MPOLO9/2/2023 5:39 PM | By: Cal Athletics
No. 1 Cal Cruises On Opening Day
Three Bears Score Five Goals Apiece In Pair Of Wins
LA JOLLA – The No. 1 California men's water polo team picked up where it left off to begin the 2023 season Saturday, cruising through a rainy first day of the Triton Invitational with wins of 19-6 against Pomona-Pitzer and 20-5 over tournament host No. 11 UC San Diego.
The Golden Bears (2-0) scored at least twice as many goals as their opponent in all eight quarters, led by five-goal days from 2022 ACWPC All-Americans Nikolaos Papanikolaou, Roberto Valera and Max Casabella.
Cal came out firing in its first game, going up 4-0 on the Sagehens (0-2) after three minutes. Papanikolaou got things started with the opening goal less than 90 seconds in. Wyatt Mundelius, Valera and Nik Mirkovic scored on the next three possessions.
Papanikolaou dominated the rest of the half, scoring all four of his goals before halftime. Marton Szatmary became the second Bear to score his second goal in the final minute of the second quarter, sizing up his defender before firing it into the top left corner to make it 10-5 at the break.
The Bears' defense completely shut things down from there, allowing just one goal in the last 16 minutes. Cal's balanced attack saw its nine second-half goals scored by seven players.
In their second game of the day, the Bears conceded the opening goal at the 6:52 mark of the first, but UCSD's lead didn't last long. A minute later, Ponferrada took advantage as UCSD's defense keyed in on Papanikolaou, slipping into space for a quick strike off the pass from Valera to tie it 1-1. That started a 13-1 Cal run as the Bears quickly put the game to bed.
Valera scored twice and Casabella and Szatmary struck from distance to give the defending national champions a 5-1 advantage after one. Szatmary whipped in a beauty from the right wing to begin the second. Papanikolaou and Avakian followed that up with back-to-back goals, both finding great position inside and taking feeds over the top of the defense to score easily. Cal continued to score in a variety of ways, closing the half with another goal from center by Jordi Gascon, a penalty by Casabella and a counterattack goal by Jake Stone.
Coming out of halftime, Valera needed just eight seconds to score for the third time in the game. Jake Howerton capped off Cal's 11-1 run by converting on a power play to make it 13-2. A minute later, Casabella turned in a highlight skip shot to seal his first hat trick of the year. Warren Loth scooped up a loose ball a to score his first goal of the young season and he, Avakian and William Kelly all secured braces before the final whistle.
The Bears will close out the season-opening tournament Sunday with two more games against No. 7 UC Santa Barbara at 10:30 a.m. and Cal State Fullerton at 3:45 p.m.
No. 1 California 19, Pomona-Pitzer 6
Cal 6 4 3 6 – 19
Pomona-Pitzer 3 2 1 0 – 6
Cal Goals: Nikolaos Papanikolaou 4, Albert Ponferrada 2, Roberto Valera 2, Wyatt Mundelius 2, Max Casabella 2, Marton Szatmary 2, Garrett Dunn, Jake Howerton, Nik Mirkovic, Ryder Hagan, William Kelly
Pomona-Pitzer Goals: Jacob Whiting, Chase Barman, Conrad Hugar, Miles Chiang, Andrew Plaschke, Zach Whitfield
No. 1 California 20, No. 11 UC San Diego 5
Cal 5 6 5 4 – 20
UCSD 1 1 1 2 – 5
Cal Goals: Roberto Valera 3, Max Casabella 3, Marton Szatmary 2, George Avakian 2, Warren Loth 2, William Kelly 2, Jordi Gascon, Jake Stone, Jake Howerton, Garrett Dunn, Nikolaos Papanikolaou, Albert Ponferrada
UCSD Goals: Jacob Whiting, Chase Barman, Conrad Hugar, Miles Chiang, Andrew Plaschke, Zach Whitfield
Cal Saves: Adrian Weinberg 9, Kai Seed 2
UCSD Saves: Logan Estes 5
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