Summary
The 1972 NCAA Men's Water Polo Championship was the fourth annual NCAA Men's Water Polo Championship to determine the national champion of NCAA men's college water polo. Tournament matches were played at the Armond H. Seidler Natatorium in Albuquerque, New Mexico during December 1972.[1]
 | |
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | December 1972 |
| Teams | 8 |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | UCLA (3rd title) |
| Runner-up | UC Irvine |
| Third place | San José State |
| Fourth place | USC |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 13 |
| Goals scored | 331 (25.46 per match) |
| Top goal scorer(s) | Jim Kruse, UCI (31) |
| Best player | Eric Lindroth, UCLA |
UCLA defeated UC Irvine in the final, 10–5, to win their third, and second consecutive, national title.
The leading scorer for the tournament was Jim Kruse from UC Irvine (31 goals). The Most Outstanding Player of the tournament was Eric Lindroth from UCLA. Additionally, an All-Tournament Team was named for the first time this year.
Qualification edit
Since there has only ever been one single national championship for water polo, all NCAA men's water polo programs (whether from Division I, Division II, or Division III) were eligible. A total of 8 teams were invited to contest this championship.
| Team | Appearance | Previous |
|---|---|---|
| Loyola–Chicago | 1st | Never |
| New Mexico | 2nd | 1971 |
| San José State | 3rd | 1971 |
| UC Irvine | 4th | 1971 |
| UC Santa Barbara | 3rd | 1970 |
| USC | 3rd | 1970 |
| UCLA | 4th | 1971 |
| Yale | 2nd | 1969 |
Bracket edit
- Site: Armond H. Seidler Natatorium, Albuquerque, New Mexico
Championship Bracket edit
| First round | Championship semifinals | Championship | ||||||||||||
| UCLA | 21 | |||||||||||||
| Yale | 3 | |||||||||||||
| UCLA | 15 | |||||||||||||
| UC Irvine | 10 | |||||||||||||
| UC Irvine (2OT) | 16 | |||||||||||||
| UC Santa Barbara | 12 | |||||||||||||
| UCLA | 10 | |||||||||||||
| San José State | 5 | |||||||||||||
| USC | 17 | |||||||||||||
| New Mexico | 7 | |||||||||||||
| USC | 14 | Second place | ||||||||||||
| San José State (2OT) | 19 | |||||||||||||
| San José State | 21 | San José State | 12 | |||||||||||
| Loyola–Chicago | 6 | UC Irvine | 14 | |||||||||||
Consolation Bracket edit
- Winner advanced to the Second Place Final against the loser of the Championship.
| Consolation first round | Consolation semifinals | Consolation final | ||||||||||||
| UC Irvine | 23 | |||||||||||||
| New Mexico | 9 | |||||||||||||
| New Mexico | 17 | |||||||||||||
| Loyola–Chicago | 12 | |||||||||||||
| UC Irvine | 12 | |||||||||||||
| USC | 8 | |||||||||||||
| USC | 15 | |||||||||||||
| UC Santa Barbara | 10 | |||||||||||||
| Yale | 2 | |||||||||||||
| UC Santa Barbara | 21 | |||||||||||||
All-tournament teams edit
First team edit
- Eric Lindroth, UCLA (Most Outstanding Player)
- Bruce Black, UC Irvine
- Kevin Craig, UCLA
- Jack Dickmann, UC Irvine
- Brad Jackson, San José State
- Jim Kruse, UC Irvine
- Dennis Needleman, USC
Second team edit
- Garth Bergeson, UCLA
- Curt Caldwell, USC
- Greg Carey, UC Santa Barbara
- Lucky Linder, USC
- Scott Massey, UCLA
- Ed Samuels, San José State
- Steve Spencer, San José State
See also edit
References edit
- ^ "Men's Water Polo Championship Results" (PDF). NCAA. NCAA.org. Retrieved March 23, 2015.