Week Four of the NCAA Season sees all five South FLOrida WPC Athletes in Action

The fourth weekend of the men’s NCAA water polo season saw all five of our incredible student-athlete alumni in action across the country, our own Coach Michael Goldenberg was on the move again in his position as a referee evaluator, this time attending the prestigious Overnght MPSF Invitational, highly regarded by many as the strongest regular season tournament as well as a preview for the NCAA Championship Tournament to cap the season off in December. While Coach Mike was in attendance, he would get to see two of our athletes, Max Zelikov, the redshirt freshman standout at Stanford University, as well as he would get to say hello to Lyle Weitz, currently redshirting his freshman year at UC Davis, Lyle was a part of our club’s 2023 USAWP Dallas Junior Olympics winning team as well as this previous summer in 2025 helped us to the silver medal in the 2025 USAWP Session 1 Junior Olympics in Irvine, California.

While Lyle was in attendance but not registered to play for UC Davis, Max would continue the incredible start to the season he has had thus far. With Stanford kicking the tournament off against the #15-ranked Santa Clara Broncos, the Stanford Cardinal pummel their opposition, a game that saw the first quarter end 6-3 in favor of Stanford would quickly run away from the Broncos as Stanford’s stout defense would hold Santa Clara scoreless in the second and third quarter while Stanford continued its onslaught of goals to build a 13-3 lead with the game eventually ending 19-7 in favor of Stanford. Max would see both of his goals come in the third quarter, the first coming from a catch-and-shoot situation on the power play with Stanford rotating the offense to give Santa Clara a different look on defensively, Max would catch a quick pass and lace the ball into the bottom left corner of the goal for Stanford’s 10th goal. Max would then be the focal point of Stanford’s buzzer beating goal at the end of the third quarter, following a timeout call by head coach Brian Flacks, a designed play would see Stanford break the timeout into the offense in a 7-on-6 situation by substituting their goalkeeper with a field player, the play had Max pinch in from the wing as if he were swimming across behind his defender, just for him to pop back out while teammate, Botond Balogh, would start on top and swim down to the wing where Max was previously, a quick pass to Balogh would give a touch pass to Max who would convert the crosscage shot to give Stanford the 10-goal lead just before the buzzer. The strong victory would continue Stanford’s unbeaten record to 5-0 on the season, though that would be tested the following day against Big West Conference powerhouse and the #7-ranked Long Beach State University in the quarterfinal of the MPSF Invite. Long Beach would start the game off firing, taking an early lead in the first quarter to a 5-2, Max, would be involved in the second goal for Stanford, just as Long Beach had outlasted the Stanford power play and defense was resetting, Max, would fire a pass to his right where teammate, Gianpiero Di Martire would hit the back of the net to ensure that the lead for the Long Beach State Sharks would not be too far. With the emotions from Long Beach slowly dying down, Stanford would take a hold in the game, with the score 7-3 in favor of Long Beach, Max would find the back of the net with a stunning skip shot from a fake, as Long Beach had started the possession in a strong press but slowly collapsed into a zone defense that Max figured out with ease. Stanford would win the second and third quarters respectively with Max notching a steal in the second quarter to help Stanford’s defensive presence, the Cardinal would take a 11-8 lead into the fourth, however, it would not last, Long Beach would come out firing again, even a drawn exclusion by Max would not help Stanford as Long Beach would tie the game on a last second shot to send the MPSF quarterfinal into an overtime with an 11-11 scoreline. In the overtime period the goals would continue to fly on both sides with Long Beach notching three more goals and Stanford tucking away an incredible six goals across the two overtime periods, including a hat-trick by Max which included the two dagger goals that would take the 14-14 tied game to 16-14 with stunning shots from the right hand side of the pool, Max’s presence would also be felt defensively, after tucking away the goal for Stanford to go up 15-14 he would also show more defensive prowess with a stunning 5-man defense field block to keep the Long Beach State Sharks out of the Cardinal goal and spearhead Stanford to a 19-16 overtime victory. The heart pounding victory for the Cardinal would set them up in a semifinal berth against the much favored #1-ranked and previous national champions, UCLA Bruins in the evening game.

