BERKELEY - Top-ranked California handed No. 8 Pepperdine its first loss of the season with an 8-6 win over the Waves on Friday evening at the Spieker Aquatics Complex. Cal junior Johnny Hooper notched the go-ahead goal with 7:01 left in the fourth period, as the Bears went ahead 7-4.

The Bears improved to 7-0 after the nonconference win. Pepperdine's record now stands at 9-1.
 
Cal took a 1-0 lead on a goal by Odysseas Masmanidis with 7:32 to go in the first period. The junior has now scored in six straight games, and his strike temporarily tied for the team lead in goals with 14. In the second period, Cal co-captain Luca Cupido scored his team-best 15th goal of the year on a power play at 3:56 to give Cal a 3-2 lead. But the feisty Waves tied the game at 3-3 through Chris Dilworth at 3:09, and the score remained the same at halftime.
 
The Bears came out strong in the third, outscoring the Waves 3-1. Cal's Vassilis Tzavaras (at 3:37), Pedro Stellet (1:52) and Safak Simsek (:11) all scored in the period to push Cal ahead 6-4. When Hooper converted a penalty shot early in the fourth, Cal took its biggest lead of the game at 7-4.
 
Mark Urban (6:09) and Mate Toth (2:24) scored to lift the Waves to within one at 7-6.
 
But the Bears did well to hold onto the ball much of the rest of the way, and then Cal senior Nicholas Carniglia scored at the buzzer to make the final score 8-6.
 
Defense was the story of the game.
 
"That's a good team," Cal head coach Kirk Everist said. "We struggled a lot today on offense and we struggled in the five-man D, which is where they got most of their goals. But on the front-court defense we played a lot better, and I was happy with that. Playing well in the front court, not giving up a lot of opportunities and not giving up a lot of ejections – that keeps you in the game when you're having a bad day offensively. We kept ourselves in the game with solid D."
 
Cal goalie Spencer Tagg was part of Cal's solid defense, as the sophomore made eight saves.
 
"We've had good efforts from him and Kevin (Le Vine, a senior) this year," Everist said. "We're looking to get Tagg as much experience as we can this season. I thought he had a nice day."
 
The Bears return to action when they host 13th-ranked UC San Diego at 1 p.m. on Saturday at Spieker.