Every team has a nemesis, and for men’s water polo, it’s often, fittingly, the Cal Bears.
This year, it was ’SC.
Stanford did drop one game to Berkeley early in the season. But its other four losses came at the hands of the Trojans, who won the NCAA championship game over the Cardinal, 9-7, in double overtime on December 7 at Stanford’s Avery Aquatic Center.
“We really match up well against Stanford with our deep bench and excellent goalie,” USC coach Jovan Vavic said after the title game.
Junior Tony Azevedo led the Cardinal with four goals. “Tony tried to carry us on his back and nearly did it,” head coach John Vargas told the San Jose Mercury News after the match. For the third consecutive season, Azevedo was named the American Water Polo Coaches Association Player of the Year.
If Stanford had won the championship, it would have tied Berkeley for the most NCAA titles in the sport with 11. Instead, the team settled for its seventh second-place finish. Hmm. Maybe Cal is still the true nemesis.
