Courtesy: MPS Sports
2023 Delfina MPSF West All-Conference Selections (PDF)
2023 Delfina MPSF East All-Conference Selections (PDF)
MPSF WEST MAJOR AWARDS
2023 MPSF Player of the Year
RAFAEL REAL VERGARA · #7 · SENIOR · ATTACKER · UCLA
UCLA senior Rafael Real Vergara (Sao Paulo, Brazil) enters the postseason with an MPSF-high 56 goals on the year (3.11 GPG). He has completed 13 regular season hat tricks, 15 multiple-goal games, and tallied in 16 of the 18 games he competed. Vergara accumulated 15 of his 30 goals against MPSF opponents across three wins over USC. In the Overnght MPSF Invitational, he exploded for 16 goals, five assists and two steals over three outings which led to his first Delfina MPSF Player of the Week honor. In the regular season finale, to cap off the MPSF’s first unbeaten regular season since the 2015 Bruins, Vergara delivered five of UCLA’s 10 goals along with two steals, leading to his second career Delfina MPSF Player of the Week award. Vergara represents UCLA’s fifth all-time MPSF Player of the Year recognition, and the first in seven years (Garrett Danner-2015-16, Scott Davidson-2009, Sean Kern-2000).
2023 MPSF Newcomer of the Year
BEN LIECHTY · #13 · FRESHMAN · UTILITY · UCLA
UCLA freshman Ben Liechty (Newport Beach, CA) was named MPSF S & R Sport Newcomer of the Week a conference-high-tying twice this year. Liechty first earned the honor following his collegiate debut, as he helped the Bruins to a 4-0 record at the season-opening Triton Invitational (Sept. 2-3) with a team-high 10 goals. He then scored his fourth career hat trick on four shots in a 13-9 MPSF home win over No. 2 California (Oct. 28), and drew three exclusions in helping the Bruins clinch the MPSF’s top seed. Liechty scored 33 regular season goals, second-most on the Bruins, including in his first nine collegiate games. He scored in 16 of the 21 games he played, and recorded 13 multiple-goal outings. Liechty is the third Bruin all-time to earn MPSF Newcomer of the Year recognition (Makoto Kenney-2020, Garrett Danner-2013).
ADAM WRIGHT · HEAD COACH · 15th YEAR · UCLA
UCLA Head Coach Adam Wright guided the top-ranked Bruins to an unbeaten 23-0 regular season, the first undefeated regular season in the MPSF since UCLA’s 2015 team. Eight of UCLA’s wins were against MPSF, seven against top-five competition, and 16 of the 23 overall wins came against top-10 opponents. The Bruins scored in double-digits in all 23 contests, and held opponents to single-digits 16 times. UCLA placed an MPSF-high nine players on the All-MPSF teams this year, including four on the first team. Wright is 341-63 overall (.844) since taking over the UCLA program in 2009. This is the third MPSF Coach of the Year award for Wright (2017, 2011), and the third such recognition overall for UCLA Men’s Water Polo.
MPSF EAST MAJOR AWARDS
2023 MPSF Player of the Year
DECLAN HUTTON · #1A · SOPHOMORE · GOALKEEPER · AUGUSTANA
Augustana sophomore goalkeeper Declan Hutton (Bedfordview, South Africa) earned the season’s first Delfina MPSF East Player of the Week award, after he accumulated 43 saves (.606) and 11 steals through 2.75 games played on opening weekend against a mix of D-I and D-II opponents. Hutton collected 18 saves and scored a rare goalkeeper goal in the win over Mount St. Mary’s, and saved seven of 10 penalty shots faced that week. On Nov. 4, Hutton collected 13 saves and allowed just seven goals (.650) in a 9-7 win over Austin College to seal the MPSF Eastern Division’s top seed. The Vikings, competing in just their third men’s water polo season and second in the MPSF, completed a second-straight unbeaten conference schedule and won 13 of 18 regular season games (.722). Hutton, the eastern division’s first-ever two-time major award recipient (newcomer of the year in ’22), is the first Viking to earn MPSF Player of the Year.
IAN PALMROOS · #6 · FRESHMAN · ATTACKER · AUGUSTANA
Augustana freshman Ian Palmroos (San Diego, CA) accumulated 36 goals through his 17 regular season games (2.12 GPG), and is the only freshman from either division named to the All-MPSF first team. Palmroos recorded seven hat tricks, 11 multiple-goal games, and scored in all but three of his outings. He totaled a conference-high three S&R Sport MPSF Newcomer of the Week awards. His first honor came after his collegiate debut when he combined for seven goals, four steals, and three assists against a mix of D-I and D-II schools. Palmroos then scored nine goals and collected four steals in the Los Angeles area en route to his second award (Oct. 2), which included two goals in a win vs. a higher-ranked No. 6 Occidental. His third weekly award came after a huge 11-goal, five-assist, and five-steal MPSF weekend, which included hat tricks in wins over Austin and Penn State Behrend. Palmroos is the second-straight player from Augustana to win an MPSF Newcomer of the Year award.
GINA-BELLA MATA’AFA · HEAD COACH · 1ST YEAR · PENN STATE BEHREND
Penn State Behrend Head Coach Gina-Bella Mata’afa took over at the helm of the program just weeks prior to the season opener, after spending the previous two years as the Lions’ assistant. She proceeded to coach the squad to seven regular season wins, tying the program record and achieved just two other times since 2000. The Lions managed to pick up two MPSF wins, also a program first. Penn State Behrend placed a school record six players on the All-MPSF teams this year, led by Jack Holl and Ryan Kenney earning first team selections. Mata’afa is Penn State Behrend’s first-ever MPSF major award recipient.
2023 Delfina MPSF West All-Conference Selections (PDF)
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2023 Delfina MPSF East All-Conference Selections (PDF)
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