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Cal senior two-meter man Brent Albright was named MPSF Player of the Week.
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Sept. 29, 1997
Bears Host Stanford and UC Irvine
This Weeks Schedule
Fri. Oct. 3 vs. Stanford, Diablo Valley College Pool, Pleasant Hill, CA 5 p.m.
Sun. Oct. 5 vs. UC Irvine, Diablo Valley College Pool, Pleasant Hill, CA 11 a.m.
LAST WEEK:
The California men's water polo team (6-1, 2-0 in Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, ranked No. 3 last week in the Coaches Top-20 poll) defeated No. 2 ranked USC, 9-8, last Saturday in a key MPSF match at Diablo Valley College in Pleasant Hill. It was the Bears first victory over USC since Oct. 7, 1995. Cal was barely able to fend-off a furious comeback by the Trojans. The Bears had an 8-5 advantage entering the fourth quarter, but USC outscored Cal, 3-1, in the final period. Both teams had chances to take the lead in regulation. After the Bears had missed a two-point shot with about two minutes to go, the Trojans threw the ball away on a counterattack, giving the ball back to Cal and setting up the winning score. The Bears will be hosting all of their home water polo matches at DVC this season due to the construction of Haas Pavilion on the Cal campus.
HEAD COACH STEVE HEASTON:
Steve Heaston is in his ninth year as Cal's head coach with a 195-40 (.830) 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) and conference coach of the year five times.
NOTING STANFORD AND UC IRVINE:
The Stanford Cardinal (ranked No. 5 last week in the Top-20 poll) are 5-2 overall (0-0 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) and last week defeated No. 7 ranked Pacific, 14-7. The week before at the Southern California Tournament, the Cardinal defeated national champion UCLA, 10-6, in the fifth-place match. Stanford's leading scorer this season is sophomore Brian Heifferon with 12 points, including two, two-point goals. Last year, Cal was 1-2 versus the Cardinal; losing 10-9 Oct. 19 at Stanford, winning 9-7 Nov. 23 in the Big Splash at Cal and losing 9-7 Nov. 30 in the semifinals of the MPSF Tournament at Cal. The UC Irvine Anteaters (ranked No. 4 last week in the Top-20 poll) are 2-4 overall (0-1 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) and last week lost to top-ranked Pepperdine, 11-4, in Irvine. At the Southern California Tournament, the Anteaters lost to Cal, 12-7, in the third-place match. UC Irvine's leading scorer this season is senior two-meter man Robert Allaire with nine goals. Last year, the Bears were 3-1 versus the Anteaters; winning 10-6 in the third-place match of the Southern California Tournament, losing 9-5 Oct. 11 at Cal, winning 8-7 at the NorCal Tournament Oct. 13 in Stockton and winning 10-8 Nov. 29 at the MPSF Tournament at Cal.
BEAR NOTES:
Cal senior two-meter man Brent Albright (Lompoc, CA), who was named MPSF Player of the Week, scored a goal with 1:19 left in the USC match to break a 8-8 tie and lead the Bears to their first victory over the Trojans since 1995. Albright, a three-time All-American, was Cal's leading scorer in the match with three goals and he has now scored 13 points in the Bears last five matches and has 157 points for his career. Cal goalie Peter Kiefer (Pacific Palisades, CA) also had a good match against USC with eight blocks, including a key save on a Trojan shot with 27 seconds left in the contest. At the Southern California Tournament two weeks ago, Albright was named first team all-tournament, while senior driver Peter Stern (Lafayette, CA), who scored five goals at the USC Tournament, earned second team all-tournament honors.
NOTING CAL WATER POLO:
Since the first NCAA water polo championship in 1969, the Bears have been in the national title match 17 of the 28 years, winning 11 national championships (1973-75, '77, '83-'84, '87-'88, '90, '91, '92). In the history of Cal water polo, the Bears have won 33 conference championships, 11 national championships and have had five NCAA Coaches of the Year, 13 Collegiate Players of the Year, 11 Conference Players of the Year, 134 All-Americans and 21 Olympians.
