Kennedy, Nettekoven, Pang Earn First-Team All-America; Rosser, Weigle on Second Team
CLAREMONT, Calif. - The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men's water polo team, which captured the USA Water Polo Division III national title on Dec. 3, had five players on the Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches Division III All-America teams, the organization announced today.
Nick Kennedy, Aidan Nettekoven and Cristian Pang earned spots on the ACWPC Division III All-America first team, while Gavin Rosser and Luke (Bear) Weigle captured second-team All-America honors.
Kennedy led CMS in points with 96 on 50 goals and 46 assists in his debut season with the Stags. He was the SCIAC Newcomer of the Year, and closed out the regular season with four straight hat tricks against Cal Lutheran, Occidental, Chapman and Redlands. His season-high in goals was four in a regular season win over Redlands, including the game-winner with two seconds left in regulation, while he tallied six assists in a win over Division I Cal State Fullerton.
Nettekoven was the Most Valuable Player of both the SCIAC Postseason Tournament and the USA Water Polo Division III Championship after not allowing more than five goals in any of the four postseason games that the Stags played in. He had eight saves in a 6-5 win over Redlands in the national championship, and matched his season-high with 13 saves in a SCIAC Semifinal win over Chapman. He was first-team All-SCIAC this season, after earning the SCIAC Defensive Player of the Year Award in 2022, and finished the year with 194 saves and a .524 save percentage.
Pang led CMS in goals with 53 on the year, and earned first-team All-SCIAC accolades. He had two goals and an assist in a SCIAC Championship win over Redlands, and tallied two goals and two assists in the USA Water Polo Division III Semifinals against Augustana. During the regular season he had five-goal games against Biola and Caltech, while also adding three assists in the Biola win for a season-high eight points, and scored four goals against No. 12 UC San Diego, CSU Fullerton and Westcliff.
Rosser contributed 30 goals and 21 assists to the Stags' championship season. He scored in nine straight games for CMS up through the USA Water Polo Division III Semifinals, and then had an assist in a 6-5 win over Redlands in the championship. He had a season-high five points with two goals and three assists in a rivalry win over Pomona-Pitzer and also contributed 31 steals on the year, with a high of three in regular season wins over Redlands and Chapman.
Weigle, who was the SCIAC Newcomer of the Year as a freshman last season, had 41 goals for the Stags on the year, including a goal and an assist against Redlands in the national championship. He was the SCIAC Offensive Player of the Week after registering hat tricks against Concordia and No. 11 UC Santa Barbara, and added three goals in wins over CSU Fullerton and Occidental. He also had at least one goal against every Division I team that CMS played, tallying 15 in those nine games combined.
CMS finished the year with a 24-7 record and captured the first national title in program history with its win over Redlands in the USA Water Polo Division III title. The Stags also won their first SCIAC Championship for the program since 2015, when CMS represented the SCIAC in an NCAA Tournament play-in game against USC.