Week 1 of collegiate men’s water polo action saw 24 of the top 25 teams in action and was highlighted by five upsets and three overtime affairs.
Across the 94 matches, there were more than 171 hat tricks recorded. Loyola Marymount’s Blazo Mitrovic and Bucknell’s Rade Joksimovic each notched an eight-goal effort to lead the way.
Mitrovic found the back of the net eight times in the #14 Lions’ 12-10 win over Whittier on Saturday. Joksimovic racked up eight scores as the #16 Bison topped #16 Cal Baptist 20-19 on Saturday.
Joksimovic also turned in a seven-goal effort as Bucknell bested #20 Brown 17-9 on Sunday, a four goal effort against MIT on Saturday and a hat trick vs. St. Francis Brooklyn.
The top players as selected by conference offices were:
Golden Coast Conference
Player of the Week: Danny Roland, UC Santa Barbara – Made 37 saves and allowed just 6.5 goals per game in wins over Concordia (Irvine), #7 Pepperdine, #4 Cal and #5 Long Beach State; grabbed 12 saves in the first place match against LBSU, added nine against Cal and 10 against Pepperdine.
CWPA – Mid-Atlantic Water Polo Conference
Offensive Player of the Week: Rade Joksimovic, Bucknell, Sr., Novi Sad, Serbia – Scored 28 points across the team’s four games; put in four goals and added an assist vs. MIT; found the back of the net eight times and dished one assist vs. #16 Cal Baptist; netted seven goals and added an assist vs. #20 Brown; closed the weekend with a hat trick and three assists vs. St. Francis Brooklyn.
Rookie of the Week: Andu Vlasceanu, Bucknell, Fr., Bucharest, Romania – Scored 13 goals and added a team-high six assists; put in five goals vs. MIT; notched two of the Bison’s final four goals in a win over #16 Cal Baptist; added a hat trick and two assists vs. #20 Brown.
Mountain Pacific Sports Federation
Player of the Week: Matthew Kacura, UCLA, So., San Clemente, California – Scored nine goals as the Bruins went 4-0 at the Navy Open; put in a career-high six goals on seven shots against LaSalle, the most by a Bruins since 2017; converted 9 fo 11 shots (81.8 percent), while adding three steals, two field blocks, one assist and one drawn exclusion.
Newcomer of the Week: Bernardo Maurizi , UCLA, Fr., Florence, Italy – racked up 40 saves and a 4.00 goals against average as the Bruins went 4-0; notched 13 saves in his debut vs. Fordham; made eight stops in the second half vs. RV Navy; posted a UCLA freshman record 19 saves vs. LaSalle, the most for a Bruin in a regulation game since 2009.
Northeast Water Polo Conference
Miller Geschke, MIT – So., Los Altos, California – posted a total of 16 goals and eight assists as the Engineers went 3-1 at the Bruno Classic; added eight steals, three blocks and four sprint wins; tallied a career high six goals vs. Wagner and four vs. Bucknell; scored the game winner with one second left in a 7-6 victory over Cal Lutheran.
Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference
Offensive Athlete of the Week: Steven Csaposs, CalTech, Jr., Davis, California – Logged 12 goals over three games; notched a hat trick vs. Cypress; scored five goals vs. Santa Monica; netted four scores vs. Fullerton.
Defensive Athlete of the Week: Murat Ersoz, Whittier, Sr., Istanbul, Turkey – Made 37 saves across four games, while also adding three steals and two assists; saved 14 shots against Chapman, 11 vs. #14 Loyola Marymount, 10 vs. Concordia and two vs. #4 Cal.
Western Water Polo Association
Player of the Week: Zach Lowery, Cal Baptist, Jr., Fort Worth, Texas – Netted a team-high nine goals and 15 points in four games at the Bruno Classic; recorded seven steals, four sprints won, a drawn ejection and a field block; hit 56.3 percent of his shots (9-for-16) on the week; logged hat tricks against Wagner and Brown.
