SAN JOSE – If the Cal women's water polo team hadn't already seized the momentum Saturday, junior goalie Cassidy Ball made sure to complete the job.

Ball scored a rare goal as time expired in the first half, further sparking the Cal women's water polo team's comeback in a 12-6 victory over host San Jose State in the 2020 season-opener for both schools.

The Bears fell behind 4-1 with 33 seconds left in the first quarter then proceeded to score the next 10 goals, holding the Spartans scoreless for nearly 20 minutes in the process. Along the way, Ball fired a shot from in front of the cage that landed in the San Jose State goal just as time expired in the second quarter. That gave the Bears a 7-4 advantage heading into the intermission.

"I think the momentum really shifted after her goal," Cal assistant coach Molly Barnes said. "It put us up by three and solidified things going into the second half. It was a fun moment for our team, and we rallied behind that."

When Ball wasn't scoring, she anchored an excellent defensive performance by the Bears with 12 saves. With two-time All-American Madison Tagg having graduated, the Bears are now looking to Ball for leadership and performance in the cage.

"Just as much as my teammates are looking toward me, I'm looking at my teammates," Ball said. "It feels good knowing that people trust me, but I trust my team, too. I'm leaning on my teammates just as much they are leaning on me. It's honestly a total team effort."

The Bears were sluggish from the outset, allowing a penalty shot one minute into the game and falling behind 3-0 with 4:32 left in the period. After sophomore Grace Raisin finally got Cal on the board, the Spartans answered immediately.

That's when the Bears got things together. After freshmen Sophie Leggett and Cecily Turner each scored her first career goal, junior Claire Sonne scored the next three, the last coming on a penalty shot with 21 seconds remaining in the first half. Ball then saved a shot taken by San Jose State's Matilda Moore and heaved a shot across the tank for the score.

Ball became the first Cal goalie to score a goal since Tagg accomplished the feat in a game against Pacific in 2016.

 "I think there were some first-game jitters," Barnes said. "We had some early breakdowns that put us in the hole we were in. But I never felt like we lost confidence. We finally settled down and played our game."

Sonne finished with a career-high four goals while senior Hannah DeRose added a pair.

The Bears are back in action next weekend when they travel to the Gaucho Invite in Santa Barbara, where they will take on UC Irvine, UC Santa Barbara, Michigan and UC San Diego.