Saturday, November 3
Los Angeles, CA
1:00 PM
California
at
USC
11/1/2018 12:01 PM | Men's Water Polo
No. 3 Cal Looks To Continue Strong Conference Start
BERKELEY - A victory over UCLA got the Cal men's water polo team off to a good start in MPSF play and now the No. 3-ranked Bears travel south for their final road trip of the regular season as they take on No. 1 USC on Saturday. Action from Uytengsu Aquatics Center is set for a 1 p.m. start and the match will be broadcast live by Pac-12 Networks. Jim Watson and Kami Craig have the call.
Cal's win over UCLA left the Bears tied with Stanford atop the MPSF standings as the three-game round robin moves into week two. Cal is prominent among the conference's statistical leaders with senior Johnny Hooper ranking first in goals per game at 3.90. Six Golden Bears - Hooper, Safak Simsek, Odysseas Masmanidis, Vassilis Tzavaras, Spencer Farrar and Jordan Hoover - rank in the top 25 in goals per game.
Hooper continues to climb the Cal all-time scoring list and his two-goal performance against UCLA pulled him into a tie for second with 2010 Cutino Award winner Ivan Rackov with 235 goals. Three-time Olympian Chris Humbert is Cal's all-time leader with 296 goals.
LAST TIME OUT
Just as it always does, Cal's matchup against UCLA went right to the wire as the Bears held off the Bruins for a 9-7 win in Berkeley. Leading by just one with a minute remaining, senior Vassilis Tzavaras grabbed a steal at mid-tank and the ensuing transition chance resulted in a penalty shot. Johnny Hooper converted to put Cal up two goals with 26 seconds left, a UCLA goal cut the margin back to one with 17 seconds left and Marko Valecic finished the scoring with a goal at the buzzer. Hooper finished with two goals, four steals and two assists and Nikos Delagrammatikas also added a pair of goals.
SCOUTING USC
Cal returns to Spieker Aquatics Complex for the final home game of the 2018 regular season as Stanford pays a visit on Saturday at noon in a matchup that will be broadcast live by Pac-12 Networks. The game will be preceded by Cal's annual Senior Day ceremonies as the Bears pay tribute to the contributions of seniors Johnny Hooper, Odysseas Masmanidis and Vassilis Tzavaras. The postseason gets underway with a trip back to USC as the MPSF Championships will take place Nov. 16-18 at Uytengsu Aquatics Center.
Cal's win over UCLA left the Bears tied with Stanford atop the MPSF standings as the three-game round robin moves into week two. Cal is prominent among the conference's statistical leaders with senior Johnny Hooper ranking first in goals per game at 3.90. Six Golden Bears - Hooper, Safak Simsek, Odysseas Masmanidis, Vassilis Tzavaras, Spencer Farrar and Jordan Hoover - rank in the top 25 in goals per game.
Hooper continues to climb the Cal all-time scoring list and his two-goal performance against UCLA pulled him into a tie for second with 2010 Cutino Award winner Ivan Rackov with 235 goals. Three-time Olympian Chris Humbert is Cal's all-time leader with 296 goals.
LAST TIME OUT
Just as it always does, Cal's matchup against UCLA went right to the wire as the Bears held off the Bruins for a 9-7 win in Berkeley. Leading by just one with a minute remaining, senior Vassilis Tzavaras grabbed a steal at mid-tank and the ensuing transition chance resulted in a penalty shot. Johnny Hooper converted to put Cal up two goals with 26 seconds left, a UCLA goal cut the margin back to one with 17 seconds left and Marko Valecic finished the scoring with a goal at the buzzer. Hooper finished with two goals, four steals and two assists and Nikos Delagrammatikas also added a pair of goals.
SCOUTING USC
- The Trojans enter the last two weeks of the regular season with a 25-1 overall record after a 10-5 victory over No. 5 Pacific last time out. Head coach Jovan Vavic's squad suffered its lone defeat in its MPSF opener, falling 13-11 at Stanford on Oct. 6. USC avenged that loss with a 10-9 win over the Cardinal in the championship game of the MPSF Invitational on Oct. 14.
- A pair of sophomores lead USC in the scoring column as returner Marko Vavic and transfer Jacob Mercep each enter the weekend with 50 goals. Freshman Hannes Daube isn't far behind with 45 goals and the Trojans lead all MPSF teams with an average of 16.69 goals per game.
- After the graduation of goalkeeper McQuin Baron, USC has turned to freshman Nic Porter to fill the role of starting goalkeeper and he ranks second in the MPSF with a goals against average of 6.67.
- The Bears and Trojans have met once this season with Cal dropping a 13-6 decision in the semifinals of the MPSF Invitational. Safak Simsek scored four goals to lead the Bears in scoring.
Cal returns to Spieker Aquatics Complex for the final home game of the 2018 regular season as Stanford pays a visit on Saturday at noon in a matchup that will be broadcast live by Pac-12 Networks. The game will be preceded by Cal's annual Senior Day ceremonies as the Bears pay tribute to the contributions of seniors Johnny Hooper, Odysseas Masmanidis and Vassilis Tzavaras. The postseason gets underway with a trip back to USC as the MPSF Championships will take place Nov. 16-18 at Uytengsu Aquatics Center.
Players Mentioned
Defender
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Attacker
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Utility
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