California Golden Bears Athletics
Saturday, October 28
Los Angeles, CA
1:00 PM
California
at
UCLA
Photo by: Catharyn Hayne/KLC Fotos
No. 2 Bears To Face No. 1 Bruins
10/27/2023 3:47 PM | Men's Water Polo
AT SPIEKER AQUATICS CENTER | LOS ANGELES
LIVE STATS
SATURDAY, OCT. 28
NO. 2 CAL (17-3, 2-2) AT NO. 1 UCLA (20-0, 4-0) | 1 P.M. PT
The No. 2 California men's water polo team heads to Los Angeles for its final regular-season road game Saturday, taking on undefeated No. 1 UCLA for the third time this season. In each of the first two meetings, the Bruins took a multiple goal lead in the third quarter and held it until the final whistle. Playing with an injured Nikolaos Papanikolaou in the first game and without him in the second, the Golden Bears were led by Max Casabella and Roberto Valera, who totaled five goals each.
UNDEFEATED HOME STAND
Cal improved to 5-1 on the year with four straight wins at Spieker Aquatics Complex last weekend, defeating four opponents by an average of 12.8 goals per game. Numerous players set career highs as the Bears' bench got its most playing time of the season, including five-goal outings by Brady Hoover and William Kelly in Cal's 25-7 win over UC Merced. Goalkeepers Kai Seed and Will Kieckhafer split the majority of time at goalkeeper, holding two of their four opponents to single-digit goals.
SIZZLING SPANIARDS
Cal's junior All-American attackers have been powering the offense from the perimeter, resulting in a team-leading 46 goals for Valera and 44 for Casabella. Valera – who was named the first MPSF Player of the Week of the season – leads the MPSF in both assists (53) and points (99) by a significant margin. There have been just six games this season in which neither player recorded a hat trick. Casabella has done it a team-leading 10 times, while Valera has done so on nine occasions. Casabella is also second among Cal's field players with 20 steals.
PAPA BEAR
Injuries have kept two-time reigning Cutino Award winner Nikolaos Papanikolaou out of nine games this season, but when he's been in the pool, he has continued to show why he is considered one of the best players in the nation. Despite the missed time, Papanikolaou still leads the MPSF with 51 exclusions drawn, including nine earned penalties. He has scored 25 times, with his most recent goal tying him with Ivan Rackov (235 career goals) for No. 3 all time at Cal. Papanikolaou also remains first on the team and third in the conference with nine field blocks. The Bears own a 9-1 record when their star center is in the lineup.
COMEBACK KINGS
Two of the Bears' 17 wins required huge second-half comeback efforts. Cal capped a 15-game win streak in its win over Stanford on Sept. 23 thanks to a frenzied 5-0 spurt over the final 6:02 of regulation to send the game into overtime tied 14-14. Albert Ponferrada later scored the winning goal in sudden-victory overtime. It was the second four-goal, fourth-quarter comeback victory of the win streak, echoing last year's improbable 13-12 win over USC in the national championship game. In the Bears' most recent win on Oct. 8, they erased a three-goal Trojan advantage in the second half despite playing without Papanikolaou. Late goals by Jake Howerton and Ponferrada sealed the 10-9 victory, Cal's sixth straight over USC.
BRICK WALL
Currently in the midst of another stellar season in his fifth year at Cal, three-time All-American Adrian Weinberg has been announced to the Team USA roster for the 2023 Pan American Games, which begin on Oct. 30 in Chile. This will be Weinberg's fourth different international tournament of 2023. He was Team USA's top option at goalkeeper at both the Men's Water Polo World Cup and the World Aquatics Championships. After missing last week's games to be with Team USA, Weinberg remains third in the MPSF with 134 saves, averaging 9.8 per 32 minutes. He and the Bears' defense have been active and cohesive, holding opponents to single digits in 14 of 20 games. With 915 saves in his career, Weinberg has moved into the MPSF's all-time top five and is on pace to crack the top three before the end of the year.
REPEAT SUCCESS
No men's water polo program has won more national championships than Cal, which claimed its 16th in 2022 in legendary fashion by coming back from four goals down over the final six minutes to defeat USC 13-12 in front of its home crowd at Spieker Aquatics Complex. Papanikolaou finished the game with seven goals and eight earned exclusions. It was the second straight year that the Bears clinched the title against USC by the same final score. Out of Cal's 16 championships, only two of them (1977, 2016) were not part of a back-to-back run. Only three times in NCAA men's water polo history has a team completed a three-peat, with the Bears doing so twice from 1973-75 and 1990-92.