Max Zelikov (Attacker, Redshirt Freshman, Stanford University) being guarded by Noah Rowe (Senior, Attacker, UCLA) at the Overnght MPSF Invitational. (Photo Credit: Shawn Forer)

The UCLA-Stanford game was an absolute nailbiter, both teams would come out firing with Stanford taking the first quarter 5-4, Max would nail his name onto the scoresheet with a beautiful crossface shot, receiving the ball across his body and quickly firing a hammer to the nearside, even though the UCLA goalkeeper managed a hand on the shot, the power behind Max’s fundamental shot proved too much even drawing plaudits from the Overnght commentary crew of Wesley Kading and Clayton Snyder who on the stream debated whether Max is one of the nation’s top right handed shooters from the weak-side (right hand side of the pool, weak-side for right handers). UCLA, who hosted the MPSF Invite, would come back in the second quarter to eliminate Stanford’s single goal lead heading into the halftime on their home turf, however, the third quarter belonged to Stanford who would take the quarter by a score of 3-1, Max would complete his hat-trick with two goals this quarter the one to break the 7-7 deadlock and the second would come right after to double Stanford’s lead to 9-7, the first goal came from Max elevating on his legs with UCLA’s zone defense sagging back heavily and remaining inactive, Max would unleash a thundering crosscage skip shot to break the tie, his very next shot would be a skip on the nearside with his quick release beating the highly touted UCLA goalkeeper, Max would also tack on another field block on a UCLA power play situation that would see Stanford take a 11-8 lead into the fourth quarter just as they had against Long Beach State with UCLA visibly rattled and making many uncharacteristic mistakes. However, the fourth quarter was where UCLA head coach Adam Wright got his troops in order, the Bruins would once again prove why they are the top-ranked team in the nation, Stanford’s three-goal lead would evaporate as well as UCLA would take control of the game behind their five-goal fourth quarter to win the game 13-12. Though Stanford would lose the game they surprised many pundits and commentators with their level of play especially from a team that is led by a young core of players such as Max Zelikov (Redshirt freshman), Botond Balogh (Sophomore), Ryan Ohl (Sophomore), William Schneider (Sophomore), Ben Forer (Sophomore), Alex Gheorghe (Junior).

Max Zelikov shooting over UCLA’s Peter Castillo (Sophomore, Center, UCLA) at the Overnght MPSF Invitational. (Photo Credit: Shawn Forer)

With the tough loss to UCLA, Stanford would close out the MPSF Invite the following day in the third-place match against the #2-ranked USC Trojans, Max would finally be held scoreless in a game this season and at the start of the match it seemed as though USC would run away with the match, taking a 4-1 lead into the second quarter, however, the Brian Flacks-led Stanford Cardinal proved again that the second and third quarter belong to them, winning each quarter respectively by a score of 4-3 and 4-2, with the score tied heading into the fourth it would remain tied as both USC and Stanford would convert two goals each to send the bronze medal match into overtime, however, in overtime the Trojans would take control scoring three goals over the two overtime periods over the exhausted Cardinals, the Men of Troy would take home a 14-12 victory.

While ending the MPSF invite on a sour note, Max continues his incredible season through the first eight games with his season stats per 6-8 sports states sitting at a +29.6 on player +/- efficiency rating good for third on Stanford’s team, 21 goals (second on Stanford) on 38 shots translating to a 55.3% shooting percentage, 7 assists (fifth on Stanford), 6 steals (fourth on Stanford), 2 exclusions drawn and 2 field blocks. With players like Max leading the charge for the now 6-2 Stanford Cardinal, they are looking forward to traveling to San Jose on Friday, September 26th to take on #6-ranked San Jose State University Spartans and will follow up with a game on Sunday, September 28th against Pepperdine University which will be Stanford’s home-opener at their hallowed stadium pool, Avery Aquatics Complex, the game will be streamed on Overnght at 1 PM PST or locally at 4 PM EST.

