Oct. 3, 2010

LOS ANGELES, CALIF - Powered by junior Luka Saponjic's four goals, the No. 3 Cal men's water polo team won a third-round consolation bracket match at the SoCal Invitational with a 15-3 win over Pacific at Spieker Aquatics Center Sunday (Oct. 3) morning in Los Angeles.

Along with Saponjic's four goals, including two power play scores in the first and fourth periods, sophomore goalie Justin Parsons registered seven saves for the 9-2 Golden Bears. Cal had scored the first nine goals of the match, shutting out the Tigers in the first half. Juniors Ivan Rackov and Zach Greenwood, and freshman Collin Smith, added two goals apiece for the Bears.

Rackov has now scored 11 goals in the tournament and has a team-high 29 goals in 11 matches this season.

Cal will next play Stanford, 9-8 winners over Long Beach State in another consolation match, at 2:40 p.m. Sunday in the fifth place match. The Bears had earlier defeated their Bay Area rival, 11-8 on Sept. 19, in the third place match of the NorCal Invitational in Berkeley.

On Saturday, Cal had defeated Santa Clara, 15-8, before falling to UC Irvine, 9-8.

Pacific 3, California 15

No. 7 Pacific 0 0 1 2 - 3

No. 3 California 4 2 5 4 - 15

Pacific Goals: Tom Konig 2, Jason Wensley

Pacific Saves: Joey Frantz 4, Alex Malkis 3

California Goals: Luka Saponjic 4, Collin Smith 2, Ivan Rackov 2, Zach Greenwood 2, Charlie Steffens, Giacomo Cupido, Zach White, Cory Nasoff, Brian Dudley

California Saves: Justin Parsons 7