George Washington University
Fresno Pacific
#19 Water Polo Hits the Road to Challenge West Coast Competition
10/19/2022 12:28:00 PM | Water Polo
GW plays Thursday, Friday and Saturday in California
WASHINGTON - GW water polo is heading to California for a four-game road trip. The Buff and Blue will face Fresno Pacific on Thursday (9 p.m.), #15 San Jose State and #16 California Baptist on Friday (4:20 p.m. & 8:20 p.m.) in the Julian Fraser Memorial Tournament, and #2 Cal on Saturday (4 p.m.).Â
Last Time Out:
GW went 1-1 last Saturday in a pair of MAWPC games in the Bronx. The Buff and Blue took down Wagner, 11-8, for the second time this year after falling to Fordham earlier in the day. The loss to Fordham was GW's first loss in 16 games and the first since the Colonials' season-opening game against #11 Princeton.Â
Fresno Pacific:
Fresno Pacific (2-16, 0-6 WWPA) has struggled for much of the season. The Sunbirds' lone wins both came in early October, against Chapman and Austin. Teams are averaging 18.7 goals against the Sunbirds, while Fresno Pacific averages 9.1 goals per game.Â
#15 San Jose State:
San Jose State (6-11, 0-2 GCC) is ranked as the No. 15 in the country, despite its losing record. All 11 of the Spartans' losses this season have come to teams ranked in the top 15, including falling to four of the nation's top-five teams. San Jose State has found success against ranked squads as well, taking down #17 Santa Clara twice and #16 California Baptist.
#16 California Baptist:Â
California Baptist (17-9, 2-2 WWPA) has beaten one ranked team this season (Brown, 13-12), though all nine of the Lancers' losses have come to ranked opponents. CBU will meet with Santa Clara on Thursday and Harvard on Friday before taking on the Colonials late on Friday night.Â
#2 Cal:Â
Cal (14-1, 1-0 MPSF) enters Saturday's contest ranked as the nation's second-best team. The Golden Bears have been dominant this year, with their only loss coming to #1 Stanford by a single goal. Cal is outscoring opponents this year 237-112 behind its leading scorers Nikolaos Papanikolaou (31 goals) and Roberto Valera (30 goals).Â
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