Oct. 22, 2010

BERKELEY - The No. 1-ranked Cal men's water polo team broke away from a 2-2 first period tie by outscoring No. 7 Pacific, 5-2, in the second quarter on the way to a 11-8 win over the Tigers Friday night (Oct. 22) at Spieker Aquatics Complex. The Golden Bears, who improved to 13-2 on the year and won their fifth straight match, were led by junior Luka Saponjic's three goals, and two goals apiece from seniors Brian Dudley and Zach White, and juniors Ivan Rackov and Zach Greenwood.

After Cal had traded goals with Pacific in the first period, White propelled the Bears by scoring on two impressive inside moves to start the second quarter. Saponjic then showed his versatility by stealing the ball and swimming the length of the pool for a score. Greenwood added a goal when he retrieved his missed shot and scored, followed by Rackov's five-meter penalty shot to give Cal a 7-2 advantage.

The Bears were able to keep the Tigers at bay the rest of the match, although back-to-back goals by Tom Koning in the fourth period did get Pacific within 10-7, before a tip shot by team captain Dudley gave Cal its 11th goal with 2:22 left in the contest. The Tigers' Goran Tomasevic scored his third goal of the match with 23 seconds left for the final 11-8 margin.

The Bears will next travel to UC Irvine from a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation contest on Saturday, Oct. 30 at 12 p.m. at Anteater Pool. Earlier this season, Cal fell to the Anteaters, 9-8, Oct. 2 during the second round of the SoCal Invitational at UCLA's Spieker Aquatics Center.

No. 7 Pacific 2 2 1 3 - 8

No. 1 California 2 5 2 2 - 11

Pacific Goals: Goran Tomasevic 3, Lance Morrison 2, Tom Koning 2, Balazs Erdelyi

Pacific Saves: Joey Franz 5, Alex Malkis 6

California Goals: Luka Saponjic 3, Ivan Rackov 2, Zach White 2, Brian Dudley 2, Zach Greenwood 2

California Saves: Justin Parsons 5