BERKELEY – The No. 1 Cal men's water polo team held No. 9 Pepperdine scoreless for over eight minutes after a high-scoring first half, and sophomores Max Casabella and Roberto Valera shouldered much of the scoring load for the Bears in a 17-12 victory over the Waves on Sunday afternoon at Spieker Aquatics Complex.

The teams traded goals during the first half before Pepperdine led 9-8 at the break. But after the Waves scored two early goals in the third quarter to maintain an 11-10 lead, they didn't score again until 2:52 remained in the game. Cal scored five unanswered goals during that stretch to assume a 15-11 lead with 4:10 to play.

Casabella and Valera led the Bears' attack with five goals apiece while junior Nikolaos Papanikolaou added three goals. Junior goalie Adrian Weinberg made a season-high 11 saves.

Senior Jack Deely added two goals and two assists for Cal (7-0) while juniors Garrett Dunn and Jake Stone also had two assists.

Pepperdine scored three of the game's first four goals before the Bears answered with three in a row of their own to lead 4-3 at the end of the first quarter. The Waves eventually went back in front 7-6 and the teams alternated goals until halftime.

Pepperdine scored the first goal of the third quarter to take a 10-8 lead before Valera and Casabella scored to tie the game. The Waves took their final lead with a goal at the 3:33 mark of the third quarter before going silent for 8:31.

With the Bears trailing 11-10, Valera scored on the power play then added an even-strength goal with five seconds left in the third period to give Cal the lead for good.

Cal returns to Spieker Aquatics Complex on Friday evening for a matchup against No. 12 UC Irvine at 6 p.m.
 
 
No. 1 California 17, No. 9 Pepperdine 12
Pep 3 6 2 1 – 12
Cal 4 4 4 5 – 17
Pepperdine Goals: Nico Tierney 3, Curtis Jarvis 2, Nicholas Fichman, Anthony D'Ambra, Kaden Kaneko, Clay Kaneko, Sandor Gal, Adam Csapo, Travis Reynolds.
Cal Goals: Max Casabella 5, Roberto Valera 5, Nikolaos Papanikolaou 3, Jack Deely 2, Marko Valecic, Nik Mirkovic.
Pepperdine Saves: Spencer Tybur 7.
Cal Saves: Adrian Weinberg 11.