San Jose State 11-7 over Davis. Gyapjas with 19 saves. Just incredible.
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Wow. That’s an incredible result for San Jose State. That team will go as far as Gyapjas takes them, which can be far…
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Pro Recco 19-9 vs Princeton
FTC 19-7 vs Fordham
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Recco vs FTC being streamed on ESPN+
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what a treasure Max Irving turned out to be. Might be our most valuable player after Hallock
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Week 2 is in the books: I’ll take another jab at the rankings:
1. UCLA (7-0): Last week, UCLA beat Fordham 16–9, Bucknell 24–10, GW 21–6, CBU 21–5. It’s only Week 2, but Adam Wright’s team looks like it’s already playing in midseason form. They are clicking on all cylinders, particularly on the defensive end, where they have been a menace for opposing defenses. 6.5 goals allowed per game through 7 games. Their top seven of R. Dodd, C. Dodd, B. Leichty, Castillo, Tico Carsalade, and Carson/Larsen are incredible. And you can’t forget about Szécsi, Sherlock, Brinkema, E. Leichty, and Carson/Larsen. The fact that UCLA only lost to Recco 16–11 is telling. Next week, they play UCI, Harvard, and Pepperdine at home. Expect a 10–0 start for UCLA as they head into the MPSF invite the weekend after, where they should play two of the Big four teams.
2. USC (6-0): Last week, USC beat LBSU 13-9 and Pepperdine 13-8. It is clear that USC isn’t as relentless as UCLA and is probably a tier below them right now, but likely still in their own tier. After going up 7-2 at halftime vs Pepperdine, they allowed Pepp to crawl back into the game. Against UCLA, they need to play a complete 32 minute game and they need to start building these habits early. One clear advantage that USC has compared to most other teams is at goalie. This weekend, Charlie Mills had 14 saves against LBSU and Herzer had 15 against Pepperdine. In a little surprised that Mills got the LBSU nod considering that was the more difficult game. However, the competition between them is a luxury and is going to make them both better and in the NCAA tournament, a great goalie who is hot can win it all for you. This week, USC plays at UCI before co-hosting the MPSF invite with UCLA the following weekend.
3. Stanford (3-0): Last week, Stanford beat Davis 12-6. Di Martire scored five to lead Stanford. Him and Balogh are a dangerous scoring duo. After UCLA, they might be the second best defensive team in the country. Given the quality win over Davis, I have them above Cal in this week’s rankings. This weekend, Stanford heads down to play at UCSB and UCSD.
4. Cal (4-0): Last week, Cal hosted exhibition games against CNAB and CN Marsielle. They are still undefeated. However, it’s difficult to judge a team against professionals and it’s difficult to judge them against below average teams, who they opened their season with. Cal could very well surpass Stanford next week, when they play 3 top 11 teams in SJST, Pacific, and Davis. However, until they play them, I cannot put them over Stanford, who has a quality win. The game of the week will be Cal vs San Jose State.
5 (T). San Jose State (4-1): Last week, SJST beat Davis 11-7 behind a monster 19 save performance from Gyapjas. Given the quality win on the road at Davis, I have moved SJST to a tie at 5 with Fordham. This weekend, they play Cal at Berkeley. I’m a little disappointed that San Jose State won’t be playing at the MPSF invite the weekend after.
5 (T). Fordham (5-1): Last week, Fordham lost to UCLA 16-9 and beat Santa Clara 20-15. Was anyone at the Santa Clara game? Trevor? What the hell is that scoreline… Scoring 20 goals is great, but giving up 31 is not a recipe for success and will not translate to success in December. During UCLA, I was disappointed that a team that is advertised as well conditioned under Ilija Duretic was consistently giving up 5x6 counter opportunities. The scoreline should’ve probably been closer to 18-7. I think Fordham was lucky to lose by only 7. This weekend, Fordham doesn’t play. Their next big test comes at home against Princeton on September 27.
7. Princeton (5-0): Last week, Princeton beat MSM 18-10, Cal Baptist 18-10, Santa Clara 12-11, Bucknell 19-9, and Wagner 14-6. Former Newport Harbor standout Finn LeSieur had 6 goals against Santa Clara. While the Santa Clara score was a little close, given the win over both Santa Clara and Cal Baptist blowout, I have them at 7. I also think Santa Clara was heavily underrated by the polls this week and is a top 15 team. This weekend, Princeton heads to Navy to play Navy, Salem, and GW.
8. LBSU (6-2): Last week, LBSU lost to USC 13-9 and beat Chapman 20-8. LBSU still lacks a top 15 win, which is why I have them at 8 below Princeton. On paper, this is a great team with the Stanley brothers, Gabi Acosta, Navarro, Caleb Francisco amongst others. I looked at 6-8 scores and out of the 12 guys who played significant minutes against USC, 8 are international player. When your team is composed of this many internationals and so many new pieces, it’s undoubtedly going to take time for the group to gel. Arroyo will figure it out and I have no doubt that come season’s end, LBSU will be a team most teams don’t want to see.
