Vuk had to play 2md too. Looks like he will be a pure attacker on USC, and with all the talent around him, he should be lethal. As for the comparison someone else made to Kranz…totally different players. Vuk is a much better shooter but Kranz had a knack for being in the right place at the right time. They will miss his skill set for sure, but Id make that trade off.
I would argue USC has a better starting unit than UCLA but they can’t match the depth. I’m also not sold on the goalie at UCLA
I believe Pinta said he will be playing center D in the Waterpolo Wed podcast. I look at that as a pro not a con however.
Interesting. They have him listed otherwise on the roster. I wouldn’t waste him there.
Better roster than two Olympians, and one a Cutino award winner and the two very productive bruins centers versus the two USC adds?
I agree SC got great recruits and will be a fight, you may be right. But i’m not as bullish until we see some games and how Pinta gets them to gel. Will be an interesting year, Cal and Stanford will surprise and compete well I think. I predict no undefeated teams for sure.
3 productive centers at UCLA, which is nice to have. Their depth is unmatched
NorCalDad – I love reading your write-ups, but in your first post you literally said “…one can argue that USC is the favorite over UCLA this upcoming year.” I think making that argument is a reach at this point. First, you only scratched the surface of the returning talent on UCLA’s roster in your write-up. Second, I think you are severely underestimating the leadership and chemistry that USC loses with the loss of Kranz and Miller. Who is going to step up and fill that void? Even with those two, USC was inconsistent last season and often looked disjointed and undisciplined. A lot of emotional, high volume, low percentage shooters left on that roster now with varying degrees of commitment on defense. They peaked at the right time at MPSF, but, to my eyes, were lucky to get by Fordham in the NCAA semifinals and were far from UCLA’s level in the final.
So, rather than arguing that USC could be the preseason favorite over UCLA, I think a more accurate assessment would be to say that USC will have a lot of talent, a lot of question marks, and if they can come together as a team - as the Trojans often seem to do at the end of the year - they will be extremely dangerous in November/December. I’m sure Trojan fans like their chances, but, as of now, it’s all on paper and unproven. Meanwhile, in the pool, UCLA remains only the proven entity. Hard to argue against that.
Agree with Polosurfer that Cal will be exciting – that’s the team I am most interested in watching next season – but they are also going to be very young, with freshmen all over the pool. But hey, as we saw with UCLA last season, the right freshmen can have a huge impact.
Pacific Blue - If I had to make a preseason ranking, UCLA would be my consensus No.1. The teams listed above were not listed in any order, simply what I believe to be the consensus top 8. You could make an argument for Pepp or a few of the others, but I believe LBSU and UCI are a tier above them.
As you quoted, I said “one can argue that…”. At this point of the season in early August, I’m not arguing that. Don’t confuse observation with endorsement. I’m just discussing the landscape as it stands.
UCLA’s core of Chase and Ryder Dodd alongside Peter Castillo, the Leichty’s, Carsalade, Szécsi, and the Larsens is an elite core. However, they also lose Mo Kenney who is a crucial piece for that team. Not to mention Voggenthaller and Tierney, leaving somewhat of a question mark at 2MD. I’m also not sold on Tauscher in goal. Furthermore, you look at Carsalade and Sherlock, who are great offensively, but if you watch their games closely, are susceptible to getting beat on drives and post ups defensively. Brinkema played really well at worlds, but will he show up during a full 3 month season? For the “depth” you’re talking about, there needs to be development too from guys who didn’t see as much time last year. Last year, UCLA was a tier above the rest of the country. This year, I don’t see that being the case. I think that by the end of October, there will be no undefeated teams in the country. There is no doubt that Pinta has his work cut, but with the best newcomers, I still stand by what I said that one can argue that USC will be the favorite the first time they play which will likely be weekend 4 during the MPSF invite. We can revisit this topic at that time.
Woah, settle down. “one can argue” is not the same as “I will state that they are.” Cut some folks a break for stating ideas and putting their name on it.
Fair enough - whoever the hypothetical “one” is arguing for USC as preseason favorite - I still think it’s a stretch, but that’s why they play the games. Clearly everyone is excited for the season to start!
And, as I stated before, I love NorCalDad’s write-ups. Some of the best stuff on here. He’s knowledgeable, well-connected, and a good father!
I agree that UCLA will be the initial favorite, but this is USC’s best roster under Pinta and will be expected to be right there with UCLA for a National Championship. UCLA is much deeper and the two Dodd brothers are phenomenal, but I would take USC’s starting 7 over UCLA’s.
Vukazic is a really great pickup for USC and my gut tells me that it will be between him and Ryder Dodd for the Cutino award this year. You can throw Herzer in the mix if USC wins it all.
Yes, goalie might be the difference maker!
Should be a tremendous season, once again.
The margins of victory are usually razor thin, as well know. Even reexamining recent dynasties, say Cal’s three peat, illustrates that apparent dominance masked some super close outcomes (USC was so close to winning in the two finals Cal ultimately won; a Cal team featuring the most dominant player, Papa, of the past five or six years.)
It seems totally fair to put UCLA, at season’s outset, at the top as we know the most about their team. Yes, they will lose production and intangibles without Kenney, Larsen, Tierney and Vogg. and it remains to be seen how that senior leadership gets replaced. But the returning production appears unmatched, at least before the season starts. Ryder Dodd looks like the modern day version of Azevedo. And yet, looking back, Azevedo only won two titles. Stanford didn’t win four in a row even though they were the favorites. Sometimes, a team develops late in the season, cultivates some magical alchemy and ekes out a title (see UCLA over Stanford in 2004 for example).
USC, it would appear has the talent to go all the way. And they could.
Cal might have the talent as well. They can win it all.
Maybe Stanford puts it all together THIS season after, in retrospect, it would seem that LAST year was their best shot. We shall see.
The Bruins should be the marginal favorite (and I would argue that Tauscher will actually be an upgrade in goal; no slight to Griggs but Tauscher is more athletic and appears closer to Garrett Danner in ability but with the benefit of a couple more inches in height. Bonus: he obviously got tremendous experience at the finals last season and in Germany this summer.)
But if, in the end, USC, Cal (with some strong additions we will soon see in action) or Stanford win it all at Stanford this fall (why are the NCAAs at the Farm for the second year in a row?) it shouldn’t be a massive shock.
Really should be a tremendous season, once again, featuring some fierce competition. Can’t wait!
I believe UCSD was supposed to host last year and they had it taken away for some technicality. Stanford got it because of that and were supposed to host this upcoming season. Kind of crazy the NCAA is so inflexible they allow this to happen
I thought you all might be interested in some data points to support this discussion.
The following charts plot each game the MPSF teams and Fordham have played to date. The y axis is goals scored, the x axis is goals against. An ‘average’ team, playing an ‘average’ game scores 13 goals and has 13 goals against. That’s what creates the four quadrants below. Upper right is good performance, lower left is poor. Anything above the diagonal dotted line is a win. The size of each bubble represents the win probability before the game.
This first chart is UCLA. Closest game was a one goal game against Stanford where they had a 70% win probability based on Elo score differential. Their average margin of victory is 10 goals.
Next up: USC
Only one loss to Cal. Win probability was 56% so, at the time, they had a slightly higher Elo. Average margin of victory is 5.7 goals
