MALIBU – In its first closely-contested game of the year Sunday at No. 8 Pepperdine, the No. 1 California men's water polo team came through in the clutch, with Nikolaos Papanikolaou scoring the game-winning goal in overtime to knock off the Waves 10-9.

It was the seventh straight win for the Golden Bears to begin the season and their 10th consecutive victory dating back to last year. The Waves (5-1) were handed their first loss of 2023.

Prior to Sunday, the Bears led by an average of 8.3 goals heading into fourth quarters. Against Pepperdine, Cal held a slim 7-6 lead after Warren Loth capped a 3-0 run to end the third quarter.

A back-and-forth fourth quarter had three ties and two lead changes as the teams traded punches. Marton Szatmary tied it at 8-8 on his first goal with 2:47 remaining in regulation. Goalkeeper Adrian Weinberg came up huge with three consecutive saves over the next two minutes. He had six saves and a steal in the fourth period alone.

Coming out of a timeout, Max Casabella found Papanikolaou for a go-ahead goal with just eight seconds to go. However, the Waves came up clutch themselves, tying the game seven seconds later to send it into overtime.

Two more saves down the stretch for Weinberg brought his total to a season-best 14 as the Bears' defense shutout Pepperdine the rest of the way. Just as they did to end the fourth, the Bears came out of a timeout and set up Papanikolaou for a heroic goal. This time, the Bears left only five seconds on the clock and the Waves had their final attempt saved.

Roberto Valera led Cal with three goals, giving him his fourth hat trick and extending his streak of multi-goal efforts to begin the year to seven in a row. Papanikolaou added six earned exclusions, two assists, two steals and two field blocks. Weinberg finished with four steals and an assist to go with his 14 saves. 

This is the third straight season that the Bears have started 7-0. They will look to continue their perfect start with two more road games at UC Davis on Friday and Pacific on Sunday.

 

No. 1 California 10, No. 8 Pepperdine 9
Cal 3 1 3 2 0 1 – 10
Pepp 2 3 1 3 0 0 – 9
Cal Goals: Roberto Valera 3, Nikolaos Papanikolaou 2, Wyatt Mundelius, Albert Ponferrada, Max Casabella, Marton Szatmary, Warren Loth
Pep Goals: Ryan Brosnan 2, Christian Hosea 2, Adam Csapo 2, Nico Tierney, Anthony D'Ambra, Matty Walsh
Cal Saves: Adrian Weinberg 14
Pep Saves: Antonio Knez 17

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