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As Napoleon Bonaparte once said: “History is made by the winners”. This season, the Cal men’s water polo team has certainly made a lot of history.
Junior goalkeeper Adrian Weinberg became the first MPSF player that season to record more than 20 saves in a game and the 14th goalkeeper in MPSF history to record a game with 20 saves.
With 60 goals and 98 earned throws at the top of the rankings, the Nikolaos Papanikolaou junior center was named MPSF Player of the Year for the second time in a row.
Freshman attacker Roberto Valera was named MPSF Newcomer of the Year and became the first player in MPSF history to receive Newcomer of the Week for five weeks. Cal was also the first team to win the weekly MPSF awards for five weeks in one season.
“We feel very ready for the MPSF Championships,” said Senior Utility and All-American Jack Deely. “At the moment everyone is super fit. Our identity is pretty solid and we carry it out. “
Being number 1 means Cal has a bye in the first round of the MPSF championships. The team is scheduled to play the semi-final game on Saturday, November 20 at 9:30 a.m. PST. The start time of the game on Sunday depends on the result of the semi-finals.
Below is a brief breakdown of the teams Blue and Gold may face this weekend.
No. 5/6 seeds: Austin College, Penn State Behrend
The Austin College Kangaroos had a mediocre season with an overall record of 6-8. You won a game against Penn State Behrend Lions a few weeks earlier, but have not yet won a duel with a Division I team. Meanwhile, the Lions haven’t won this season and are currently on a losing streak of 18. Whether they can claim a win before the end of the season is up in the air in Palo Alto.
No. 4 seeds: Stanford
As the host of the MPSF Championships, Stanford will be under a lot of pressure to bring the crown home. However, it has yet to win against the tournament’s three seeded teams. Graduate student Tyler Abramson, the Cardinal’s top scorer and runner-up in conference for total goals scored, will seek fame at home. Second year goalkeeper Nolon Krutonog takes second place in the MPSF for his saves this season and will be a key player for Stanford this weekend.
No. 3 seeds: UCLA
After losing to USC 7-8 and Cal 9-16, the UCLA Bruins will try to redeem themselves. The Bruins are currently in the running for the MPSF title with a record of 16-3 and a conference record of 1-2. With nine players on the MPSF leaderboards, UCLA must do its best to beat the best.
No. 2 seeds: USC
As the only team in the conference to end with a win against Cal, USC is possibly the greatest threat Cal faces this weekend in Palo Alto. The Trojans and Bears are on opposite sides of the bracket, however, and whether they have a third showdown this season depends entirely on the results of all the teams. Senior goalkeeper Nic Porter is currently the first in the conference with a savings rate of 0.584 so he will be one to look out for.
After a regular season full of “premieres”, it is no surprise that the Bears go into the MPSF championships as # 1 seed. While they are also currently the nation’s top-ranked team, a number of worthy opponents await them at Stanford. Blue and Gold need to be prepared better than ever if they are to get away with victory.
Yuqing Qiu includes men’s water polo. Contact them at [email protected].
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https://www.dailycal.org/2021/11/18/rested-and-ready-bears-travel-to-palo-alto-for-mpsf-championships/
