Sept. 18, 2010

BERKELEY - The No. 1-ranked Cal men's water polo team improved its record to 4-0 with a pair of victories during the first day of the 2010 NorCal Invitational, defeating Pomona-Pitzer, 17-8, in a morning match, and Pepperdine, 15-6, in an afternoon contest at Spieker Aquatics Complex.

The Golden Bears, who were led by senior Zach White and junior Ivan Rackov with four goals apiece in the victory over Pepperdine, will now battle No. 4-ranked and two-time defending NCAA champion USC in the tournament semifinal at 10:40 a.m. Sunday, Sept. 19 at Spieker Aquatics Complex. The Trojans had defeated Navy, 15-6, and UC Irvine, 14-10, on Saturday.

In Cal's win over the Waves, the two teams were knotted at 4-4 at the end of the first period, but the Bears ended up dominating the match from that point on, outscoring Pepperdine 11-2 during the final three quarters.

In the morning match versus Pomona-Pitzer, the Bears were led by four goals from Rackov and three goals from sophomore Marin Balarin. The Golden Bears had nine different players score and utilized 27 different players and four different goalies against Pomona-Pitzer, and had eight different scorers versus Pepperdine.

Rackov helped set the pace of the Pomona-Pitzer match as he scored the contest's first three goals and later added another score as the Bears jumped out to an 8-2 lead after the first period. Junior Luka Saponjic notched two goals and true freshman Collin Smith and senior captain Brian Dudley also scored in the first quarter for Cal.

White and sophomore Mason Cox had two goals apiece for the Bears in the morning. Redshirt freshman goalie Michael Boggan had two saves in the fourth period.

 2010 NORCAL INVITATIONAL
Game 11
Cal 15, Pepperdine 6
Pepperdine   4     1    0    1    -    6
Cal          4     3    4    4     -   15
Pepperdine Goals: Nathan Castillo 2, Matt Brown 2,
Rex Learmouth, James Perry
Cal Goals: Ivan Rackov 4, Zach White 4, Cory Nasoff 2,
Luka Saponjic, Collin Smith, Zach Greenwood, Charlie Steffens,
Max Bergeson
Pepperdine Goalie Saves: Bryce McLain 3 (first half),
Bence Valics (second half) 5
Cal Goalie Saves: Justin Parsons 4
-----------------------------
Game 1
Cal 17, Pomona-Pitzer 8
Pomona-Pitzer   2      3       1     2    -     8
Cal             8      5       2     2     -    17
Pomona-Pitzer Goals: Ben Hadley 2, Ryan Higgins 2, Mark Hudnall,
Jarrod Gaut, Tucker Carlson, Cody Moore
Cal Goals: Ivan Rackov 4, Marin Balarin 3, Luka Saponjic 2,
Zach White 2, Mason Cox 2, Collin Smith, Brian Dudley,
Hunter Gettelfinger, Cory Nasoff
Pomona-Pitzer Goalie Saves: Kyle Pokorny (first half) 4,
Tyler Hill (second half) 4
Cal Goalie Saves: Michael Boggan 2 (in fourth period),
Steve Giahos 1 (fourth period)

Sept. 18 NorCal Invitational Results
at Spieker Aquatics Complex
Game One California 17, Pomona-Pitzer 8
Game Three Pepperdine 8, Loyola Marymount 7 SDOT
Game Five USC 15, Navy 6
Game Seven UC Irvine 14, Santa Clara 3
Game Nine Loyola Marymount 13, Pomona-Pitzer 6
Game 11 California 15, Pepperdine 6
Game 13 Santa Clara 11, Navy 7
Game 15 USC 14, UC Irvine 10

Sept. 18 NorCal Invitational Results
at Diablo Valley College
Game 2 UCLA 15, Air Force 5
Game 4 Pacific 11, Long Beach State 9
Game 6 Stanford 13, UC Davis 5
Game 8 UC Santa Barbara 10, UC San Diego 7
Game 10 Long Beach State 10, Air Force 9
Game 12 UCLA 10, Pacific 7
Game 14 UC Davis 10, UC San Diego 6
Game 16 Stanford 7, UC Santa Barbara 6

Sept. 19 NorCal Invitational Schedule
at Spieker Aquatics Complex
Game 17 UC Irvine vs. Pepperdine 8 a.m.
Game 19 UC Santa Barbara vs. Pacific 9:20 a.m.
Game 21 USC vs. California 10:40 a.m.
Game 23 Stanford vs. UCLA 12 p.m.

Sept. 19 NorCal Invitational Schedule
at Diablo Valley College
Game 18 Pomona-Pitzer vs. Navy 8 a.m.
Game 20 Air Force vs. UC San Diego 9:20 a.m.
Game 22 Santa Clara vs. Loyola Marymount 10:40 a.m.
Game 24 Long Beach State vs. UC Davis 12 p.m.