Saturday, November 5
Irvine, Calif.
1:00 PM
California
at
UC Irvine
Farrel South And The Bears Enter The Week With A 15-3 Record (Catharyn Hayne Photography)
11/2/2016 11:46 AM | Men's Water Polo
BERKELEY - The Cal men's water polo team makes its final road trip of the 2016 regular season as it heads to Southern California to take on UC Irvine and Pepperdine. The Bears and Anteaters will square off at 1 p.m. on Saturday and Cal heads to Malibu to face Pepperdine on Sunday at noon. The Bears spent last weekend in Southern California as well, dropping a 10-6 decision to USC. Cal returns to Spieker Aquatics Complex to close out the regular season when it faces Stanford on Nov. 12 at 11 a.m.
LAST TIME OUT
A rally in the third period brought the Bears to within a goal of USC but the Trojans pulled away with a strong fourth quarter to win 10-6. Johnny Hooper and Connor Neumann each scored two goals to lead the team in scoring while Lazar Andric made eight saves and grabbed three steals. Cal and USC have split a pair of matches in 2016 with the Bears earning a 10-8 victory in Berkeley on Oct. 24.
STAT SHEET
Sophomore Johnny Hooper continues to lead the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) in scoring with 52 goals. Freshman Safak Simsek also ranks in the conference's top 20 with 16 goals. Goalkeeper Lazar Andric is the conference leader in saves per game with 11.06. And, Cal ranks second in team scoring with 15.12 goals per 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.
MAKING A MARK IN RIO
Junior Luca Cupido spent his offseason as a member of Team USA and made an impact as a first-time Olympian in Rio. He started all five matches for the Americans and finished the Games with a total of four goals, three assists, six steals and five blocks. He wasn't the only Golden Bear making a splash for Team USA as Cal alum John Mann also started every game.
ABOUT UC IRVINE
LAST TIME OUT
A rally in the third period brought the Bears to within a goal of USC but the Trojans pulled away with a strong fourth quarter to win 10-6. Johnny Hooper and Connor Neumann each scored two goals to lead the team in scoring while Lazar Andric made eight saves and grabbed three steals. Cal and USC have split a pair of matches in 2016 with the Bears earning a 10-8 victory in Berkeley on Oct. 24.
STAT SHEET
Sophomore Johnny Hooper continues to lead the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) in scoring with 52 goals. Freshman Safak Simsek also ranks in the conference's top 20 with 16 goals. Goalkeeper Lazar Andric is the conference leader in saves per game with 11.06. And, Cal ranks second in team scoring with 15.12 goals per 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.
MAKING A MARK IN RIO
Junior Luca Cupido spent his offseason as a member of Team USA and made an impact as a first-time Olympian in Rio. He started all five matches for the Americans and finished the Games with a total of four goals, three assists, six steals and five blocks. He wasn't the only Golden Bear making a splash for Team USA as Cal alum John Mann also started every game.
ABOUT UC IRVINE
- The Anteaters enter the week with a 9-10 record after dropping a 10-9 decision to UC Santa Barbara last weekend. UC Irvine's last win came on Oct. 21 against San Jose State and the Anteaters will begin their week with a Friday match against Pepperdine.
- Jack Trush leads UC Irvine in scoring with 36 goals this season. Ryan Warde ranks second with 32. Matej Matijevic has played all but 1.5 quarters in goal for the Anteaters and is averaging 13.26 saves per game with a 8.67 goals against average.
- The Bears and Anteaters have not met in 2016 and their last matchup went Cal's way thanks to a 12-10 win in 2015. Luca Cupido led the Bears with three goals in the victory.
- The Waves come into the week with an 11-10 record after going 1-1 last weekend. A 15-7 win over San Jose State and a 10-9 loss to UC Davis left head coach Terry Schroeder's club with a 3-3 record in its last six matches.
- Marko Asic has established himself as one of the nation's top scorers and he enters the week with 53 goals in 21 matches. Mate Toth has 36 goals while Mark Urban has added 32. Zack Rhodes is Pepperdine's main man in goal and he enters with a 8.74 goals against average and a 10.25 saves per game average.
- Cal and Pepperdine have not met in 2016 so their last matchup came in November of 2015 with Cal earning a 26-3 win. Odysseas Masmanidis, Timothy Simenc and Andrew Schnugg scored three goals apiece to lead the Bears.
Players Mentioned
GK
/ Men's Water Polo
A
/ Men's Water Polo
A
/ Men's Water Polo
A
/ Men's Water Polo
U
/ Men's Water Polo
A
/ Men's Water Polo
A
/ Men's Water Polo
A
/ Men's Water PoloThursday, October 05
Thursday, October 20
Thursday, June 23
