Saturday, October 1
Berkeley, Calif.
12:00 PM
California
vs
UC Santa Barbara
Timothy Simenc And The Bears Enter The Weekend With An 11-1 Record (Catharyn Hayne Photography)
9/29/2016 9:41 AM | Men's Water Polo
BERKELEY - Three wins in four tries at the Mountain Pacific Invitational elevated the Cal men's water polo team (11-1) to No. 2 in the CWPA national poll and now the Bears look to keep the momentum going with home matches against UC Santa Barbara and San Jose State. The Bears and Gauchos met last weekend, with Cal winning 15-8, and the meeting with SJSU will be the first of the season. The matches are part of a three-week homestand for Cal, which will also host Long Beach State on Oct. 6.
LAST TIME OUT
Cal placed second at the Mountain Pacific Invitational it hosted from Sept. 23-25. Wins over Whittier and UC Santa Barbara set the stage for an evening showdown with No. 2 USC and it was the No. 3 Bears who prevailed, winning 10-8 in front of a raucous crowd at Spieker. That moved Cal to the championship game and, although the Bears fell 10-7 to No. 1 UCLA, they moved up a spot in the national rankings for their 3-1 weekend. Johnny Hooper scored 12 goals in 13 quarters of play and was named Muscle Milk Student-Athlete of the Week for the second time this season. Fellow sophomore Odysseas Masmanidis also made his 2016 debut and scored eight goals in four matches.
STAT WATCH
Johnny Hooper enters the week as the leading scorer in the MPSF with 37 goals in 12 matches. Cal is also the MPSF's leading offensive team, averaging 16 goals per contest. Goalkeeper Lazar Andric ranks fourth in the conference with 9.69 goals per game allowed.
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.
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.
INSTANT IMPACT
Cal welcomed a large freshman class in 2015 but the duo of Johnny Hooper and Odysseas Masmanidis made its presence felt immediately. Hooper was named the MPSF Newcomer of the Year, second team All-America and second team All-NCAA Tournament while Masmanidis was named third team All-American, second team All-MPSF and second team All-NCAA Tournament. Hooper was second in the MPSF in scoring with 74 goals and Masmanidis was fourth with 64.
ABOUT UC SANTA BARBARA
LAST TIME OUT
Cal placed second at the Mountain Pacific Invitational it hosted from Sept. 23-25. Wins over Whittier and UC Santa Barbara set the stage for an evening showdown with No. 2 USC and it was the No. 3 Bears who prevailed, winning 10-8 in front of a raucous crowd at Spieker. That moved Cal to the championship game and, although the Bears fell 10-7 to No. 1 UCLA, they moved up a spot in the national rankings for their 3-1 weekend. Johnny Hooper scored 12 goals in 13 quarters of play and was named Muscle Milk Student-Athlete of the Week for the second time this season. Fellow sophomore Odysseas Masmanidis also made his 2016 debut and scored eight goals in four matches.
STAT WATCH
Johnny Hooper enters the week as the leading scorer in the MPSF with 37 goals in 12 matches. Cal is also the MPSF's leading offensive team, averaging 16 goals per contest. Goalkeeper Lazar Andric ranks fourth in the conference with 9.69 goals per game allowed.
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.
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.
INSTANT IMPACT
Cal welcomed a large freshman class in 2015 but the duo of Johnny Hooper and Odysseas Masmanidis made its presence felt immediately. Hooper was named the MPSF Newcomer of the Year, second team All-America and second team All-NCAA Tournament while Masmanidis was named third team All-American, second team All-MPSF and second team All-NCAA Tournament. Hooper was second in the MPSF in scoring with 74 goals and Masmanidis was fourth with 64.
ABOUT UC SANTA BARBARA
- The Gauchos spent last weekend in Berkeley and went 2-2 at the Mountain Pacific Invitational. Wins over Princeton and Pepperdine bookended losses to the host Bears and Long Beach State.
- In the match against Cal, Reed Cotterill led UCSB with two goals and goalkeeper Justyn Barrios stopped nine shots.
- The Bears and Gauchos played four times in 2015 with Cal winning each matchup. Their final meeting came in the first round of the MPSF Tournament and the Bears won 11-4 behind two goals apiece from Hooper and Masmanidis.
- The Spartans also spent last weekend in the East Bay, playing four matches at Northgate High School as part of the Mountain Pacific Invitational. San Jose State went 0-4 in the tournament, dropping contests against Stanford, Air Force, UC Irvine and Whittier. The matches against Air Force and UC Irvine each went to overtime.
- San Jose State got offensive contributions from a variety of players last weekend. Finn Pardon led the Spartans with two goals against Stanford, Zachary Scudder scored three against Air Force, seven players scored a goal apiece against UC Irvine and Davor Koret and Cade Baldridge each scored two against Whittier.
- The Bears and Spartans squared off three times in 2016 with Cal winning all three games. The final meeting came on Nov. 1 in Berkeley and the Bears got five goals from J.D. Ratchford en route to a 13-5 win.
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 PoloThursday, October 05
Thursday, October 20
Thursday, June 23
