LOS ANGELES, Calif. - The Cal men's water polo team kicked off its stay at the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) Tournament in fine fashion as the No. 3 seed Bears jumped out to a substantial halftime lead and cruised from there to beat No. 6 UC Santa Barbara 11-4 and advance to Saturday's semifinal round.

With the win, Cal improves to 22-5 overall and moves on to play No. 2 Pacific on Saturday at 4 p.m. The Bears and Tigers have met three times this season, with Cal winning the first two games in double overtime and Pacific picking up a win in Berkeley on Nov. 7.

Friday's game with UC Santa Barbara was another meeting between teams that are very familiar with one another as the Bears and Gauchos had also met three times prior to their conference tournament matchup. And, that familiarity showed for the first period as Cal managed only a 2-0 lead thanks to goals by Nicholas Carniglia and Colin Mulcahy.

The Bears lengthened their lead in the second period, tacking on four goals to make it 6-1 at halftime. Luca Cupido found the net twice while freshmen Johnny Hooper and Odysseas Masmanidis also scored to help Cal take control. 

UC Santa Barbara looked for the comeback in the third but the Gauchos couldn't get past Cal's last line of defense. Goalkeeper Lazar Andric had a strong period in the cage, stopping five shots in eight minutes to help preserve the Bears' lead. Meanwhile, Hooper and Masmanidis each added another goal and Cal led 8-2 with one period to go.

Fourth period goals by Chandler Jarrels, Mulcahy and J.D. Ratchford wrapped up the scoring for Cal and Andric finished with 14 saves. Cupido, Mulcahy, Masmanidis and Hooper tied with UCSB's Derek Shoemaker for match-high honors in scoring with two goals apiece. Saturday's match will be streamed live by USC and live stats will also be available through the MPSF Tournament Central page.