Pavillard Named Cutino Award Finalist

Pavillard Named Cutino Award Finalist

Luke Pavillard of the Pacific men’s water polo team was named a finalist for the Peter J. Cutino Award on Wednesday. Pavillard is the Tigers’ fourth player ever to be a finalist for the award, honoring the best player of the year in water polo.

Pavillard, the Golden Coast Conference Player of the Year, and an NCAA All-Tournament Team selection, led Pacific with 81 goals in 27 games. He also handed out 36 assists for 117 points.

A red-shirt sophomore, Pavillard has already hit the 100 goal mark in his career, after finishing 2016 with 25 goals in 12 games.

Pavillard led the Tigers with 10 goals and five assists in three NCAA games as he posted hat tricks in all three games: three goals against Pomona-Pitzer in the opening round, four against UC Davis in the quarterfinals and three against No. 1 UCLA in the semifinals. He added four assists in the opening round and one each in the quarters and semis.

“We couldn’t happier for Luke,” head coach James Graham said. “He put up just incredible numbers this season – offensively and defensively. But there’s two thing that stand out about Luke: he put up those numbers when it mattered most to help our team get important victories. In five GCC Tournament and NCAA Tournament games, he had 16 goals and 18 steals. When you put up 16 goals and 13 steals in six games against the MPSF teams, you’ve proven you’re among the elite players in collegiate water polo. And secondly, he’s this good as a sophomore. We’re really excited about his future at Pacific.”

The native of Perth, Australia, joins Balazs Erdelyi, Alex Obert, Goran Tomasevic as Pacific players to be named a finalist for the Cutino Award. Obert was a finalist as a senior in 2015, while Tomasevic was the Tigers’ first ever Cutino finalist in 2010 as a sophomore. Erdelyi is the only Tiger to win the Peter J. Cutino award, taking home the most coveted individual trophy in the sport in both 2012 and 2013.

Pavillard’s 81 goals were third in the nation, while his point total of 117 on the season ranked second in men’s water polo. He leads the list of Cutino finalists in offensive production and added 68 steals on defense.

He helped the Tigers to a 21-6 overall record in 2017, the Golden Coast Conference regular season and tournament titles, a pair of NCAA Tournament wins and a spot in the NCAA Semifinals.

The Peter J. Cutino Award is presented annually by The Olympic Club to honor the outstanding Division I collegiate male and female athlete in the sport of Water Polo.

Four finalists were named this season, with UCLA’s Mat Farmer and Alex Roelse and Cal’s Luca Cupido joining Pavillard.

The men’s and women’s Cutino Award winners will be announced at the Olympic Club in San Francisco on June 2, 2018.