BERKELEY – With the lights taking full effect and a rowdy group of fans lining the pool deck, the energy of Spieker Aquatics Complex was hard to miss by the end of day two at the Mountain Pacific Invitational.

That feeling had a lot to do with the performance of a hungry group of Golden Bears.

After a win over UC Santa Barbara pushed the Cal men's water polo team into the semifinals, the No. 3-ranked Bears went one step further with a captivating performance in the evening as they beat No. 2 USC 10-8 to close out the day and earn a spot in Sunday's championship match.

With the victory, Cal (11-0) now advances to play No. 1 UCLA on Sunday at 2:30 p.m. That will be the final match of four in Berkeley with four more slated to take place at Northgate High School in Walnut Creek.

Cal 10, USC 8

A game that had momentum shifts, big plays and even a goal scored by a goalkeeper landed on the Bears' side of the ledger to keep Cal undefeated this season.

Goals by Johnny Hooper, Nicholas Carniglia and Safak Simsek give Cal a 3-2 lead after one period but it was the next eight minutes in which the Bears really made a move. Hooper fired one into the corner of the net to make it 4-2, Conor Neumann ricocheted one off goalkeeper McQuin Baron's arm for a 5-2 advantage and Odysseas Masmanidis added a goal from two meters to put Cal ahead 6-2.

The offensive surge came alongside a strong defensive effort. When USC was able to get an advantage, Lazar Andric was there to meet the challenge as he turned away several Trojan power play attempts. Cal killed a USC power play to end the half and took plenty of momentum into the break.

A low-scoring third quarter played to Cal's advantage as the Bears got goals from Masmanidis and Thomas Carroll to lead 8-3 heading into the fourth. USC wasn't going away easily though, and the Trojans scored four of the first five goals in the final period to cut the lead to 9-7 with 1:38 to play. But, with USC threatening to get even closer, Andric came up big, stopping a shot with 56 seconds left to give Cal the ball.

Cal's senior goalkeeper wasn't quite done. With USC vacating its own net in favor of an extra attacker, Andric tried his hand at offense and hit the mark, scoring on a shot that traveled the length of the pool to make it 10-7 with 32 seconds left. USC scored again just before the final buzzer but the game was out of reach and Cal celebrated its biggest win so far this season.

"I think what won that game is unity. We played for each other and I could not be more proud of my guys," Andric said. "They played for me in defense, everybody played for each other, communication was on point, pretty much everything was on point. We had a high score and high lead and we kind of fell asleep for a little bit but we got it back."

Andric finished with 10 saves on the evening while Hooper led the way offensively with three goals. Cal got contributions from a variety of players, showcasing its depth at the end of a long, hot day in Berkeley.

"I think we played 14 or 15 guys in that game and we needed it," Cal head coach Kirk Everist said. "There were some guys where the emotion kind of got them gassed. First test, early season, first big MPSF conference team and I thought we handled it well. We've got a chance to play in a championship game which is always nice."

Cal 15, UC Santa Barbara 8

A one-goal game through three periods turned in Cal's favor over the final eight minutes as the Bears outscored the Gauchos 6-0 in the final frame to advance to evening play against USC.

Both teams traded offensive punches throughout the first two periods, battling to a 7-all tie by halftime. That offense gave way to stronger defense on both sides in the third period and a pair of Hooper goals sandwiched around a goal by UC Santa Barbara to give Cal the 9-8 lead heading into the fourth.

That's when Cal really turned up the intensity. Masmanidis converted off a great pass from Carroll, and after a save by Andric and a UCSB ejection, Farrel South found the corner of the cage to make it 11-8. Freshman Jordan Hoover scored his first goal of the game with 5:47 to play and Cal had the momentum in its corner.

Hooper put the game further out of reach by scoring the next two goals and Simsek punctuated the proceedings with the final goal of the game. Hooper led the way with five goals while South and Masmanidis each scored two. Pedro Stellet, Simsek, Carniglia, Carroll, Hoover and Conor Neumann rounded out the scoring for the Bears. Andric went the distance in goal and stopped seven shots to go with three steals and two assists.