No. 1 Bears Fall To USC In Third Place Game

Sunday, November 21

Stanford, CA

1:00 PM

California

USC

Photo by: Catharyn Hayne/klcfotos

11/21/2021 2:47 PM | Men's Water Polo

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Late Goals Lift Trojans To 11-9 Victory

By: Cal Athletics

STANFORD – Graduate student Nikos Delagrammatikas registered a hat trick and goalie Adrian Weinberg made 12 saves but the top-seeded Cal men's water polo team fell to No. 2 USC 11-9 in the Third Place Game of the MPSF Championships at Avery Aquatic Center on Sunday.

MPSF Player of the Year Nikolaos Papanikolaou and conference Newcomer of the Year Roberto Valera each added two goals while Jack Deely, Max Casabella and Garrett Dunn had two assists apiece for the Bears (20-4), who held a 7-6 lead late in the third quarter but couldn't hold on.

The Trojans took a 5-3 lead early in the third quarter but Cal tied it up on goals by Valera and Delagrammatikas. After USC briefly went back in front 6-5, Delagrammatikas notched back-to-back scores to put Cal in front with five seconds left in the third period. USC got a tying goal as the third quarter clock expired.

Valera's final goal tied the game back up at 8-8 with 6:18 to play, but the Trojans reeled off three goals in a row to take command.

The Bears now await their NCAA Championships fate. Selections will be announced later Sunday.