MPOLO10/7/2023 5:46 PM | By: Cal Athletics
Shorthanded No. 2 Bears Topped By No. 1 UCLA
Weinberg Moves To No. 5 In MPSF Career Saves
BERKELEY – Playing without two-time ACWPC Player of the Year Nikolaos Papanikolaou, the No. 2 California men's water polo team fell to No. 1 UCLA 14-11 Saturday in the Golden Bears' 2023 home opener at Spieker Aquatics Complex.
Junior Roberto Valera led all players with a season high five goals. Senior goalkeeper Adrian Weinberg made seven saves, including one in the second quarter which moved him into the MPSF's all time top five.
The Bears (12-2, 1-1) played in front of their raucous home crowd for the first time last year's NCAA championship game and jumped out to an 2-0 lead with a pair of early goals from the outside by Valera. Cal's juniors added two more with a penalty by Max Casabella and a goal from center by Jordi Gascon to take a 4-3 lead into the second period.
After a surge by the Bruins (16-0, 2-0) saw them take a two goal lead, back-to-back scores from William Kelly and Albert Ponferrada tied it at 6-6. UCLA scored in the final minute of the half to take a 7-6 edge into the break and didn't trail the rest of the way.
Cal got another two physical goals inside from Gascon in the opening minutes of the third, giving him his second hat trick of the year. Valera put away three more in the final frame as he reached five goals for the first time this season.
Weinberg's career saves total increased to 899, moving him past UC Santa Barbara's Chris Whitelegge (2012-15) for fifth all time in MPSF history.
The game also saw alumni from Cal's 1973 and 1983 teams honored at halftime, celebrating the 50th and 40th anniversaries of their NCAA championship wins.
No. 1 UCLA 14, No. 1 California 11
Cal 4 2 2 3 – 11
UCLA 3 4 4 3 – 14
Cal Goals: Roberto Valera 5, Jordi Gascon 3, Albert Ponferrada, Max Casabella, William Kelly
UCLA Goals: Rafael Real Vergara 4, Makoto Kenney 4, Jack Larsen 3, Marcell Szécsi, Wade Sherlock, Grant Loth
Cal Saves: Adrian Weinberg 7
UCLA Saves: Garrett Griggs 11
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