LOS ANGELES – Eighth-ranked California's upset bid fell short in a 10-9 loss to No. 2 UCLA as the Bruins scored four goals in the fourth quarter of Saturday's Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) opener at Spieker Aquatics Center.
 
The host Bruins' Jake Cavano scored the eventual game-winner and broke a 9-9 tie with 43 seconds remaining in the match to help UCLA improve to 16-1 (1-0 MPSF). Cal (10-8, 0-1) lost its third straight contest despite leading at the end of each of the first three periods.
 
Joe Molina, Jordan Hoover and Warren Loth all tallied two goals apiece in the road loss. Hoover's second goal of the match came with 1:19 left in the third quarter and gave Cal its largest lead of the match, 9-6. The Bears were held scoreless the rest of the way as UCLA staged their four-goal rally.
 
Cal was strong early in the match, tallying four first-quarter goals from Nikolaos Papanikolaou, Sam Untrecht, Loth and Miles O'Brien-Schridde. Adrian Weinberg took the loss in goal despite recording eight saves against the Bruins.
 
NOTABLES

• Safak Simsek was held scoreless for the first time in 18 matches this season.
• Papanikolaou led Cal with three earned ejections.
• Hoover, Loth, Weinberg and Untrecht recorded one steal apiece.
• Hoover needs just three more goals to reach 100 for his career. 

NEXT TIME
The Bears will shift gears quickly to take on No. 6 Long Beach State at noon on Sunday, Nov. 3 in Long Beach, Calif.
 
STAY POSTED
For complete coverage of Cal men's water polo, please follow the Bears on Twitter (@CalWaterPolo), Instagram (@CalMWaterPolo) and Facebook (Facebook.com/Cal-Mens-Water-Polo-Fan-Page).