1972 NCAA Men's Water Polo Championship
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]
 | |
| Dates | December 1972 |
|---|---|
| Teams | 8 |
| Champions | UCLA (3rd title) |
| Runners-up | UC Irvine |
| Third place | San José State |
| Fourth place | USC |
| Matches played | 13 |
| Goals scored | 331 (25.46 per match) |
| Top goal scorer(s) | Jim Kruse, UCI (31) |
| Best player | Eric Lindroth, UCLA |
← 1971 1973 → | |
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
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
- Site: Armond H. Seidler Natatorium, Albuquerque, New Mexico
Championship Bracket
| 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
- 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
First team
- 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
- 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
References
- "Men's Water Polo Championship Results" (PDF). NCAA. NCAA.org. Retrieved March 23, 2015.