| Goals | Player, Team | Opponent | Date |
| 8 | Blazo Mitrovic, Loyola Marymount | Whittier | 9/7. |
| 8 | Rade Joksimovic, Bucknell | Cal Baptist | 9/7. |
| 7 | Rade Joksimovic, Bucknell | Brown | 9/8. |
| 6 | Miller Geschke, MIT | Wagner | 9/7. |
| 6 | Andras Levai, George Washington | Air Force | 9/7. |
| 6 | Andras Levai, George Washington | Redlands | 9/8. |
| 6 | Jordan Blosser, George Washington | Salem | 9/7. |
| 6 | Tyler Abramson, Stanford | Navy | 9/7. |
| 6 | Matthew Kacura, UCLA | LaSalle | 9/8. |
| 6 | Dennis Blyashov, Harvard | Cal Lutheran | 9/8. |
| 5 | Andras Levai, George Washington | LaVerne | 9/8. |
| 5 | Ben Hallock, Stanford | Iona | 9/7. |
| 5 | Nir Gross, UC Davis | Long Beach State | 9/7. |
| 5 | Drago Marjanovic, Gannon | Penn State Behrend | 9/7. |
| 5 | Graham Asalone, Chapman | Concordia (Irvine) | 9/8. |
| 5 | Marius Jakimcikas, Concordia (Irvine) | Chapman | 9/8. |
| 5 | Isaac Salinas, Navy | Iona | 9/8. |
| 5 | Oliver Fodor, Wagner | MIT | 9/7. |
| 5 | Parker Jory, Cal Lutheran | Harvard | 9/8. |
| 5 | Andu Vlasceanu, Bucknell | MIT | 9/7. |
| 5 | Alex Tsotadze, Harvard | McKendree | 9/8. |
| 5 | Tony Murphy, Pomona-Pitzer | Fresno Pacific | 9/8. |
| 5 | Max Sprute, Pepperdine | Loyola Marymount | 9/8. |
| 4 | Campbell Harris, Air Force | George Washington | 9/7. |
| 4 | Andrew Mavis, George Washington | LaVerne | 9/8. |
| 4 | Casey Lynton, UC Irvine | Claremont-Mudd-Scripps | 9/7. |
| 4 | James Thygesen, Brown | Wagner | 9/7. |
| 4 | James Thygesen, Brown | Cal Lutheran | 9/7. |
| 4 | Matt Simko, Brown | Cal Lutheran | 9/7. |
| 4 | Galen Hu, Brown | Connecticut College | 9/7. |
| 4 | Safek Simsek, Cal | Loyola Marymount | 9/7. |
| 4 | Logan Mena, Cal Baptist | Bucknell | 9/7. |
| 4 | Logan Mena, Cal Baptist | St. Francis Brooklyn | 9/7. |
| 4 | Miller Geschke, MIT | Bucknell | 9/7. |
| 4 | Clyde Huibregtse, MIT | Wagner | 9/7. |
| 4 | Yurian Quinones, Princeton | LaSalle | 9/7. |
| 4 | Dylan Woodhead, Stanford | Navy | 9/7. |
| 4 | Dylan Woodhead, Stanford | Iona | 9/7. |
| 4 | Ryan Sawyer, UCLA | Navy | 9/8. |
| 4 | Jackson Seybold, Stanford | Johns Hopkins | 9/8. |
| 4 | Parker Killion, Stanford | Johns Hopkins | 9/8. |
| 4 | Ben Hallock, Stanford | Princeton | 9/8. |
| 4 | Theodoros Pateros, Long Beach State | Fresno Pacific | 9/7. |
| 4 | Johnathan Wong, Long Beach State | UC Davis | 9/7. |
| 4 | Austin Stewart, Long Beach State | UC Irvine | 9/8. |
| 4 | Marc Weber, San Jose State | Santa Clara | 9/7. |
| 4 | Drago Marjanovic, Gannon | Mercyhurst | 9/7. |
| 4 | Marius Jakimcikas, Concordia (Irvine) | Pomona-Pitzer | 9/7. |
| 4 | Max Wade, Austin College | Johns Hopkins | 9/7. |
| 4 | Jake Altmayer, Navy | Johns Hopkins | 9/7. |
| 4 | Isaac Salinas, Navy | Johns Hopkins | 9/7. |
| 4 | Parker Jory, Cal Lutheran | Brown | 9/7. |
| 4 | Parker Jory, Cal Lutheran | Connecticut College | 9/7. |
| 4 | Joseph Mahan, McKendree | Brown | 9/7. |
| 4 | Ivan Stefanovic, St. Francis Brooklyn | Cal Baptist | 9/7. |
| 4 | Rade Joksimovic, Bucknell | MIT | 9/7. |
