Bears Set To Host UC Irvine, San Jose State

Saturday, October 14

Berkeley, CA

1:00 PM

California

UC Irvine

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Spencer Farrar and the Bears get the weekend started on Saturday vs. UC Irvine

10/12/2017 10:36 AM | Men's Water Polo

Weekly Notes Follow Cal Water Polo on Twitter

By: Cal Athletics

BERKELEY - After a 10-day break from competition, the No. 3-ranked Cal men's water polo team returns to action with two of its final three home matches in 2017 as the Bears host No. 6 UC Irvine and No. 16 San Jose State at Spieker Aquatics Complex. The Anteaters come to town for a 1 p.m. match on Saturday while the Spartans visit the following day for another 1 p.m. contest.

Saturday will be an eventful day at Spieker as Cal honors its 1977 team during the UC Irvine match and then welcomes alums back to Berkeley for the annual Alumni Game, which will begin shortly after the conclusion of the Irvine match. Live updates for both can be found by following Cal Water Polo (@CalWaterPolo) on Twitter.

Cal's last match came on Oct. 4 and the Bears piled up the goals in a 21-9 victory over Santa Clara in Berkeley. Johnny Hooper, Luca Cupido, Connor Reid and Spencer Farrar all had a hat trick in the victory while goalkeepers Kevin Le Vine and Spencer Tagg made four saves apiece to push Cal's record to 13-1 overall.

LAST TIME OUT
A big second period helped carry the Bears to a win over Santa Clara as Cal outscored the Broncos 9-1 over that eight-minute span to take a 14-4 lead into halftime. 12 different Bears scored a goal in the victory, which kicked off a three-match homestand at Spieker Aquatics Complex.

GIVEAWAY DAY
The first 200 fans to arrive at Spieker before Saturday's match against UC Irvine will receive a free pair of Shattuck Shades Sunglasses, courtesy of Hotel Shattuck Plaza, the official Hotel and Restaurant of Cal Aquatics.

SCOUTING UC IRVINE

The Anteaters come to Northern California riding the strength of three-game win streak that includes a 9-8 victory over No. 1 UCLA on Sept. 30. They'll head to Pacific on Oct. 13 with a 10-4 overall record and 1-0 mark in the Golden Coast Conference.
Senior Lovre Milos has established himself as UC Irvine's go-to goal scorer and enters the week with a team-high 46 goals. The native of Zagreb, Croatia also has a team-high 27 steals. Fynn Schuetze has also been a key offensive option and enters the week with 31 goals.
Senior Matej Matijevic has started all 14 games in the cage for the Anteaters and is averaging 13.14 saves per game. Also from Zagreb, Croatia, Matijevic has a goals against average of 7.31.
The Bears and Anteaters met once in 2016 with Cal earning a 9-6 victory in Southern California. Safak Simsek recorded a hat trick and Lazar Andric made 10 saves in the win.

SCOUTING SAN JOSE STATE

The Spartans enter the week with an 8-7 overall record after wins over Cal Baptist, Chapman and Whittier saw them go 3-0 at the Gary Troyer Tournament. Before coming to Berkeley, SJSU will begin its week with a 7 p.m. match vs. UC Santa Barbara on Friday.
Freshman Jacob Mercep made his mark on the Gary Troyer Tournament, scoring 17 goals in three games. Nine of those came in a 19-16 win over Cal Baptist as he set a single-game SJSU record.
The Bears and Spartans last met on Oct. 2, 2016 with Cal picking up a 16-9 victory. Mikey Williams scored four goals to lead the offense while Bernardo Carelli made seven saves and Kevin Le Vine added eight.

NEXT UP
The UC Irvine and San Jose State matches bring a three-game homestand to a close for the Golden Bears, who next strike out on the road for matches at UCLA and Long Beach State on Oct. 21 and 22. Cal returns to Spieker Aquatics Complex on Nov. 4 for the 2017 home finale and a 2016 NCAA championship game rematch against USC. The regular season concludes on Nov. 9 with the Big Splash at Stanford.