October 19, 1998
Sat., Oct. 24
vs. UCLA, Diablo Valley College, Pleasant Hill, CA, 10 a.m.
Sun., Oct. 25
at Pacific, Chris Kjeldsen Pool, Stockton, CA, 12 p.m.
LAST WEEK: After losing a conference match to UC Irvine, 9-8, Friday at Diablo Valley College, Cal finished eighth in the NorCal Tournament last weekend at Stanford. In first-day tournament action last Saturday, Cal defeated Air Force, 11-5, before losing to UC Irvine again, 9-8. On Sunday, Cal took on USC for the third time this season, having lost to the Trojans both previous times on Sept. 20, 11-6, and Oct. 10, 13-8. The Bears took USC into overtime after regulation play ended with the score tied 7-7, but fell in overtime as USC scored two goals to defeat Cal, 9-7. In the seventh place game against Long Beach State, the Bears led, 6-5, after three quarters, but the 49ers scored three unanswered points in the final period to defeat Cal, 8-6, dropping the Bears to an eighth place finish in the tournament.
HEAD COACH STEVE HEASTON: Steve Heaston is in his 10th year as Cal's head coach with a 218-52 (.811) career record and three national titles ('90, '91, '92), Heaston has guided the Bears to NCAA titles in 1990, '91 and '92 and has been named NCAA Coach of the Year twice ('90 and '92). Before Cal's Oct. 3 match against Stanford, Heaston received a plaque along with a pair of red sweats from Cardinal head coach Dante Dettamanti, honoring Heaston for his service to the sport of water polo.
NOTING UCLA: The No. 2 ranked Bruins (10-2 overall, 2-0 in MPSF) travel to Berkeley after losing to UC Irvine, 7-5, in the championship match of the NorCal Tournament to finish second. UCLA has two returning All-Americans in sophomores Sean Kern and Adam Wright.
Kern scored two goals in the NorCal championship game to lead the Bruins in that contest. UCLA is led defensively by junior goalie Parsa Bonderson. Bonderson had 10 saves in UCLA's semifinal win over Stanford.
NOTING PACIFIC: Cal defeated Pacific, 9-4, in their season opener in Berkeley on Sept. 12. Since then, the Tigers (6-9 overall, 1-3 in MPSF) upset previously undefeated USC, 7-5, last Saturday in first-day action of the NorCal Tournament. The Tigers went on to take fourth place in the tournament after losing to UC Irvine, 6-5, and Stanford, 9-7. Pacific is led offensively by senior Daniel Satchkov, who has 28 points so far this season. Junior goalie Ryan Brown has 55 saves. Pacific will travel to Stanford on Saturday to face the Cardinal before hosting the Bears on Sunday.
NOTING THE BEARS: Senior Ryan Flynn continues to lead the Bears offensively. After scoring three goals against UC Irvine on Friday and six goals at the NorCal Tournament, including two scores against USC and three versus Long Beach State, Flynn has brought his season point total to 38. But the biggest success story last weekend was the play of sophomore two-meter man Jerry Smith. After scoring two goals against the Anteaters on Friday, Smith led Cal in the NorCal tournament with 10 goals. Goalie Peter Kiefer had a season-high 12 saves against Irvine last Friday and finished the tournament with 26 saves to bring his season total to 100. Freshman Spencer Dornin, who as of last Thursday had not scored a goal, had three at week's end, after scoring a goal against Irvine on Friday, a goal against Air Force on Saturday and another score versus USC on Sunday.