STRONG RETURNING CAST
The 2023 Bears are made up of a highly experienced group of returners that includes eight fifth-year seniors and almost the entirety of their championship-winning starting lineup. Four of Cal's five All-Americans are back, with third-team selection Valera joining first-team returners Casabella, Papanikolaou and Weinberg. Sophomore Albert Ponferrada has been one of the most impactful players on the team this season, with his 44 assists and 30 goals ranking second and third on the squad, respectively, while his 24 steals lead Cal's field players. Juniors Jake Howerton (21 goals) and George Avakian (14) and sophomores Marci Szatmary (18) and Nik Mirkovic (17) have all seen increased roles. In all, Cal brings back seven of the eight players who scored at least 20 goals last season.
*2023 Cal Men's Water Polo Team Statistics
ALL HE DOES IS WIN
Kirk Everist began his 22nd season as Cal's head coach fresh off his second straight national coach of the year honor – his fourth overall – and his record-breaking third consecutive MPSF Coach of the Year award. The USA Water Polo Hall of Famer owns an all-time coaching record of 453-132 (.774) and has won seven national championships at Cal, five coming as a coach and two as a player.
BEARS EARN NO. 1 PRESEASON RANKING
For the second straight year, the Bears began the season as the nation's top-ranked team, as Cal topped both the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) preseason poll and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) coaches poll. This marked the fifth time since 2008 that the Bears started the year with a No. 1 national ranking.
BEARS WITH BRAINS
Excelling both inside and outside of the pool, the Bears hauled in numerous academic awards from the 2022-23 school year, including 15 ACWPC All-Academic nods – tied for the program's most since 2009. They also brought in nine MPSF All-Academic and Pac-12 Honor Roll honors, while individually, Jordi Gascon earned a spot on the College Sports Communicators (CSC) At-Large Academic All-District Team.
STAY POSTED
For further coverage of Cal men's water polo, follow the Bears on Twitter (@CalWaterPolo) and Instagram (@calmwaterpolo).
LIVE STATS
SATURDAY, OCT. 28
NO. 2 CAL (17-3, 2-2) AT NO. 1 UCLA (20-0, 4-0) | 1 P.M. PT
The No. 2 California men's water polo team heads to Los Angeles for its final regular-season road game Saturday, taking on undefeated No. 1 UCLA for the third time this season. In each of the first two meetings, the Bruins took a multiple goal lead in the third quarter and held it until the final whistle. Playing with an injured Nikolaos Papanikolaou in the first game and without him in the second, the Golden Bears were led by Max Casabella and Roberto Valera, who totaled five goals each.
BEAR NECESSITIES
UNDEFEATED HOME STAND
Cal improved to 5-1 on the year with four straight wins at Spieker Aquatics Complex last weekend, defeating four opponents by an average of 12.8 goals per game. Numerous players set career highs as the Bears' bench got its most playing time of the season, including five-goal outings by Brady Hoover and William Kelly in Cal's 25-7 win over UC Merced. Goalkeepers Kai Seed and Will Kieckhafer split the majority of time at goalkeeper, holding two of their four opponents to single-digit goals.
SIZZLING SPANIARDS
Cal's junior All-American attackers have been powering the offense from the perimeter, resulting in a team-leading 46 goals for Valera and 44 for Casabella. Valera – who was named the first MPSF Player of the Week of the season – leads the MPSF in both assists (53) and points (99) by a significant margin. There have been just six games this season in which neither player recorded a hat trick. Casabella has done it a team-leading 10 times, while Valera has done so on nine occasions. Casabella is also second among Cal's field players with 20 steals.
PAPA BEAR
Injuries have kept two-time reigning Cutino Award winner Nikolaos Papanikolaou out of nine games this season, but when he's been in the pool, he has continued to show why he is considered one of the best players in the nation. Despite the missed time, Papanikolaou still leads the MPSF with 51 exclusions drawn, including nine earned penalties. He has scored 25 times, with his most recent goal tying him with Ivan Rackov (235 career goals) for No. 3 all time at Cal. Papanikolaou also remains first on the team and third in the conference with nine field blocks. The Bears own a 9-1 record when their star center is in the lineup.
