SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – A game effort from host UC Santa Barbara kept action close throughout but the No. 3-ranked Cal men's water polo team took the lead right away and a big effort by goalkeeper Kevin Le Vine and the Bears' defense helped lead the way to a 12-9 victory over the No. 8 Gauchos at Campus Pool.

Playing in Southern California for the second-straight weekend, Cal (12-1) needed less than a minute to build a two-goal advantage. Both goals came courtesy of Odysseas Masmanidis as the junior from Greece scored just 15 seconds into the match and then again 33 seconds later to put the Bears up 2-0.

UC Santa Barbara (8-5) scored the next two goals to pull even but Johnny Hooper and Luca Cupido re-established the lead, each finding the net to leave Cal up 4-3 after a period. Defenses took over in the second period but a pair of Spencer Farrar goals made it 6-4 Bears at halftime.

Both offenses resurfaced in the third period but Cal extended the lead to 10-7 thanks to goals from Cupido, Vassilis Tzavaras, Nicholas Carniglia and Cameron Wright. Carniglia and Hooper added goals in the fourth and the Bears finished with a three-goal margin as they earned their second win of the season over the Gauchos.

One week after collecting a career-high 17 saves against UCLA, Le Vine was again a major factor for the Bears in the cage. The senior from El Cajon, Calif. equaled that performance with 17 more saves to provide a strong last line of defense against the Gauchos.

Farrar, Cupido, Carniglia, Hooper and Masmanidis each scored twice while Tzavaras and Wright found the net once. Tzavaras had a strong all-around match with two assists, two steals, two field blocks and two ejections earned.

Saturday's win brought a five-match road stretch to a close for the Bears and they'll return to the friendly confines of Spieker Aquatics Complex on Wednesday for a 4:30 p.m. match against Santa Clara that will be broadcast live by Pac-12 Networks. Cal's three-match homestand continues on Oct. 14 and 15 with games against UC Irvine and San Jose State.