BERKELEY - After an opening weekend in which it went 4-0 with wins over three ranked opponents, the Cal men's water polo team turns its attention a little closer to home as the No. 3-ranked Bears get set for Northern California tests against No. 11 UC Davis and No. 5 Pacific. Action begins against the Aggies with a 7 p.m. match on Thursday at Schaal Aquatics Center. Saturday brings a trip to the Central Valley with a 7 p.m. match against the Tigers at Chris Kjeldsen Aquatics Complex. Live updates for both matches can be found by following Cal Water Polo (@CalWaterPolo) on Tiwtter.

Cal returns to Northern California with the momentum of a strong first weekend in tow. Wins over No. 20 Air Force and Concordia highlighted day one and the Bears were equally successful the next day with victories over No. 9 UC Irvine and No. 10 UC Santa Barbara. Senior co-captain Vassilis Tzavaras earned his first MPSF Player of the Week nod while Odysseas Masmanidis led Cal in the scoring department with 12 goals.

LAST TIME OUT
Cal got its season rolling with a four-win weekend at the Triton Invitational as the Bears scored victories over No. 20 Air Force, Concordia, No. 9 UC Irvine and No. 10 UC Santa Barbara. Odysseas Masmanidis led the scoring charge with 12 goals while fellow senior Vassilis Tzavaras earned MPSF Player of the Week honors for the first time after recording nine goals, 18 assists and nine steals in four games. In the cage, Bernardo Carelli stopped a career-high 21 shots in the win over UCI and played a part in all four wins.

SCOUTING UC DAVIS

• The Aggies got off to a strong start of their own as they traveled across the country and went 3-1 at the Bruno Classic in Providence, R.I. Head coach Daniel Leyson's squad dropped a 15-14 decision to No. 11 Harvard but rebounded to earn wins over MIT, No. 15 Brown and No. 19 St. Francis-Brooklyn.
• UC Davis enjoyed plenty of offensive production throughout its first road trip, scoring 69 goals in four matches. Senior Marcus Anderson scored five goals against Harvard en route to 11 goals for the weekend while fellow upperclassman Ido Goldschmidt closed strong with a hat trick in each of Sunday's victories.
• Cal and UC Davis met just once in 2017 with the Bears pulling out a 15-10 victory in their home opener. Johnny Hooper led Cal on the scoresheet with four goals while Odysseas Masmanidis and Luca Cupido each scored three. Spencer Tagg drew the assignment in the cage and stopped 13 shots.

SCOUTING PACIFIC

• The Tigers also made the trek to Providence to compete in the Bruno Classic and head coach James Graham's crew rolled to four dominant wins and a 4-0 record. Pacific scored a combined 77 goals in wins over Brown, St. Francis, MIT and Harvard.
• 2017-18 Cutino Award finalist Luke Pavillard returns for the Tigers in 2018 and the Australian teamed with Engin Ege Colak to score 40 of Pacific's 77 goals at the Bruno Classic. Pavillard was named Golden Coast Conference Player of the Year in 2017 with 81 goals, 36 assists and 61 steals.
• John Hedges returns to give Pacific experience in the cage after starting 22 matches as a freshman in 2017. Also a native of Australia, Hedges ranked third in the GCC with 185 saves a year ago.
• Cal and Pacific squared off in Berkeley in 2017 and the Bears emerged victorious as eight different players scored in a 15-11 win. Luca Cupido scored four goals, Odysseas Masmanidis added three and Johnny Hooper and Conor Neumann each found the net twice. Kevin Le Vine stopped 10 shots in the victory.

NEXT UP
Cal makes its 2018 home debut on Sept. 14 when Long Beach State visits Spieker Aquatics Complex for a 6 p.m. match. The next day, the Bears head back to Davis for a pair of matches as they take on Harvard and Pacific as part of the Aggie Roundup. Cal and Pacific will renew acquaintances at 10:30 a.m. and the Bears and Crimson will square off at 2:15 p.m.