California Golden Bears Athletics
Seven Bears Earn All-MPSF Honors
11/15/2023 8:04 PM | Men's Water Polo
Cal Lands Four First-Team Selections
BERKELEY – The No. 2 California men's water polo team landed seven All-MPSF selections, including four first-team nods, the conference announced Wednesday.
No team had more first-team selections than the Golden Bears, who finished with the MPSF's second-best record at 19-4 overall and 3-3 during conference play.
Nikolaos Papanikolaou was named to the All-MPSF First Team for a record fifth consecutive year. Joining him on the first team were goalkeeper Adrian Weinberg and attackers Max Casabella and Roberto Valera.
Three Bears garnered their first career All-Conference nods. Albert Ponferrada and Jake Howerton were both named to the second team, while George Avakian earned honorable mention status.
Despite missing a handful of games this season, Papanikolaou paced the conference with 58 earned exclusions to go with 29 goals and 20 steals. The two-time reigning Cutino Award winner enters the postseason as Cal's No. 3 all-time leading goalscorer with 239 career goals.
Weinberg earned his second straight first-team selection and fifth overall. He ranks among the conference's best once again with 147 saves and 23 steals. Weinberg has reached double-digit saves on six occasions this season, including a season-high 15 against No. 4 Stanford on Sept. 23. At 929 career saves, he is currently three saves away from moving into the MPSF's top-3 all-time.
Casabella is the final Bear to repeat on the All-MPSF First Team, punishing defenses from the outside all season long to the tune of 44 goals and 33 assists. This is his third career All-Conference honor.
Debuting on the first team and also earning his third career selection is the conference's points leader in Valera. The only Bear to reach 50 goals on the year, Valera enters the weekend first in the MPSF with 105 points and 55 assists. His 10 hat tricks are tied with Casabella for the team lead.
Ponferrada and Howerton made huge strides this season as impact players in Cal's rotation, at times both providing clutch play down the stretch of close games. The left-handed Ponferrada is the team's third-leading scorer with 32 goals. He also leads the Bears with 28 steals and trails only Valera with 47 assists. Howerton finished the regular season with 26 goals, 19 steals and five field blocks.
Stepping into huge shoes during Papanikolaou's on-and-off 10-game absence from the lineup, Avakian did not disappoint, constantly battling in center and earning 45 exclusions which rank fourth in the MPSF. Avakian has tallied 14 goals and 10 steals this season.
The Bears begin the MPSF Championships – which they will host at Spieker Aquatics Complex this Friday through Sunday – with a 1 p.m. matchup against No. 6 seed Penn State Behrend on Friday.
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