SANTA CLARA, Calif. - After spending the first few weeks of the season with his focus trained on Team USA, Cal men's water polo senior Johnny Hooper made sure to make a splash in his return to collegiate competition as the senior scored six times in his first match of the year and helped the No. 4-ranked Bears pick up a 16-9 victory at Santa Clara.

Hooper's return, coupled with a hungry group looking to re-establish momentum after falling to Harvard over the weekend, led to a quick start against the Broncos. Cal (9-1) scored eight times in the first period with Hooper netting two goals and Odysseas Masmanidis, Safak Simsek, Marko Valecic, Vassilis Tzavaras, Jack Deely and Jordan Hoover all contributing one.

A 10-3 lead at halftime turned into a 14-6 advantage after three periods and Cal wrapped up the match seven goals to the good. Hooper led the way in the scoring column while Hoover also finished with two goals. Miles O'Brien-Schridde, David Feingold and Nikos Delagrammatikas added their names to the scoresheet as well with one goal each.

In goal, Bernardo Carelli drew the start and made eight saves. Freshman Anthony Rethans got the assignment in the second half and finished the match.

Action returns to Spieker Aquatics Complex on Saturday when Cal hosts San Jose State at 11 a.m. The Bears take their show on the road next weekend for games at UC Irvine and Pepperdine before returning to the Bay Area to take part in the MPSF Invitational at Stanford from Oct. 12-14.