Thursday, October 6
Berkeley, Calif.
7:00 PM
California
vs
Long Beach State
Connor Reid And The Bears Enter The Week At 13-1 Overall (Catharyn Hayne Photography)
10/5/2016 11:47 AM | Men's Water Polo
BERKELEY - The Cal men's water polo team continues a lengthy homestand with a match under the lights as the Bears welcome Long Beach State to Spieker Aquatics Complex for a 7 p.m. game. The Bears enter with a 13-1 record after notching weekend wins over UC Santa Barbara and San Jose State. Long Beach State comes north with a 9-3 record after beating Occidental, Long Beach City College and Golden West College over the weekend.
LAST TIME OUT
Wins over UC Santa Barbara and San Jose State gave the Bears a chance to get contributions from the entire roster over a weekend of matches in Berkeley. A strong first half against the Gauchos set the tone for the weekend, with Odysseas Masmanidis scoring three goals and Lazar Andric making 18 saves to lead Cal to a 13-9 victory. One day later, freshman Mikey Williams played the role of leading scorer with a career-high four goals in a 16-9 win over the Spartans. Freshman Bernardo Carelli and junior Kevin Le Vine split time in the cage against SJSU and both played well en route to the victory.
STAT SHEET
Sophomore Johnny Hooper continues to lead the MPSF in scoring with 42 goals and a 3.00 goals per match average. Redshirt freshman Jordan Hoover and true freshman Safak Simsek also rank in the top 20 as each has 16 goals and a 1.14 goals per match average to tie for 18th. Senior Lazar Andric moved up to No. 2 in the conference in saves per match after an 18-save effort against UC Santa Barbara left him with a 10.80 average entering the Long Beach State match.
STARTING STRONG
A quartet of convincing victories in New Jersey got the 2016 Bears off on the right foot. An 18-8 win over No. 11 Princeton served as the highlight and was followed by a 15-4 win over George Washington, 17-0 victory over St. Francis and a 16-2 triumph over Johns Hopkins. Johnny Hooper picked up where he left off in 2015 by scoring a team-high 12 goals for the weekend. Freshman Jordan Hoover was impressive in his first collegiate action, scoring nine goals, while Lazar Andric allowed just three goals in six periods of play and the Bears outscored their opponents by a combined margin of 66-14.
POSTSEASON RETURN
Cal's strong 2015 campaign ended at the NCAA Championships and marked a return to the postseason for the nation's leader in NCAA titles. Despite falling to USC in the semifinal round, the Bears rebounded with a 20-9 victory over UC San Diego to bring home the third-place trophy. Luca Cupido was named a first team all-tournament performer while Colin Mulcahy, Johnny Hooper and Odysseas Masmanidis were named second team.
ABOUT LONG BEACH STATE
LAST TIME OUT
Wins over UC Santa Barbara and San Jose State gave the Bears a chance to get contributions from the entire roster over a weekend of matches in Berkeley. A strong first half against the Gauchos set the tone for the weekend, with Odysseas Masmanidis scoring three goals and Lazar Andric making 18 saves to lead Cal to a 13-9 victory. One day later, freshman Mikey Williams played the role of leading scorer with a career-high four goals in a 16-9 win over the Spartans. Freshman Bernardo Carelli and junior Kevin Le Vine split time in the cage against SJSU and both played well en route to the victory.
STAT SHEET
Sophomore Johnny Hooper continues to lead the MPSF in scoring with 42 goals and a 3.00 goals per match average. Redshirt freshman Jordan Hoover and true freshman Safak Simsek also rank in the top 20 as each has 16 goals and a 1.14 goals per match average to tie for 18th. Senior Lazar Andric moved up to No. 2 in the conference in saves per match after an 18-save effort against UC Santa Barbara left him with a 10.80 average entering the Long Beach State match.
STARTING STRONG
A quartet of convincing victories in New Jersey got the 2016 Bears off on the right foot. An 18-8 win over No. 11 Princeton served as the highlight and was followed by a 15-4 win over George Washington, 17-0 victory over St. Francis and a 16-2 triumph over Johns Hopkins. Johnny Hooper picked up where he left off in 2015 by scoring a team-high 12 goals for the weekend. Freshman Jordan Hoover was impressive in his first collegiate action, scoring nine goals, while Lazar Andric allowed just three goals in six periods of play and the Bears outscored their opponents by a combined margin of 66-14.
POSTSEASON RETURN
Cal's strong 2015 campaign ended at the NCAA Championships and marked a return to the postseason for the nation's leader in NCAA titles. Despite falling to USC in the semifinal round, the Bears rebounded with a 20-9 victory over UC San Diego to bring home the third-place trophy. Luca Cupido was named a first team all-tournament performer while Colin Mulcahy, Johnny Hooper and Odysseas Masmanidis were named second team.
ABOUT LONG BEACH STATE
- The 49ers bring a 9-3 record with them for a two-match week in Northern California. After playing the Bears on Thursday, they'll head to Stanford for a 1 p.m. match against the Cardinal on Saturday.
- Long Beach State participated in the Mountain Pacific Invitational in Berkeley, winning two and losing two. The 49ers began the tournament with a win over UC Davis, fell to USC, rebounded with a victory against UC Santa Barbara and closed the weekend with an 8-6 loss to Stanford.
- Head coach Gavin Arroyo is in his 11th season as the 49ers' head coach and the former Cal star spent two years as an assistant coach for the Golden Bears in addition to competing in two Olympic Games for the United States. As a Bear, Arroyo was a two-time All-American and helped Cal win three NCAA titles (1990, 1991, 1992).
- Cal and Long Beach State met once in 2015 with the Bears earning a tough 15-14 victory. Johnny Hooper scored a season and career-high seven goals in the victory.
Players Mentioned
GK
/ Men's Water Polo
G
/ Men's Water Polo
A
/ Men's Water Polo
A
/ Men's Water Polo
A
/ Men's Water Polo
GK
/ Men's Water Polo
U
/ Men's Water Polo
A
/ Men's Water Polo
A
/ Men's Water Polo
D
/ Men's Water PoloThursday, October 05
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