9. UCI (6-0): Last week, UCI beat Cal Lutheran 18-8 and Redlands 14-7. The only quality win UCI currently has is CBU in a one goal win. Considering the fact that CBU lost to Princeton by 8, UCLA by 16, and only beat GW by 2, I cannot put UCI any higher than 9 right now. I’m interested to see how close they play both UCLA and USC this weekend,
10 (T). Pacific (6-1): Last week, Graham decided to play Cal Lutheran, Biola, Redlands, and Occidental. We didn’t learn anything about them. However, based off their Week 1 results and the close result with Fordham, I am keeping them at 10. Freshman Apostolos Georgaras has 29 goals in 7 games. When I looked at Pacific schedule this week, I laughed when I realized their game against Davis was an exhibition game. Must be some sort of RPI thing he calculated during the offseason. Someone needs to tell Graham that you need to win your conference tournament for RPI to matter. With that being said, the only game that “counts” for them this weekend is a Friday night home game against Cal. Cal has a super tough schedule this weekend.
10 (T). Davis (3-3): Last week, Davis lost to Stanford 12–6 and San Jose State 11–7. Unfortunately, they were on the wrong end of a career performance from Gyapjas. While Davis has three losses, they’ve arguably played the hardest schedule. Dan Leyson is aware that to win the Big West over LBSU or UCI, they will need to be battled tested throughout the season. Their 4 goal win over Pepperdine is more impressive than any win that any team ranked 7-10 has. This weekend, Davis plays at Cal on Saturday afternoon.
12. Santa Clara (4-2): This is going to shock some people, but based on the results thus far, I think this is a fair ranking for Santa Clara. I was stunned when the CWPA poll did not have them ranked this week. I hope they correct their mistakes this week. Last week, Santa Clara traveled East where they beat George Washington 17–8, MSM 23–13, lost to Princeton by one and Fordham by 5. If these results don’t scream top 12, I’m not sure what does. For reference, GW only lost to Davis by 2 and lost in overtime to Cal Baptist. Santa Clara dominated them. Italian sophomore Riccardo De Simon scored five against Fordham and 14 goals on the weekend. He is due for a breakout year. This weekend, Santa Clara does not play as they prepare for the MPSF invite the weekend after. I am very excited to see them play that weekend.
13. Pepperdine (3–2): Last week, Pepperdine lost to USC 13–8. After going down 7–2 at half, they went toe to toe in the second half. I have heard that Adam Csapo will be out indefinitely. It is unclear when he will return, but if Pepperdine wants any success this year, he needs to be playing for them or it might be a long season in Malibu. This weekend, they play UCSB and UCLA as they gear up for the MPSF invite.
14. UCSD (5-3): Last week, UCSD beat Claremont and Cal Lutheran. We didn’t learn much about them during those games. I have them at 14, same as they were last week. This weekend, they play Concordia and Chapman Friday before playing Stanford Sunday. Landon Akerstrom is still out and is a big part of this team. If he doesn’t play against Stanford, I doubt UCSD gets to 8 goals.
After 14, it gets very tough. CBU did not have a good weekend, getting blown out by UCLA and Princeton and barely beating GW. LMU did not play. Navy was a little disappointing, barely beating Wagner. UCSB did not play any quality teams and barely beat Concordia. Brown also didn’t play. GW went 0–3 at the Princeton Invite. Harvard almost lost to Bucknell.
I’d go…
15. Cal Baptist solely because of their one goal loss to UCI the weekend before still carrying some weight, though they didn’t have a good weekend.
16. Brown: This is more of a prediction, but I think Brown is underrated. I think they can have a successful weekend in California and beat both LMU and UCSB.
17. LMU
18. UCSB
19. Navy
20. GW: Putting GW over Harvard because they went to overtime with Cal Baptist, who beat Harvard by five in regulation. I don’t think Harvard has given anyone any reason to rank them in the top 20. Fullerton may beat Harvard this weekend.
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When and where is the MPSF INVITE this year?
Next weekend from September 19-21. Hosted by USC/UCLA with 16 teams participating, including two D3 teams (Claremont and Redlands). every team in the top 15 of last weeks CWPA poll is participating except for Fordham, San Jose, and Pacific. Outside of the top 15 and D3 teams, UCSB and Santa Clara are also participating. I discussed the format on the fantasy waterpolo thread.
I noticed that Davis exhibition as well. That’s kind of a head scratcher. They didn’t play them at all last year. Graham needs to cut out the shenanigans and just prepare his team for the conference tournament with a tough schedule
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I was not at the Fordham-Santa Clara game to give any insight. I know Fordham pulled away in the third as they built a 17-10 lead and then gave some back in the fourth. Used both goalies in the game.
The Fordham vs Santa Clara game video has been posted on YouTube.
