Bears Set To Host Big Splash

BERKELEY - The final home game of 2018 brings a visit from No. 3-ranked Stanford as the No. 4 Cal men's water polo team hosts its rival in the latest edition of the Big Splash. First sprint is scheduled for 12:05 p.m. on Saturday at Spieker Aquatics Complex and the match will be broadcast live by Pac-12 Networks with Kevin Danna on the call.

Cal and Stanford will play for the Steve Heaston Trophy which is awarded annually to the winner of the Big Splash. The trophy is named after the longtime Cal coach who guided the Bears to three national titles as a head coach and was a part of many more as an assistant to Pete Cutino.

Saturday's match also represents Senior Day and the Bears will honor their three upperclassmen - Johnny Hooper, Odysseas Masmanidis and Vassilis Tzavaras - in a pregame ceremony. The match is also important from a postseason perspective as the Bears and Cardinal jockey for seeding at the MPSF Championships that begin Nov. 16 at USC.

LAST TIME OUT
Cal continued MPSF play with a trip to USC as the Bears dropped a 13-7 decision to the No. 1-ranked Trojans at Uytengsu Aquatics Center. Johnny Hooper scored four goals to lead Cal offensively while Jordan Hoover added a pair. The Bears enter the final week of the regular season locked in a four-way tie in the MPSF standings with Cal, Stanford, USC and UCLA all sitting at 1-1 with one match to play.

SCOUTING STANFORD

The Cardinal comes to town with a 17-2 overall record and 1-1 mark in the MPSF. Last weekend brought the second defeat of the season for head coach John Vargas' squad as Stanford dropped a 10-8 decision on the road to No. 4 UCLA.
While Cal's Johnny Hooper sits atop the MPSF scoring chart with a goals per game average of 3.91, Stanford occupies spots two through four as Ben Hallock (2.94), Bennett Williams (2.47) and Tyler Abramson (2.37) have led the Cardinal in scoring throughout the season. Hallock ranks second in the conference in total goals with 53.
Senior Oliver Lewis has provided a steady hand in the cage for the Cardinal and ranks second in the MPSF with 11.46 saves per game. He also ranks third in goals against average at 7.06.
Saturday's contest will be the first meeting this year between Cal and Stanford. The two last met in the third-place match of the 2017 MPSF Championships where Cal emerged with a thrilling 10-9 victory in overtime. Luca Cupido delivered one of the season's most memorable moments, tying the game with 11 seconds left in regulation, and the eventual Cutino Award winner went on to score again in overtime and clinch the game with a key field block.

WHAT'S NEXT
The postseason gets underway on Nov. 16-18 with the MPSF Championships hosted by USC. Cal, Stanford, USC and UCLA will be joined by Penn State Behrend and Austin College at Uytengsu Aquatics Center with matches beginning on Friday. Sunday's championship and third-place match will be broadcast live by Pac-12 Networks. Seeds and start times will be determined after this weekend's action concludes.