California Baptist University men’s water polo is set to open the 2022 season this weekend after advancing to the Western Water Polo Association Championship game the last two years.
The new campaign begins this weekend at Brown University’s Fall Classic. The Lancers will play five games over two days against Pacific, Brown and Connecticut on Sept. 3 and MIT and Harvard on Sept. 4.
While this season’s rankings have yet to be released, the Lancers are coming off a 2021 campaign where they finished up with a 20-14 record and ranked 13th in the NCAA. CBU also won the WWPA title and became the first team in school history to qualify for the NCAA Championships during the COVID-19 shortened 2020-21 season.
While there are 16 returners on this year’s 27-man roster, there will be a new feel to the team after the graduation of several key veterans in 2021. Four seniors and a core group of junior returners will be looked to play big roles on the team.
Senior Tristan Felberg is back for his second season as the primary goalie for CBU after he started 33 of 34 games in the cage after amassed 309 saves in the process. Junior attackers Cameron Cullen and Caleb Teraoka are two of the team’s top returning offensive threats after each surpassed 70 points last season.
Joseph Griffin, a senior, is CBU’s top-returning goal scorer after he netted 52 from center en route to earning WWPA All-Tournament Second Team honors in 2021. Fellow senior left-handers Angel Sanchez (57) and Thomas de Wit (58) both eclipsed 50 points a season ago, too.
There is depth all over the pool, as well, with junior Matt Olsen and sophomore WWPA All-Freshman Team honoree Gavin McKenzie slotted in at center along with Griffin.
Juniors Joseph Starr and Toby Bumgardner both return at center defender after the graduation of PJ McDonough, the team’s primary center defender over the last several years. Junior attacker Ian Escoto will take on more minutes and responsibility after the graduation of Zach Lowery, a two-time All-WWPA First Team attacker and NCAA Division I All-American who is now CBU’s new assistant coach.
Two transfers in Jacob Sill and Bodhi Bowden stand to come in and contribute right away, as well. Sill is a junior attacker from Cuesta College where he earned all-conference, all-region, all-state and All-America honors.
Bowden comes to CBU by way of WWPA foe Fresno Pacific and was the NCAA Division II Player of the Year and All-WWPA Second Teamer after he logged 105 goals and scored on 47.3 percent of his shots in 2021. He comes in as an attacker but could also slide in at two-meter defender.
Release is courtesy of California Baptist Athletics