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Thank you for posting. Fordham did not look good on both side (not playing a top-5 level game), both sides of the pool, but in particular defense and struggling to guard SC’s Center. SC internationals seem to set the tone on the team and elevate SC: Ashton Brown (Australia), Imme Van Der Schaff (The Netherlands), and Riccardo De Simon (Italy). I watched until half time, but did not see Jamie De Zwart in the water (Texas and Dutch 18U team) in the water.
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These early games are really hard to judge. Having teams play 4 games in two days you don’t get the normal full strength. You may also have to play a UCLA or USC and then follow that up with another top 10 team the same day. Your second game can be that team’s first game. These games are really an opportunity for coaches to find out what they have and for the guys to work through the new team so it is very valuable, but not good for evaluating ranking as a fan which is totally fine. I would not put a ton of stock in what you are seeing at this point.
Thank you, not sure why it seems difficult to find information and schedules on this invite? Perhaps it’s just me having such a diff time as kids want to go and watch some of the games.
I would guess its because they are waiting to seed the tournament.
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Very solid rankings, although at this early stage it’s hard to have a clear picture of most of these teams - outside of UCLA, of course, who clearly seem to be in a league of their own. In fact, from watching the games online this week, UCLA seemed closer to Pro Recco than Fordham seemed to UCLA. As others have mentioned, the Bruins look to be in mid-season form: precise, unselfish, and without the emotional highs and lows of other teams. Just a businesslike efficiency that is going to be very hard for other teams to beat.
USC has an embarrassment of talent—lots of guys who can score, two outstanding goalies, and a beast and a bear at the center position in Krstic and Martin. But they do seem to run hot and cold, coasting on talent and lacking the focus of the Vavic years. The Trojans are probably too talented to drop lower than Number Two, but thinking they can flip a switch and find another gear come playoff time is a dangerous game. It’s worked for them in the past, but at some point their luck will run out. Will it be this year? Probably not. But rumors of chemistry issues and lack of discipline may eventually be their undoing.
I’m very excited to see Cal’s games this weekend. We should learn a lot about this team and their new pieces after the run of games against UoP, Davis, and SJSU. Could very well see them jumping Stanford.
For me, the test for Stanford is not how they look in September, when classes haven’t started and Flacks has the teams’ full focus on water polo. Indeed, Flacks has had strong Septembers the last three seasons. But come October, once the classwork starts and the grind increases, then we will know what kind of Cardinal team we’re looking at.
The rest of the Top 10 feels like guesswork at this point. While they haven’t gelled yet, I do think LBSU will eventually be knocking on the door of the Top 5. I could also see UCI dropping lower, behind Davis and even Santa Clara.
I’ve always thought Santa Clara was a sleeping giant with untapped potential. It is an outstanding school, in a great location, with a beautiful campus. I’m not sure what kind of institutional support they have for water polo, but assuming it is on par with other schools, I see no reason why Santa Clara can’t perform at the level of a UoP or Fordham. How many international players arrive at the University of the Pacific imagining they’ll be living the California dream, only to find themselves stuck in Stockton with no ocean for hundreds of miles? No offense to anyone who loves Stockton, but it is nowhere near the “Pacific.” Santa Clara has to be an easier sell than that. I wouldn’t be surprised to see their roster continue to fill up with international players over the coming years, accompanied by a consistently elevated ranking.
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Totally agree about Santa Clara. It’s a good school that is hard to get into. I questioned on the old WPP why they weren’t better and someone said they had very little athletic scholarship money to give out. No idea if that is true, but it makes sense. If all was equal there is no reason they can’t be on the level of Pepperdine. Not sure if something changed there this season but it seems like the best SCU team I can recall
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I know that this is not going out on a limb, but I think that it will all come down to UCLA vs USC in the NCAA finals.
I agree that UCLA is the clear #1 team right now, but I think that USC has the most talent at the top of their roster with Brancovic, Martin, Grgurevic, Lopez Duart, Crstic and Vukazic. They also have the best goalie in Herzer. If they do not win it all this year, you have to take a look at Coach Pintaric.
There is no denying that UCLA has elite talent, particularly with the Dodds. They also have, by far, the deepest bench in the NCAAs, but I do not think that their starting 7 players are at the same level as USC’s. Coach Wright loves to use his bench, which helps him wear down opponents, especially at the beginning of the season when they seem to be in notoriously better shape than the other teams. But, as the season goes on, USC will continue to get in better shape and continue to gel as a team. It will be interesting to see if Wright can get his players to peak at the end of the season, when it counts and not plateau too early
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If true, a private school with no scholarship money to give would be a major hurdle for a coach/team to overcome.
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There are ways around that. A private school like Santa Clara will give out academic aid but it won’t substitute for a full or 3/4 athletic scholarship. For example, a relative of mine plays football at a very small D2 school you would never of heard of. He is the starting QB so might be an anomoly, but he had half of his tuition covered to start out and he is now in graduate school for his last season of eligibility, and he isn’t paying anything this season. Might be totally different for water polo, but its possible.