| 4 | Andu Vlasceanu, Bucknell | Cal Baptist | 9/7. |
| 4 | Galen Hu, Brown | Connecticut College | 9/7. |
| 4 | Christian Schillinger, MIT | McKendree | 9/8. |
| 4 | Ben Brauer, McKendree | MIT | 9/8. |
| 4 | L. Knezevic, MIT | Cal Lutheran | 9/8. |
| 4 | Charlie Owens, Harvard | McKendree | 9/8. |
| 4 | Kyle Reily, UC Davis | Chapman | 9/7. |
| 4 | Safak Simsek, Cal | UC Irvine | 9/8. |
| 4 | Zach Senator, Pomona-Pitzer | Fresno Pacific | 9/8. |
| 4 | Johnathan Wong, Long Beach State | UC Davis | 9/7. |
| 3 | Andrew Mavis, George Washington | Air Force | 9/7. |
| 3 | Chris Lee, George Washington | Air Force | 9/7. |
| 3 | Mike Miller, Air Force | George Washington | 9/7. |
| 3 | Sebastian Sak, Air Force | Redlands | 9/7. |
| 3 | Zack Rossman, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps | UC Irvine | 9/7. |
| 3 | Matt Simko, Brown | Wagner | 9/7. |
| 3 | Aidan Reilly, Brown | McKendree | 9/7. |
| 3 | Niko Bhatia, Brown | McKendree | 9/7. |
| 3 | Nikos Papanikoalou, Cal | Loyola Marymount | 9/7. |
| 3 | Jordan Hoover, Cal | Loyola Marymount | 9/7. |
| 3 | Joseph Shaw, Loyola Marymount | Cal | 9/7. |
| 3 | Thomas de Wit, Cal Baptist | St. Francis Brooklyn | 9/7. |
| 3 | PJ McDonough, Cal Baptist | St. Francis Brooklyn | 9/7. |
| 3 | Jasmin Kolasinac, Cal | St. Francis Brooklyn | 9/7. |
| 3 | Jasmin Kolasinac, Cal | Whittier | 9/7. |
| 3 | Warren Loth, Cal | Whittier | 9/7. |
| 3 | Sam Untrecht, Cal | Whittier | 9/7. |
| 3 | Trevor Clark, Navy | Johns Hopkins | 9/7. |
| 3 | Kyle Sandell, MIT | Wagner | 9/7. |
| 3 | Andrew Mavis, George Washington | Salem | 9/7. |
| 3 | Chris Lee, George Washington | Salem | 9/7. |
| 3 | Milos Popovic, Salem | LaVerne | 9/7. |
| 3 | Michael Rojas, Salem | LaVerne | 9/7. |
| 3 | Petar Leontijevic, Salem | George Washington | 9/7. |
| 3 | Adam Hudson, Salem | George Washington | 9/7. |
| 3 | Wyatt Benson, Princeton | LaSalle | 9/7. |
| 3 | Ben Hallock, Stanford | Navy | 9/7. |
| 3 | Tommy Gruwell, UCLA | Fordham | 9/7. |
| 3 | Michael Graner, UCLA | Princeton | 9/7. |
| 3 | Isaac Salinas, Navy | UCLA | 9/8. |
| 3 | Jake Cavano, UCLA | Navy | 9/8. |
| 3 | Jack White, UCLA | Navy | 9/8. |
| 3 | Felix Brozyna-Vilim | Navy | 9/8. |
| 3 | Nicolas Savelijic, UCLA | LaSalle | 9/8. |
| 3 | Elijah Graves, Long Beach State | Fresno Pacific | 9/7. |
| 3 | Matt Morris, Long Beach State | Fresno Pacific | 9/7. |
| 3 | Johnathan Wong, Long Beach State | Fresno Pacific | 9/7. |
| 3 | Casey Lynton, UC Irvine | Long Beach State | 9/8. |
| 3 | Matthew Hosmer, Pacific | Santa Clara | 9/7. |
| 3 | Dominick Kirk, Santa Clara | San Jose State | 9/7. |
| 3 | Riley Hinkley, Gannon | Mercyhurst | 9/7. |
| 3 | Nebyat Mamo, Mercyhurst | Gannon | 9/7. |
| 3 | Thomas Squeglia, Gannon | Penn State Behrend | 9/7. |
| 3 | Austin Hoff, Penn State Behrend | Gannon | 9/7. |
| 3 | Dylan Gwinn, Washington & Jefferson | Penn State Behrend | 9/7. |
| 3 | Will Kitsch, Washington & Jefferson | Gannon | 9/8. |
| 3 | Cole Brosnan, UC Santa Barbara | Concordia (Irvine) | 9/7. |
| 3 | Marius Jakimcikas, Concordia (Irvine) | UC Santa Barbara | 9/7. |
