LONG BEACH, Calif. – Pushed to overtime for the fourth time in five matches, No. 8 California outlasted No. 6 Long Beach State for an 11-10 win on the road at Ken Lindgren Aquatics Center on Sunday afternoon.
 
Senior leadership from Bernardo Carelli, Jordan Hoover and Safak Simsek played a key role throughout the pivotal moments of Sunday's contest as the Bears (11-8) snapped a three-match losing streak and wrapped up their final SoCal trip of the 2019 campaign in positive fashion.
 
Hoover netted his 100th career goal in what proved to be the eventual game-winner with 2:45 remaining in the second overtime period. After corralling the pass from Jack Deely (two goals, one assist), Hoover put the shot away to give Cal an 11-9 lead. LBSU would get one goal back with two minutes left, but the Bears ramped up their defensive intensity down the stretch, highlighted by individual efforts from Carelli and Simsek. Carelli, who logged all 38 minutes between the pipes, made three of his 10 saves during overtime while Simsek tallied a pivotal steal in a man-down scenario with one minute left in the final overtime frame to preserve the 11-10 advantage.
 
The two teams found themselves knotted up at the end of all four regulation quarters. A slow start led to a 5-5 tie at halftime with Cal goals by Deely (two), Nikolaos Papanikolaou (two) and Sam Untrecht. Tied again, 6-6, heading into the fourth period, the Bears stayed steady down the stretch. Both teams traded goals until LBSU netted two straight and gained a 9-8 lead with 51 seconds on the clock in regulation. Hoover rose to the occasion again, however, and sent the game to overtime with his second goal at the 11-second mark of the period.
 
Simsek, who celebrated his birthday on Sunday, finished with one goal and one assist.
 
Long Beach State fell to 13-11 on the season.
 
NOTABLES

• Hoover finished the match with three goals. It's the sixth game this season that he has scored three or more goals.
• Warren Loth scored the Bears' first goal in overtime and finished with two goals and one steal.
• Sunday marked Cal's sixth overtime match of the season. The Bears are 3-3 in such contests.

NEXT TIME
Cal will take on top-ranked Stanford in the 2019 Big Splash at 10:30 a.m. (PT) on Saturday, Nov. 9 in Stanford. The match will be aired live on the Pac-12 Network (Bay Area).
 
STAY POSTED
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