Luca Cupido Has Scored 20 Goals For Cal So Far This Season (Catharyn Hayne Photography)
11/7/2016 2:04 PM | Men's Water Polo
BERKELEY – After leading the Cal men's water polo team with six goals in two matches, junior Luca Cupido was named Player of the Week by the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF).
Having spent the first part of the season rounding back into shape after a strong showing with Team USA at the Rio Olympics, Cupido continued to heat up with a strong week against No. 19 UC Irvine and No. 9 Pepperdine. He got started on Saturday with a goal, four steals and an assist against the Anteaters and helped Cal earn a 9-6 win to begin the road trip.
The next day, Cupido took a more offensive role as he scored a season-high five goals to go along with two more steals and another assist. His efforts helped Cal pick up a 12-7 victory over the Waves and pushed Cupido into third on the team's season scoring list with 20 goals.
Back in Berkeley for his junior season, Cupido remains one of the leaders on a Cal team that is 17-3 entering its regular season finale against Stanford. He earned first team All-America honors as well as first team All-NCAA Tournament in 2015 and then spent the majority of 2016 training with Team USA in preparation for the Olympics.
Cupido is the first Golden Bear to earn a Player of the Week award from the MPSF this season but joins freshmen Jordan Hoover and Safak Simsek as conference honorees as both have been named Newcomer of the Week. He was also honored Monday as the Cal Athletic Department's Muscle Milk Student-Athlete of the Week award and is the third Cal water polo player to do so, joining two-time honoree Johnny Hooper.
The Bears and Cardinal meet at 11 a.m. on Saturday in the latest edition of the Big Splash. The match will be televised live on Pac-12 Bay Area and Pac-12.com. Cal then moves to the MPSF Tournament which takes place next weekend at UCLA.
Having spent the first part of the season rounding back into shape after a strong showing with Team USA at the Rio Olympics, Cupido continued to heat up with a strong week against No. 19 UC Irvine and No. 9 Pepperdine. He got started on Saturday with a goal, four steals and an assist against the Anteaters and helped Cal earn a 9-6 win to begin the road trip.
The next day, Cupido took a more offensive role as he scored a season-high five goals to go along with two more steals and another assist. His efforts helped Cal pick up a 12-7 victory over the Waves and pushed Cupido into third on the team's season scoring list with 20 goals.
Back in Berkeley for his junior season, Cupido remains one of the leaders on a Cal team that is 17-3 entering its regular season finale against Stanford. He earned first team All-America honors as well as first team All-NCAA Tournament in 2015 and then spent the majority of 2016 training with Team USA in preparation for the Olympics.
Cupido is the first Golden Bear to earn a Player of the Week award from the MPSF this season but joins freshmen Jordan Hoover and Safak Simsek as conference honorees as both have been named Newcomer of the Week. He was also honored Monday as the Cal Athletic Department's Muscle Milk Student-Athlete of the Week award and is the third Cal water polo player to do so, joining two-time honoree Johnny Hooper.
The Bears and Cardinal meet at 11 a.m. on Saturday in the latest edition of the Big Splash. The match will be televised live on Pac-12 Bay Area and Pac-12.com. Cal then moves to the MPSF Tournament which takes place next weekend at UCLA.
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