COMEBACK KINGS
Two of the Bears' 17 wins required huge second-half comeback efforts. Cal capped a 15-game win streak in its win over Stanford on Sept. 23 thanks to a frenzied 5-0 spurt over the final 6:02 of regulation to send the game into overtime tied 14-14. Albert Ponferrada later scored the winning goal in sudden-victory overtime. It was the second four-goal, fourth-quarter comeback victory of the win streak, echoing last year's improbable 13-12 win over USC in the national championship game. In the Bears' most recent win on Oct. 8, they erased a three-goal Trojan advantage in the second half despite playing without Papanikolaou. Late goals by Jake Howerton and Ponferrada sealed the 10-9 victory, Cal's sixth straight over USC.
BRICK WALL
Currently in the midst of another stellar season in his fifth year at Cal, three-time All-American Adrian Weinberg has been announced to the Team USA roster for the 2023 Pan American Games, which begin on Oct. 30 in Chile. This will be Weinberg's fourth different international tournament of 2023. He was Team USA's top option at goalkeeper at both the Men's Water Polo World Cup and the World Aquatics Championships. After missing last week's games to be with Team USA, Weinberg remains third in the MPSF with 134 saves, averaging 9.8 per 32 minutes. He and the Bears' defense have been active and cohesive, holding opponents to single digits in 14 of 20 games. With 915 saves in his career, Weinberg has moved into the MPSF's all-time top five and is on pace to crack the top three before the end of the year.
REPEAT SUCCESS
No men's water polo program has won more national championships than Cal, which claimed its 16th in 2022 in legendary fashion by coming back from four goals down over the final six minutes to defeat USC 13-12 in front of its home crowd at Spieker Aquatics Complex. Papanikolaou finished the game with seven goals and eight earned exclusions. It was the second straight year that the Bears clinched the title against USC by the same final score. Out of Cal's 16 championships, only two of them (1977, 2016) were not part of a back-to-back run. Only three times in NCAA men's water polo history has a team completed a three-peat, with the Bears doing so twice from 1973-75 and 1990-92.
STRONG RETURNING CAST
The 2023 Bears are made up of a highly experienced group of returners that includes eight fifth-year seniors and almost the entirety of their championship-winning starting lineup. Four of Cal's five All-Americans are back, with third-team selection Valera joining first-team returners Casabella, Papanikolaou and Weinberg. Sophomore Albert Ponferrada has been one of the most impactful players on the team this season, with his 44 assists and 30 goals ranking second and third on the squad, respectively, while his 24 steals lead Cal's field players. Juniors Jake Howerton (21 goals) and George Avakian (14) and sophomores Marci Szatmary (18) and Nik Mirkovic (17) have all seen increased roles. In all, Cal brings back seven of the eight players who scored at least 20 goals last season.
*2023 Cal Men's Water Polo Team Statistics
ALL HE DOES IS WIN
Kirk Everist began his 22nd season as Cal's head coach fresh off his second straight national coach of the year honor – his fourth overall – and his record-breaking third consecutive MPSF Coach of the Year award. The USA Water Polo Hall of Famer owns an all-time coaching record of 453-132 (.774) and has won seven national championships at Cal, five coming as a coach and two as a player.
BEARS EARN NO. 1 PRESEASON RANKING
For the second straight year, the Bears began the season as the nation's top-ranked team, as Cal topped both the Collegiate Water Polo Association (CWPA) preseason poll and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) coaches poll. This marked the fifth time since 2008 that the Bears started the year with a No. 1 national ranking.
BEARS WITH BRAINS
Excelling both inside and outside of the pool, the Bears hauled in numerous academic awards from the 2022-23 school year, including 15 ACWPC All-Academic nods – tied for the program's most since 2009. They also brought in nine MPSF All-Academic and Pac-12 Honor Roll honors, while individually, Jordi Gascon earned a spot on the College Sports Communicators (CSC) At-Large Academic All-District Team.
STAY POSTED
For further coverage of Cal men's water polo, follow the Bears on Twitter (@CalWaterPolo) and Instagram (@calmwaterpolo).
Players Mentioned
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ATT
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GK
/ Men's Water Polo
ATT
/ Men's Water Polo
C
/ Men's Water Polo
A
/ Men's Water Polo/ Men's Water Polo
GK
/ Men's Water Polo
A
/ Men's Water Polo
ATT
/ Men's Water Polo
GK
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