While Max and Lyle were out west at the MPSF Invitational, on the east coast our own Gregory Nordheim and his Bucknell Bisons would play host at the Bucknell Invitational, taking on Salem University, the Air Force Academy, #5-ranked east coast powerhouse Fordham University and would finish the weekend against Wagner College, the two latter games being two MAWPC conference games. The Bisons saw the game against Salem University be a physical and fast paced affair, like two heavyweight boxers, both teams were swinging from the get-go, trading goals back and forth with Salem taking the lead 6-5 after the first quarter in an explosive first quarter that saw eleven goals from both teams, however, with Salem holding the lead late in the second quarter, an exclusion drawn by Greg on the counterattack would see Bucknell shift the momentum and take a 10-9 lead into halftime, the third quarter would be where Bucknell would put their stamp on the game building their lead to a 15-12 affair, with the Bisons in full control they would finish the game strong to win 18-15 on the opener of their invitational. The afternoon game would be an affair against the Colorado-based Air Force Academy, ever the physical and strong team, the Airmen brought the game to the Bisons taking an early lead in the first, however, the Bucknell shooters were able to pull the score back to keep the game tied after one period of play, the second began with the Bisons converting two quick goals, however, the undeterred military men pounced on the Bisons for a three-goal run of their own just for one of Bucknell’s primary scorers to ensure the game would go into halftime tied. The third and the beginning of the fourth quarter would be a back-and-forth affair with each team giving goal after goal, an early fourth quarter goal by Bucknell would tie the game at 10-10 which after both offenses went unable to score until a goal by Bucknell with just under four minutes left in the quarter would hand Bucknell the final lead of the game. A showstopping performance from Bucknell’s goalkeeper would ensure that the Air Force Academy would not see the net in the fourth quarter and a red card for Air Force with under two minutes left after a second Bucknell goal would ensure that the hosts would win 12-10 heading into day two of their invitational. Day two of the Bucknell Invitational would be the beginning of conference play for the MAWPC teams, first against #5-ranked Fordham University, a wild first quarter saw the Fordham Rams take a 8-5 lead after the first quarter, and while the Bisons did a decent job against their powerhouse rivals in the first half of keeping pace, the Rams would take a 13-8 lead into halftime and in the third blow the game wide open with another eight goals in the third quarter to Bucknell’s three goals by the end of the game the Rams would take a resounding victory over the hosts by a score of 24-13 to open conference play. While the rough game against Fordham was hard to take for the Bisons, they would show resilience against Wagner College and get their first win of the MAWPC conference season, led by All-American honor stand out Aleksa Stefanovic the Bisons would the first quarter finish with a 2-2 scoreline, then several other Bisons would get aboard to take a narrow second quarter lead into halftime by 6-5 score. The third would be a team display as the Bisons would see four goals from four different players to take the lead to 10-7 heading into the fourth quarter, however, in the fourth quarter the Wagner College Seahawks pounced on the Bisons, with just over two minutes left in the game, the Seahawks swooped in and clawed the game back from 12-8 to a 12-12 scoreline, however, the Serbian talisman for the Bisons would step up in the dying moments, Aleska would convert two goals to ensure the game would be stamped in the favor of Bucknell despite their last minute collapse by a 14-12 scoreline.

With a 4-7 overall record and a 1-1 MAWPC Conference record, Greg and Bucknell will start a series of single games against MAWPC opponents that will play heavily into seeding for the conference championships, they start this coming weekend on the road first visiting George Washington University on Saturday, September 27th before going to Annapolis to take on the Naval Academy the following day.

