California Golden Bears Athletics

BERKELEY - On the heels of a third-place finish at the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Championships, two Golden Bears received recognition for their efforts as senior Luca Cupido and junior Odysseas Masmanidis were named to the MPSF/KAP7 All-Tournament team, the conference announced Monday.

Cupido returned after missing two games due to illness and, despite not being 100 percent, proved once again that he is arguably the most important player in the nation. The senior from Santa Margherita Ligure, Italy finished the tournament with seven goals, 10 assists, six steals, five blocks and five ejections earned in three matches as he continued to show his all-around prowess for the Bears.

Cal's captain put forward a particularly significant performance in the third-place match against Stanford as, with the Bears facing a possible season-ending loss, he scored with 11 seconds left to tie the match at 8 and force overtime. In the extra period, he scored what would eventually be the decisive goal, fighting off a pair of Cardinal defenders to produce the goal that pushed Cal's lead to 10-8. The Bears went on to win 10-9.

Masmanidis was a force at 2 meters throughout the weekend for the Bears, opening his tournament with one goal and three ejections earned. He returned to action in the third-place match against Stanford and put the Bears ahead in overtime with his second goal of the contest. The native of Athens, Greece also had one steal and three ejections earned in the win over the Cardinal.

Both Cupido and Masmanidis will be back in action on Dec. 2 when the Bears take on either USC, Harvard or George Washington in the semifinals of the National Men's Water Polo Championship. The match will begin at 5:15 p.m. at USC's Uytengsu Aquatics Center. For ticket information and a complete tournament bracket, visit NCAA.com.