Sept. 15, 2007

BERKELEY, CALIF. - The No. 2-ranked California men's water polo team (8-0) won its first two matches of the 2007 NorCal Open, defeating No. 17 Air Force, 14-4, in its morning match, and then topping No. 7-ranked UC Santa Barbara, 10-5, in the afternoon contest at Spieker Aquatics Complex. The Golden Bears will next face No. 3-ranked UCLA at 12 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 16 at Spieker Aquatics Complex. For complete results, scoring and Sunday's schedule for the 2007 NorCal Open, view the men's water polo page on www.calbears.com.

Cal, now holding a 13-match winning streak carrying over from last season's National Championship run, had to rebound from a 1-0 deficit after the first period against UC Santa Barbara. The Gauchos' Ross Sinclair scored the contest's first goal at 6:36 in the opening period, and then UCSB held the Bears scoreless the remainder of the opening quarter. Cal was able to tie the match, 1-1, on sophomore Scott Cruikshank's outside shot with 6:03 in the second period, only to see the Gauchos to counter with Mark Knudtsen's goal with 6:23 in the second quarter for a 2-1 lead.

The Bears' senior All-American Michael Sharf tied the contest, 2-2, with a score off of senior Jeff Tyrrell's assist with 1:26 left in the half. From there, Cal dominated, outscoring UCSB, 5-2, in the third period behind a pair of goals from Sharf and goals from sophomore Thomas Pearson, senior Vladislav Andreyev (4:06) and Tyrrell. The Bears went on to outscore the Gauchos, 3-1, in the fourth quarter behind back-to-back goals from senior Adam Haley and a slick lob shot by redshirt freshman Brian Dudley with 2:04 left in the match. Senior goalie Mark Sheredy recorded 10 saves against UCSB, while Tyrrell had a team-high four assists.

"Our defense really kept us in the game against UC Santa Barbara," said Cal coach Kirk Everist. "We struggled a little bit controlling the ball, but we played well on the defensive end."

Against Air Force, the Bears were paced by Tyrrell's match-high four goals, and two goals apiece from Sharf, senior Zac Monsees and juniors Trent Calder and Frank Reynolds. Sheredy notched nine saves in the first two periods, and redshirt freshman Jacob McIntosh had three saves.

MATCH 11
California 10, UC Santa Barbara 5
UC Santa Barbara 1 1 2 1 - 5
California 0 2 5 3 - 10
Goals - UC Santa Barbara - Mark Knudtsen 2, Ross Sinclair 2, Stefan Partelow.
California - Michael Sharf 3, Adam Haley 2, Scott Cruikshank,
Brian Dudley, Vladislav Andreyev, Jeff Tyrrell, Thomas Pearson.
Saves - UCSB - Rick Wright 9.
California - Mark Sheredy 10.
Records: California 8-0, UC Santa Barbara 10-2

MATCH 1
Air Force 4, Cal 14
Air Force 1 2 1 0- - 4
Cal 4 5 2 3 - 14
Goals - AF - Clark Condict 3, Chris Pace.
Cal - Jeff Tyrrell 4, Trent Calder 2, Zac Monsees 2, Frank Reynolds 2,
Michael Sharf 2, Brian Dudley, Andrew Nesbit.
Saves - AF - David Ostrom 10.
Cal - Mark Sheredy 9 (first half), Jacob McIntosh 3 (second half).

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 15th, 2007
University of California - Spieker Aquatics Complex ** - B & C Brackets
Game 1 8:00 am Cal 14, Air Force 4 Final Stats
Game 3 9:20 am UCSB 10, LMU 4 Final Stats
Game 5 10:40 am UCLA 15, Santa Clara 4 Final Stats
Game 7 12:00 pm Pepperdine 13, UC Davis 5 Final Stats
Game 9 1:20 pm LMU 13, Air Force 5 Final Stats
Game 11 2:40 pm Cal 10, UCSB 5 Final Stats
Game 13 4:00 pm UC Davis 8, Santa Clara 6 Final Stats
Game 15 5:20 pm UCLA 7, Pepperdine 5 (OT) Final Stats

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 15th, 2007
Miramonte High School - Bill Brown Aquatics Center ** - A & D Brackets
Game 2 8:00 am USC 22, Santa Cruz 0  Final Stats
Game 4 9:20 am Long Beach 9, UCSD 6 Final Stats
Game 6 10:40 am Stanford 14, UOP 9 Final Stats
Game 8 12:00 pm UC Irvine 13, Navy 12 Final Stats
Game 10 1:20 pm UCSD 16, Santa Cruz 9 Final Stats
Game 12 2:40 pm USC 10, Long Beach 5 Final Stats
Game 14 4:00 pm Pacific 14, Navy 11  Final Stats
Game 16 5:20 pm Stanford 11, UC Irvine 9 (OT) Final Stats

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 16th, 2007
University of California - Spieker Aquatics Complex
Game 17 8:00 am Long Beach State vs. UC Irvine Final Stats
Game 19 9:20 am UCSB vs. Pepperdine Final Stats
Game 21 10:40 am USC vs. Stanford Final Stats
Game 23 12:00 pm Cal vs. UCLA Final Stats
Game 25 1:20 pm Loser 17 v. Loser 19 (7th Place) Final Stats
Game 27 2:40 pm Winner 17 v. Winner 19 (5th Place) Final Stats
Game 29 4:00 pm Loser 21 v. Loser 23 (3rd Place) Final Stats
Game 31 5:20 pm Winner 21 v. Winner 23 (1st Place) Final Stats

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 16th, 2007
Miramonte High School - Bill Brown Aquatics Center
Game 18 8:00 am Santa Cruz vs. Navy Final Stats
Game 20 9:20 am Air Force vs. Santa Clara Final Stats
Game 22 10:40 am UCSD vs. Pacific Final Stats
Game 24 12:00 pm LMU vs. UC Davis Final Stats
Game 26 1:20 pm Loser Game 18 v. Loser Game 20 (15th Place) Final Stats
Game 28 2:40 pm Winner 18 v. Winner 20 (13th Place) Final Stats
Game 30 4:00 pm Loser 22 v. Loser 24 (11th Place) Final Stats
Game 32 5:20 pm Winner 22 v. Winner 24 (9th Place) Final Stats