Courtesy: Cal Athletics
BERKELEY – Several weeks after claiming its third consecutive NCAA Championship, the California men’s water polo team received five ACWPC All-America nods, it was announced Thursday.
Four Golden Bears earned All-American status for at least a third straight time, with Nikolaos Papanikolaou becoming the program’s first five-time All-American. Adrian Weinberg, Max Casabella and Roberto Valera all made the first team as well, while Albert Ponferrada garnered an All-America Honorable Mention.
After earning his third straight NCAA Championship MVP award, Papanikolaou adds to his long list of accolades with a fourth consecutive All-America First-Team selection. Despite missing nine games during the regular season, the two-time Cutino Award winner was nearly unstoppable when it mattered.
Papanikolaou set a career high with 95 drawn exclusions, including season highs of nine and 11 in the Bears’ final two games at the NCAA Championship. He scored 43 times on the year to end his Cal career with 253 goals, good for second in program history.
Goalkeeper Adrian Weinberg became the 16th Bear to earn a fourth career All-America honor. Prior to winning the gold medal with Team USA at the 2023 Pan Am Games in early November, Weinberg had helped hold opponents to single-digit goals in eight of his first nine starts of the season.
Weinberg closed the year with double-digit saves in five of Cal’s six postseason outings, including 36 in three NCAA Championship games. He reached the 200-save milestone for the fourth time, reaching the No. 3 spot in MPSF history with 983 in his career.
Casabella was Cal’s leading goal scorer with a career-best 66 goals. He recorded five of his team-leading 13 hat tricks during a dazzling postseason run that ended with him scoring five times in the NCAA Championship game. It was his third overall selection and second straight on the first team.
Debuting on the All-America First Team, Valera paced the MPSF in total goal contributions (112) by a wide margin, finishing second on the team in goals (56) and first in assists (56). The three-time All-American had more points than any player in the NCAA Championship game with four goals and two helpers and finished with 11 total hat tricks.
A breakout sophomore season for Ponferrada results in his first career All-America accolade. After filling out the Bears’ dynamic starting lineup, the left-handed threat made his impact felt all over the pool with 50 assists and 36 steals – both of which ranked top two on the team – to go along with 38 goals. He ended the year with a huge four-assist, three-steal effort in the NCAA Championship win over UCLA.