Irvine, Calif. – (October 17, 2024) – For the third year, USA Water Polo and The Olympic Club are excited to collaborate with the Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches (ACWPC) on the Cutino Award Watch List. The Peter J. Cutino Award, named in honor of the late Hall of Fame coach, recognizes the best player in men's and women's college water polo. Among those listed are Fordham seniors
Thomas Lercari (Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif.) and
George Papanikolaou (Athens, Greece).
This watch list was created in 2022 in an effort to help promote the college game, awareness of the honor, and the excellent play of athletes around the country.
In no particular order, 20 athletes, as submitted by varsity college coaches around the country, are recognized for their outstanding play. The top 20 athletes are represented below and are listed in alphabetical order.
While it's possible the 2024 Cutino Award winner will come from the list of athletes below, this list of honorees is completely independent from the nomination and voting process of the Cutino Award as that honor will acknowledge the full impact of the 2024 season.
Athletes are listed in alphabetical order
Gabi Acosta | Long Beach State University | Freshman | Center
Aleix Aznar Beltran | University of California, Davis | Graduate | Utility
Kiefer Black | Naval Academy | Sophomore | Attacker
Max Casabella | University of California, Berkeley | Senior | Attacker
Reuel D'Souza | University of the Pacific | Senior | Attacker
Chase Dodd | University of California, Los Angeles | R-Junior | Attacker
Ryder Dodd | University of California, Los Angeles | Freshman | Attacker
Zach Fales | Santa Clara University | Senior | Attacker
Brendon Gyapjas | San Jose State University | Sophomore | Goalkeeper
Christian Hosea | Pepperdine University | Graduate | Attacker
Makoto Kenney | University of California, Los Angeles | Graduate | Attacker
Kristóf Kovács | Princeton University | Sophomore | Goalkeeper
Thomas Lercari | Fordham University | Senior | Goalkeeper
Robert López Duart | University of Southern California | Sophomore | Attacker
Max Miller | University of Southern California | Graduate | 2M Defender
George Papanikolaou | Fordham University | Senior | Attacker
Riley Pittman | Stanford University | R-Senior | Attacker
Roko Pozaric | Princeton University | Senior | Utility
James Rozolis-Hill | Harvard University | Junior | Utility
Ilias Stothart | Brown University | Junior | Center
With Lercari and Papanikolaou's inclusion, it marks the third consecutive year that Fordham has had a player on the initial watch list, joining Nir Gross in 2022 and Papanikolaou last year.
Fordham's duo has the Rams ranked fifth in both the CWPA/NCAA and ACWPC National Top 20 polls with a 15-0 record and 7-0 mark in the MAWPC.
A 2023 ACWPC All-American and the reigning MAWPC Most Valuable Player, Papanikolaou is tied for second on the Rams in scoring with 54 points on 26 goals and 28 assists, while tying for the team lead in steals with 17. Earlier this season, he reached the 200-goal plateau for his career, becoming one of five players to reach that mark in the last 40 years of Fordham water polo, and surpassed the modern day career assists record. He is also second in modern day career points (457) and steals (186).
Lercari has been a wall in front of the Fordham net, recording 115 saves in just under 41 quarters of work. He has a career-best 8.55 goals against average and 57% save percentage on the season, while adding 15 assists, 14 steals, and six penalty blocks. He has already earned MAWPC Defensive Player of the Week honors twice this season, bringing his career weekly award total to nine. This past week, Lercari passed Alex Jahns (2014-17) on the modern day career saves list at 754, trailing only Timmy Will (800) and Noah LeBeau (996).
