Men’s Water Polo Ready to Compete at MIT Invitational
Providence, RI- The Brown University men's water polo team will kick off the 2010 season against Cal Lutheran at 11:30 a.m. on Sept. 4 at the MIT Invitational. With the return of the entire Brown starting lineup minus ACWPC All-American goalkeeper Kent Holland, the Bears will once again look to contend for a Northern Division title and to improve on last year's sixth place finish at the Eastern Championships.
Sophomore Svetozar Stefanovic (Belgrade, Serbia), the nation's third leading goal scorer, will look to lead the team again, as he poured in 81 goals for Bruno last season and handed out 32 assists. Also adding to the offense will be senior captain Gordon Hood (Carlsbad, CA), who was second on the team in scoring with 69 goals and a team-high 35 assists, followed by senior captain Corey Schwartz (Los Angeles, CA), who chipped in with 40 goals. Adding depth to the Bears' lineup is Brandon Yoshimura, and sophomores Cyrus Mojdehi, Ryan Gladych and Dean Serure.
Leading the defense in the cage this season will be junior Max Lubin (Beverly Hills, CA) and rookie Walker Shockley (Diamond Bar, CA). Lubin, playing behind goalkeeper Kent Holland, gained valuable experience last year as he saw action in six contests and went 2-0 in the net. Also adding strength to the back line will be sophomore Michael Hartwick (Los Angeles, CA) and junior Marcus Gartner (San Jose, CA), who will be manning the center defender position. Other valuable defensive weapons are junior Toby Espinosa (Palo Alto, CA) and freshmen James McNamara (Los Angeles, CA) and Grant Villeneuve (Atherton, CA).
Rounding out the squad that is said to be the deepest in Head Coach Felix Mercado's four years at Brown are freshmen Steven Chizen (Los Altos, CA), Eric Robb (Winnetka, IL) and Chris Culin (Cincinnati, OH). "While the CWPA looks to be its strongest and most competitive in recent years, I expect Bruno to be back in the thick of things and compete for a shot for an NCAA automatic bid, " said Mercado.
