STANFORD, Calif. – A third quarter rally put the Cal men's water polo team in position to pick up a big result but No. 2-ranked UCLA countered with a rally of its own and the No. 3 Bears couldn't quite get all the way back to tie it as they fell 12-11 in the third-place match of the MPSF Invitational at Stanford.

A highly competitive match throughout had a little bit of everything at Avery Aquatic Center. Trailing 6-3 at halftime, Cal (14-3) launched its bid to get back in the game in the third period. A pair of goals from Jordan Hoover, one from Safak Simsek and one from Johnny Hooper gave the Bears a 4-0 run and left them up 7-6 with just over three minutes left in the third period.

UCLA (19-1) responded right away, launching a three-goal run of its own to finish the period ahead 9-7. The Bruins extended that lead to 10-7 on a goal by Luke Henriksson with 6:38 remaining and left Cal chasing a three-goal deficit late in the contest.

The Bears weren't done though as goals by Hoover and Nikos Delagrammatikas narrowed the gap to 11-9 with four minutes left. UCLA added a goal to pull ahead by three but Delagrammatikas and Simsek each found the net again and Cal trailed by just one at 12-11 with 1:28 remaining.

Good defense at the most critical time helped Cal get one more chance and head coach Kirk Everist called time out with 38 seconds remaining. An ejection with 16 seconds left gave the Bears a chance with the man advantage but the final shot couldn't find its mark and UCLA escaped with the victory.

Hoover led the charge offensively for the Bears with four goals. Simsek, Delagrammatikas and Hooper each scored twice and Spencer Farrar added one goal. Bernardo Carelli made six saves for Cal.

Cal comes home for three of its final four regular season matches beginning with a noon contest against UC Santa Barbara on Sunday. Note the schedule change for that match, which was originally scheduled for Saturday. The Bears remain home on Oct. 27 for a rematch with UCLA then head to Los Angeles to take on USC on Nov. 3. The regular season comes to a close on Nov. 10 when Stanford visits Spieker Aquatics Complex. All three MPSF contests will be broadcast live by Pac-12 Networks.