UCLA, LBSU Await Bears On SoCal Swing

BERKELEY - Riding a five-game win streak and armed with the momentum of three wins at home, the No. 3-ranked Cal men's water polo team heads back to Southern California for important matches against No. 2 UCLA and No. 8 Long Beach State. Action begins Saturday at 11 a.m. with a showdown against the Bruins that will be broadcast live by Pac-12 Networks. The trip concludes Sunday with a noon match against the 49ers. Live updates for both matches can be found by following Cal Water Polo on Twitter (@CalWaterPolo).

Cal wrapped up a three-match homestand with two convincing wins last weekend, earning an 18-8 victory over No. 6 UC Irvine and a 20-6 win over No. 16 San Jose State. Senior Luca Cupido earned MPSF Player of the Week honors after scoring 11 goals in the two games combined. The Santa Margherita Ligure, Italy native started the week with a season-high six goals against the Anteaters before scoring four goals in the first period alone against the Spartans en route to five for the day. Goalkeeper Kevin Le Vine also continued his strong run of play, stopping a career-high (and season-high for MPSF goalies) 19 saves against UC Irvine.

CONFERENCE HONORS
By earning MPSF Player of the Week honors on Monday, Luca Cupido became the third Golden Bear to win the conference's weekly award this season. Cupido's fellow team captain, Pedro Stellet, earned the honor after scoring seven goals in four matches at the Triton Invitational and goalkeeper Kevin Le Vine received the award after making 17 saves in a road win at UC Santa Barbara.

SCOUTING UCLA

The Bruins enter the week with a 15-1 record of their own after picking up wins over Cal Baptist and Long Beach State last week. UCLA's lone loss came on Sept. 30 when it fell 9-8 at UC Irvine.
UCLA has relied on several options to lead the scoring charge this season and Nicolas Saveljic enters the week as the team's leading scorer with 31 goals. Max Irving has 28 and Chasen Travisano also has 22.
Three goalkeepers have seen playing time but sophomore Alex Wolf has emerged as UCLA's go-to option in the cage as he takes over this season from longtime Bruin standout Garrett Danner. Wolf ranks second in the MPSF with a 6.49 goals against average and third with 10.79 saves per game.
This weekend's meeting will be the second of the season for the Bears and Bruins. UCLA emerged with a 9-8 victory in overtime when the two met in the semifinals of the Mountain Pacific Invitational on Sept. 23 at USC.

SCOUTING LONG BEACH STATE

The 49ers enter the weekend with a 10-9 record and will look to snap a five-game losing skid after falling 11-10 in sudden-death overtime to UC San Diego on Wednesday. LBSU will face UC Santa Barbara on Friday before hosting the Bears on Sunday.
Five Long Beach State players enter the weekend with 20 goals or more, led by Austin Stewart with 34. Thomas Freeman has been the 49ers starter in the cage and enters the UCSB match with a goals against average of 11.51.
Sunday's contest will also be the second meeting this season for the Bears and 49ers as Cal scored a 14-7 win as part of the Triton Invitational on Sept. 3. Kevin Le Vine made 17 saves while Luca Cupido and Odysseas Masmanidis each recorded a hat trick in the victory.

NEXT UP
Once they return from Southern California, the Bears will get a week off from game action as they prepare for a showdown against USC on Nov. 4. The match, which will be the final home game of the 2017 season, will also feature Senior Day festivities for Cal's six seniors and be broadcast live by Pac-12 Networks. A start time has yet to be announced.