019 NCAA men\u2019s season reads much like a Hollywood script; the favorite gets pushed around by fresh-faced upstarts, stares blankly into an ignominious end to its season\u2014then rallies behind<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4875,"featured_media":402113,"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":[47733,75949,72615,64818,71400,47734,1834,5007,9363,106888,3028,108428,63407,66014,1312,61199,549,63383,107100,109708,70526,378,60192,1168,61248,63748,63330,72479,82874,3025,63384,327,60622,382,67317,4164,60916,61,328,54416],"class_list":["post-402107","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-water-polo","tag-andrew-chun","tag-anteaters","tag-ashworth-molthen","tag-atakan-destici","tag-balazs-kosa","tag-ben-hallock","tag-brown","tag-cal","tag-cal-baptist","tag-chris-dilworth","tag-collegiate-water-polo-association","tag-cwpa-top-20","tag-felix-mercado","tag-gcc","tag-george-washington","tag-golden-coast-conference","tag-harvard","tag-james-graham","tag-loyola-marymount","tag-marin-dasic","tag-marko-asic","tag-marko-pintaric","tag-michael-randazzo","tag-mountain-pacific-sports-federation","tag-mpsf","tag-nicolas-saveljic","tag-northeast-water-polo-conference","tag-nwpc","tag-pepperdine","tag-princeton","tag-san-jose-state","tag-stanford","tag-ted-minnis","tag-terry-schroeder","tag-tyler-abramson","tag-uc-irvine","tag-uc-santa-barbara","tag-ucla","tag-usc","tag-water-polo"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\r\nCWPA Top 20 Comes Full Circle: Southern Cal is #1 in NCAA Men\u2019s Water Polo - Swimming World<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The 2019 NCAA men\u2019s water polo season icoud be made in Hollywood; USC falls early, plays its best late\u2014and rises to #1 in the CWPA Top 20 behind late wins.\" \/>\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\/southern-cal-is-1-in-ncaa-mens-water-polo\/\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"CWPA Top 20 Comes Full Circle: Southern Cal is #1 in NCAA Men\u2019s Water Polo\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The 2019 NCAA men\u2019s water polo season icoud be made in Hollywood; USC falls early, plays its best late\u2014and rises to #1 in the CWPA Top 20 behind late wins.\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/southern-cal-is-1-in-ncaa-mens-water-polo\/\" \/>\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=\"2019-11-14T17:00:18+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-11-14T18:19:28+00:00\" \/>\r\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/dasic-usc-nov19.jpg\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2000\" \/>\r\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1125\" \/>\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=\"10 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\/southern-cal-is-1-in-ncaa-mens-water-polo\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/southern-cal-is-1-in-ncaa-mens-water-polo\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Michael Randazzo\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/fb1d58ba008040c3ad837f46defed7bb\"},\"headline\":\"CWPA Top 20 Comes Full Circle: Southern Cal is #1 in NCAA Men\u2019s Water Polo\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-11-14T17:00:18+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-11-14T18:19:28+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/southern-cal-is-1-in-ncaa-mens-water-polo\/\"},\"wordCount\":1971,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/southern-cal-is-1-in-ncaa-mens-water-polo\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/vmrw8k5h.tinifycdn.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/11\/dasic-usc-nov19.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Andrew Chun\",\"Anteaters\",\"Ashworth Molthen\",\"Atakan Destici\",\"Balazs Kosa\",\"Ben Hallock\",\"Brown\",\"Cal\",\"Cal Baptist\",\"Chris Dilworth\",\"Collegiate Water Polo Association\",\"CWPA Top 20\",\"Felix Mercado\",\"GCC\",\"George Washington\",\"Golden Coast Conference\",\"Harvard\",\"James Graham\",\"Loyola Marymount\",\"Marin Dasic\",\"Marko Asic\",\"Marko Pintaric\",\"Michael Randazzo\",\"Mountain Pacific Sports Federation\",\"MPSF\",\"Nicolas Saveljic\",\"Northeast Water Polo Conference\",\"NWPC\",\"Pepperdine\",\"Princeton\",\"San Jose State\",\"Stanford\",\"Ted Minnis\",\"Terry Schroeder\",\"Tyler Abramson\",\"UC Irvine\",\"UC Santa Barbara\",\"UCLA\",\"USC\",\"Water Polo\"],\"articleSection\":[\"-Home Slider\",\"Water Polo\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/southern-cal-is-1-in-ncaa-mens-water-polo\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/southern-cal-is-1-in-ncaa-mens-water-polo\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.swimmingworldmagazine.com\/news\/southern-cal-is-1-in-ncaa-mens-water-polo\/\",\"name\":\"CWPA Top 20 Comes Full Circle: Southern Cal is #1 in NCAA Men\u2019s Water Polo - 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