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GOAL-ORIENTED: Azevedo averaged
3.3 points per game.
gonzalesphoto. com |
Every team has a nemesis,
and for men’s water polo, it’s often, fittingly,
the Cal Bears.
This year, it was ’SC.
Stanford did drop one game to Berkeley early in the
season. But its other four losses came at the hands
of the Trojans, who won the NCAA championship game over
the Cardinal, 9-7, in double overtime on December 7
at Stanford’s Avery Aquatic Center.
“We really match up well against Stanford with
our deep bench and excellent goalie,” USC coach
Jovan Vavic said after the title game.
Junior Tony Azevedo led the Cardinal with four goals.
“Tony tried to carry us on his back and nearly
did it,” head coach John Vargas told the San
Jose Mercury News after the match. For the third
consecutive season, Azevedo was named the American Water
Polo Coaches Association Player of the Year.
If Stanford had won the championship, it would have
tied Berkeley for the most NCAA titles in the sport
with 11. Instead, the team settled for its seventh second-place
finish. Hmm. Maybe Cal is still the true nemesis.
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