Reuel D'Souza Named Peter J. Cutino Award Finalist

STOCKTON, Calif. – 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. University of the Pacific's Reuel D'Souza has achieved the incredible accomplishment of making the short three-person finalist list.

"I'm so happy for Reuel. He is extremely deserving of this prestigious honor," said Pacific Water Polo Head Coach James Graham. "To me, it's not just Reuel's amazing talent that makes him deserving of this recognition but also his hard work, commitment, obsession, resilience and leadership that makes him such a special player and teammate."

D'Souza, a 6'3" sophomore from Port Coquitlam, British Columbia, Canada, is an attacker for the Tigers.

D'Souza's sophomore season was even more impressive than his freshman one. He led the Tigers with 100 points, including 54 goals and a team-leading 46 assists. He had 12 steals, eight drawn exclusions and 10 field blocks for the Tigers. At the end of the 2022 season, D'Souza's 54 goals put him in sixth, and his 46 assists put him second in the Golden Coast Conference. His 100 points led the conference, and his 10 field blocks were good for fifth place. He averaged 1.9 goals per game, earning him a GCC ranking of sixth, and his 1.6 assists per game earned him second. 3.4 points per game placed D'Souza in second among the GCC.

D'Souza scored a season-high five goals in the GCC semifinal game in the 2022 season and had a season-high seven assists against UC Irvine. He had 16 multi-goal games throughout the season.

Accolades were plentiful for D'Souza in his sophomore campaign. He was named to the GCC All-Conference First Team and the GCC All-Tournament Team. He was named to the NCAA All-Tournament Team and the inaugural Cutino Award Watchlist. D'Souza also claimed Association of Collegiate Water Polo Coaches All-Academic Team accolades and was named an ACWPC First Team All-American.

"I think that anyone who has been around him as a player or coach knows how much he brings to a program, and it's great to see him recognized as one of the top players in the country," said Graham. "Pacific is extremely proud to have him as one of the leaders of our program."

D'Souza was one of three Tigers named to the Cutino Award Watchlist in October 2022. He was joined by teammates Bogdan Djerkovic and Jeremie Cote.

In his freshman year, D'Souza earned an honorable mention on the 2021 ACWPC Division I All-America Team and was named GCC Newcomer of the Year. He was also elected to the GCC All-Conference Team and All-Freshman Team. D'Souza earned GCC All-Academic honors. He played in all 22 games, recording 25 goals, 27 assists and six steals. He finished ninth in the conference in assists and seventh in assists per game with 1.3.

Joining D'Souza on the finalist list are Nikolaos Papanikolaou of Cal and Jake Ehrhardt of USC.

D'Souza will be the seventh Tiger to be named a finalist for the award since the 2010 season when Pacific had its first finalist. This is the third most behind only USC, which now has 11 and UCLA, which has 10. Cal is tied with Pacific for seven finalists, Stanford has five, and Bucknell has one.

Since 2010, all but one Peter J. Cutino Award finalist have come from Pacific, UCLA, USC, Cal and Stanford.

Pacific has won the coveted award twice; Balazs Erdelyi won back-to-back awards in the 2012-13 and 2013-14 years.

2022-23 – Reuel D'Souza (Finalists: PAC, Cal, USC)
2019-20 – Luke Pavillard (Finalists: Stanford, PAC, Bucknell)
2017-18 – Luke Pavillard (Finalists: Cal, PAC, UCLA, UCLA)
2015-16 – Alex Obert (Finalists: Stanford, PAC, UCLA)
2013-14 – WON: Balazs Erdelyi (Finalists: PAC, USC, USC)
2012-13 – WON: Balazs Erdelyi (Finalists: PAC, USC, UCLA)
2010-11 – Goran Tomasevic (Finalists: USC, Cal, PAC)

On this year's watchlist, Pacific's three names were tied for the most names on the list with Cal and USC. UCLA had two players on the list.

The Cutino Awards will take place on the evening of Saturday, June 3rd, at The Olympic Club in San Francisco. The ceremony will be live-streamed free of charge courtesy of USA Water Polo at YouTube.com/USAWP. The broadcast will feature interviews with finalists, athletes, and coaches, plus the Cutino Award ceremony in its entirety. Those interested in attending the awards can register by visiting https://www.olyclub.com/cutino-awards-rsvp/.

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Players Mentioned

#4 Jeremie Cote: UTL; 6' 2"; Senior

#12 Reuel D'Souza: ATT; 6' 3"; Sophomore

#3 Bogdan Djerkovic: 2MD/ 2M; 6' 7"; Senior

Players Mentioned

#4 Jeremie Cote
: 6' 2"; Senior
: UTL

#12 Reuel D'Souza
: 6' 3"; Sophomore
: ATT

#3 Bogdan Djerkovic
: 6' 7"; Senior
: 2MD/ 2M

Players Mentioned

#4 Jeremie Cote

#12 Reuel D'Souza

#3 Bogdan Djerkovic

Players Mentioned

#4 Jeremie Cote

#12 Reuel D'Souza

#3 Bogdan Djerkovic