| 3 | Maxwell Murphy, Whittier | Concordia (Irvine) | 9/8. |
| 3 | Nick Walker, Concordia (Irvine) | Whittier | 9/8. |
| 3 | Andy Anguiano, Chapman | Concordia (Irvine) | 9/8. |
| 3 | Max Wade, Austin College | LaSalle | 9/7. |
| 3 | Zach Luci, Navy | Iona | 9/8. |
| 3 | Matthew Miller, Wagner | Brown | 9/7. |
| 3 | Oliver Fodor, Wagner | Brown | 9/7. |
| 3 | Arturo Freitas, Connecticut College | Cal Lutheran | 9/7. |
| 3 | Ben Brown, Cal Lutheran | Connecticut College | 9/7. |
| 3 | Hans Cole, Cal Lutheran | Connecticut College | 9/7. |
| 3 | Matthew Haygood, McKendree | Brown | 9/7. |
| 3 | Thomas deWit, Cal Baptist | St. Francis Brooklyn | 9/7. |
| 3 | Dominick Hevesi, St. Francis Brooklyn | McKendree | 9/7. |
| 3 | Pedro Osorio, McKendree | St. Francis Brooklyn | 9/7. |
| 3 | Rade Joksimovic, Bucknell | St. Francis Brooklyn | 9/8. |
| 3 | Jared Stanley, Bucknell | Cal Baptist | 9/7. |
| 3 | Andu Vlasceanu, Bucknell | Brown | 9/8. |
| 3 | Logan Schofield, Bucknell | Brown | 9/8. |
| 3 | Logan Schofield, Bucknell | St. Francis Brooklyn | 9/8. |
| 3 | Jared Stanley, Bucknell | St. Francis Brooklyn | 9/8. |
| 3 | Thomas de Wit, Cal Baptist | Bucknell | 9/7. |
| 3 | Matthew Miller, Wagner | St. Francis Brooklyn | 9/8. |
| 3 | Ward Weldon, MIT | McKendree | 9/8. |
| 3 | Clyde Huibregtse, MIT | McKendree | 9/8. |
| 3 | Kevin Downey, MIT | McKendree | 9/8. |
| 3 | L. Knezevic, MIT | McKendree | 9/8. |
| 3 | Niko Rodriguez, McKendree | MIT | 9/8. |
| 3 | James Thygesen, Brown | Bucknell | 9/8. |
| 3 | Gabe Putnam, Harvard | Cal Lutheran | 9/8. |
| 3 | Alex Tsotadze, Harvard | Cal Lutheran | 9/8. |
| 3 | PJ McDonough, Cal Baptist | Wagner | 9/8. |
| 3 | Hunter Barnett, Cal Baptist | Wagner | 9/8. |
| 3 | Zach Lowery, Cal Baptist | Wagner | 9/8. |
| 3 | James Thygesen, Brown | Cal Baptist | 9/8. |
| 3 | Hudson Rawlings, Brown | Cal Baptist | 9/8. |
| 3 | Zach Lowery, Cal Baptist | Brown | 9/8. |
| 3 | Logan Mena, Cal Baptist | Brown | 9/8. |
| 3 | Matthew Haygood, McKendree | Harvard | 9/8. |
| 3 | Kaleb Archer, Harvard | McKendree | 9/8. |
| 3 | Warren Loth, Cal | Whittier | 9/7. |
| 3 | James Parker Allen, Cal | Whittier | 9/7. |
| 3 | Jasmin Kolasinac, Cal | Whittier | 9/7. |
| 3 | Ian Ambidge, UC Davis | Chapman | 9/7. |
| 3 | Jack Stafford, UC Davis | Chapman | 9/7. |
| 3 | Graham Asalone, Chapman | UC Davis | 9/7. |
| 3 | Balazs Kosa, Pepperdine | Pomona-Pitzer | 9/7. |
| 3 | Zlatan Nikocevic, UC Irvine | UC San Diego | 9/7. |
| 3 | Alexandros Athymartis, Loyola Marymount | Pepperdine | 9/8. |
| 3 | Zach Arthur, Pepperdine | Loyola Marymount | 9/8. |
| 3 | Cornelis Kriek, Whittier | Chapman | 9/8. |
| 3 | Graham Asalone, Chapman | Whittier | 9/8. |
| 3 | Marko Asic, Pepperdine | UC Davis | 9/8. |
| 3 | Curtis Jarvis, Pepperdine | UC Davis | 9/8. |
| 3 | Alexandros Athymartis, Loyola Marymount | UC Davis | 9/8. |
| 3 | David Carrasco, Loyola Marymount | UC Davis | 9/8. |
| 3 | Daniel Roth, Loyola Marymount | UC Davis | 9/8. |
| 3 | Jordan Hoover, Cal | UC Irvine | 9/8. |