BERKELEY – Led by the scoring of senior Aleksa Saponjic and freshman Conor Neumann, No. 4-ranked Cal jumped out to a 7-2 first period lead and went on to cruise to a 17-7 win over No. 10 UC Davis Saturday at Spieker Aquatics Complex. With the win, Kirk Everist's squad improved to 5-0 entering next weekend's NorCal Invitational in Stockton.

Saponjic, a three-time All-American for the Golden Bears, scored two of his three goals in the first period as Cal set the tone for the rest of the match. Newcomer Neumann, who is from San Ramon (San Ramon High School), also scored in the opening eight minutes and finished with three goals.

Other top scorers for the Bears were junior Colin Mulcahy and redshirt freshman J.D. Ratchford with two goals apiece. Eleven different players scored for Cal, including redshirt freshmen Max Merrill and Grant Schroeder who scored the first goals of their college careers.

In the goal, senior Jon Sibley finished with four saves and sophomore Peter O'Laughlin played the fourth period and had three saves.

“We scored early, so that opened things up for us,” said Everist. “It was a good opportunity for us to play a lot of people and get some of our young players some additional experience.”

The Bears will next host travel to the NorCal Invitational Sept. 20-21 in Stockton, facing the top teams in the nation. Cal opens the NorCal Invite playing Santa Clara Saturday, Sept. 20 at 10:40 a.m. at the June Fergusson Pool at Delta College. If the Bears topped the Broncos, they will play the winner of Long Beach State-Pepperdine at 5:20 p.m. on Saturday at June Fergusson Pool.

UC Davis 2 1 1 3 -- 7

California 7 2 3 5 – 17

UCD: Teddy Nicholson 3, Austin Beckwith, Sean Grab, Shawn Welch, Charlie Hargrave.

Cal: Aleksa Saponjic 3, Conor Neumann 3, Colin Mulcahy 2, J.D. Ratchford 2, Nicholas Carniglia, Farrel South, Thomas Carroll, Max Merrill, Luka Ivanovic, Luca Cupido, Grant Schroeder.

Saves: Spencer Creed (UCD) 4, Jake Becker (UCD) 1; Jon Sibley (Cal) 4, Peter O'Laughlin (Cal) 3.