BERKELEY – Jordan Hoover netted a hat trick and Adrian Weinberg came up with 16 saves in No. 5 Cal's 14-12 loss to No. 6 Pacific on Sunday afternoon at the Spieker Aquatics Complex.
 
The loss was Cal's second straight and dropped the Blue and Gold to 3-3 overall through the first two weeks of play while the visiting Tigers improved to 2-0. The back-and-forth contest featured 11 lead changes, the last of which came when Pacific scored the game-winner with 2:54 left on the clock to break a 12-12 tie. Pacific would add one more goal at the 1:05-mark to make it a two-score difference at the final buzzer.
 
Trailing 11-9 midway through the fourth, Cal rallied to tie it up with two consecutive goals by Jasmin Kolasinac (5:44) and Safak Simsek (4:24). Pacific regained the lead with a power-play goal at 3:56, only to see Cal knot the score again 30 seconds later when Nikolaos Papanikolaou drew a five-meter penalty exclusion and set up Simsek to net the penalty shot. Cal's offense could not muster the necessary momentum in the final minutes, however, as it generated just two more shots while Pacific scored twice to finish it off.
 
Hoover and Papanikolaou had two first-half goals apiece as Cal entered the halftime intermission trailing 8-7. Kolasinac and Mateus Stellet had four and three assist in the match, respectively. Neither team scored more than twice consecutively at any point.

COACH EVERIST'S TAKE
"The team played hard today and we can really work off the effort they gave moving forward," said head coach Kirk Everist. "UOP made some key plays at key moments down the stretch of both halves and that proved to be the difference."
 
NOTABLES

• Cal was 4-of-11 on power play-opportunities. Four different Bears scored on the opportunities, including Papanikolaou, Warren Loth, Jack Deely and Nikos Delagrammatikas.
• Weinberg posted double-digit saves for the fourth time this season with his 16-save effort.
• Papanikolaou drew four exclusions, giving him 20 for the season. Hoover is the next closest with 10 exclusions drawn.
• Deely added two steals to his one goal and one assist.
• Kolasinac was rolled with 1:17 left in the match after tallying four assists, one goal, two exclusions drawn and one steal.

NEXT TIME
Cal will play four matches next weekend, Sept. 21-22, at the UC Davis-hosted Aggie Roundup in Davis, Calif. The Bears will take on California Baptist, San Jose State, UC Davis and Santa Clara over the two-day period.
 
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