BERKELEY – The Cal men's water polo team proved happy to see home waters Friday as the Bears wasted no time in piling up the goals en route to a 22-3 win over Whittier College on the first day of the Mountain Pacific Invitational at Spieker Aquatics Center.

With the win, Cal (9-0) advances to Saturday's quarterfinal round where it will take on UC Santa Barbara at 12:15 p.m. UCLA will begin the day against Pepperdine, Pacific plays Stanford, USC faces Long Beach State and the Bears square off with the Gauchos to wrap up the first session. Semifinals will take place later in the day.

Friday's match showed Cal in control throughout, with a 6-0 lead coming from a first period in which six different Bears found the net. Farrel South ricocheted one off the goalkeeper and in, Johnny Hooper scored on the counter-attack and Thomas Carroll converted off a great pass from goalkeeper Lazar Andric to put Cal ahead. Luca Cupido added a goal, Nicholas Carniglia banked one off the crossbar and in and Pedro Stellet wrapped the period up with a goal from 2 meters.

Cal increased the lead to 11-0 by halftime, and Andric left the game at the break having allowed no goals thanks to seven saves. The Bears rotated their roster through in the second half and cruised to the finish with many regulars getting time off.

"It feels amazing to be back in Berkeley. The team is ready," Stellet said. "We have a really deep team, four guys for each position. That's a good problem for Kirk (Everist) to decide who is going to play where because everyone is ready. I feel our team is more than ready to protect our home, not only this weekend but all season long."

A few Bears made their first mark on the scoresheet as collegiate athletes, with Jack Pickard scoring two goals in his Spieker debut. Gianni Taranto also scored his first goal, and Spencer Tagg made his debut in goal with four saves.

Hooper led the Bears offensively with four goals and Cupido added three. Mikey Williams and Pickard added two while Stellet, South, Carniglia, Nick Bisconti, Carroll, Connor Reid, Odysseas Masmanidis, Jordan Hoover, Timothy Simenc and Chase Hamming all scored one.

Saturday action will take place at both Spieker Aquatics Complex and Northgate High School in Walnut Creek. For an updated schedule of matches, visit the men's water polo schedule page at CalBears.com.