While Greg was busy at Lewisburg, we found MIT and Connecticut College further in the northeast up at Brown University for a weekend full of games for our South Florida studs, David Ranaudo, Andras Beleznay and Carson Neidert. MIT would start their weekend at the Bruno Invite strong taking down Wheaton College by a score of 17-3, which came from the back of a game deciding 9-0 lead in the first quarter, both Andras and David would find the back of the net in the first quarter, while Andras remained on a single goal, David would be a leading fixture for the Engineers in the game also converting two more goals, one in the second quarter and another in the fourth quarter, the three goals would give the young freshman his first career hat-trick for the Cambridge-based squad, atop of finding the back of the net David would also provide a strong defensive blanket for MIT as he tallied up three steals onto his great game. While the weekend started strong for the Engineers, the rest of the three games proved more difficult. First the game against Johns Hopkins, the #7-ranked team in the Division 3 rankings would take down the Engineers on a late goal, while MIT started the game strong with the first two goals of the game, Hopkins responded strong, constantly keeping the Engineers at bay in the first half and would take a one-goal lead into the third quarter, in the third Hopkins would bring the lead to three goals, however, a strong comeback in the fourth by the Engineers would stifle Johns Hopkins, but a shot from a Hopkins player with under 20 seconds left in the match would find the back of MIT’s net to seal the victory for the Blue Jays and would bring MIT’s day to an end with a 1-1 record. Day two of the Bruno Invite proved rougher for the Engineers, first taking on #4-ranked Division 3 opponent Chapman University to a 7-14 loss and then battling #2-ranked Division 3 opposition Pomona-Pitzer, against Chapman the Engineers came out firing, ready to avenge the previous night loss to the song of a 4-1 lead to start the game, however, Chapman soon strangled the game and fired off a stunning 8-0 run in their favor only stopped when Andras Beleznay would convert a goal in the second quarter, however, Andras’ intervention was not enough as the Chapman Panthers quickly rattled of another three goals and by the beginning of the fourth quarter the score was 12-5 in favor of Chapman, a pair of goals for both teams would stamp the final score on the morning game, the game against the Pomona-Pitzer Sagehens would be just as tough, though MIT looked to answer many of the Sagehens calls to action kept pulling away early on, maintaining at least a two-goal lead throughout the game until the late third quarter where a pair of goals from an MIT teammate and Andras would spark the Sagehens into a five-goal unanswered run that would build a 15-8 lead going into the final stanza for Pomona-Pitzer, a pair of goals from both squads would see the #2-ranked Division 3 team return to California on a positive note.

What’s next for the Engineers? A weekend off, time to return to Cambridge and prepare for the beginning of the NWPC conference play, MIT will play three away conference game the following weekend beginning with a morning game on October 4th at Princeton University followed by an evening game against Iona University, the Engineers will then spend the evening in New York before heading to Brooklyn to take on Long Island University on the morning of October 5th.

While MIT will be licking their wounds and preparing for the all-important conference play in two weeks’ time, Carson Neidert led his beloved Connecticut College Camels on a one-day, three-game stint at the Bruno Invite this past Saturday against Division 3 powerhouse Pomona-Pitzer, Brown University and Johns Hopkins University. The morning game against Pomona-Pitzer proved difficult on the Camels as the Sagehens would on to win 20-3, a disastrous first quarter that saw the Sagehens take a 7-1 lead only devolved further when the California-based squad would hold the Camels scoreless in the second quarter and score another seven goals in the third quarter. After a forgettable first game on the day, the noon game for the Camels was also another test, while Brown ran away in the first quarter winning the quarter 6-0, the Camels would battle back against the Bears, scoring four goals in each quarter, however, Brown would combat the Camels by matching their score in the second and third quarter converting four goals of their own, though Brown would drop the fourth quarter to Connecticut College by a score of 4-3. To get the party started for the Camels, it would be none other than team captain Carson Neidert who would find the back of the net for the Camels to start their flow in the second quarter, he would also find the back of the net again for his second goal in the fourth quarter ensuring that he led from the front the whole game. The game against Johns Hopkins began promising for the Camels, as they took a surprising lead in the first 3-2 into the second, however, in the second quarter the wheels came off, though the Camels would score four goals, including one from Carson, they would allow Johns Hopkins to score a devastating eight goals to take a three-goal lead into halftime. In the third the Camels kept it close, losing the quarter 4-3 and just when they hoped to pull a big comeback, Hopkins would go onto take the fourth quarter by a 4-1 scoreline over the exhausted Connecticut College players to a score of 18-11.

Though it was a tough day of losses for the Camels, they will be happy to know that next weekend they have off to prepare themselves a single game on October 12th against Iona University at Iona University where they will have the opportunity to get back onto the winning track.

Way to go to all of our boys! Good luck now in the middle stretch of your seasons!