Nov. 16, 1997
No. 4 Bears Defeat UC Santa Barbara, 11-5
PLEASANT HILL -- The No. 4 ranked California men's water polo team defeated No. 9 ranked UC Santa Barbara, 11-5, Sunday at Diablo Valley College in Pleasant Hill. The Bears boost their overall record to 19-5 and a final league record of 7-1 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. The Gauchos fall to 9-11 overall and 1-8 in MPSF play.
The victory over UC Santa Barbara puts Cal as the No. 2 seed in the MPSF Tournament Nov. 27-30 in Long Beach. The Bears only league loss came to No. 1 ranked Pepperdine, 6-4, Oct. 11 at Pepperdine. The winner of MPSF Tournament is the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, Dec. 5 and 7 in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.
Cal jumped out to a 11-0 lead behind three goals by senior captain Brent Albright and coasted to the victory. UC Santa Barbara did not score a goal until 2:40 left in the third quarter when Joey Pacelli finally got the Gauchos on the scoreboard. UC Santa Barbara scored the final five goals of the contest, including two goals by sophomore Matt Nutcher.
Other top scorers for the Bears were senior Jeff Molougney and junior Ryann Flynn with two goals apiece. Phinney Gardner, Ramsey Ross, Eldad Hazor and Albert Won also tallied goals for Cal.
The Bears will next travel to Stanford for the Big Splash, Saturday, Nov. 22 at deGuerre Pool on the Stanford campus. In the only other meeting between Cal and Stanford this season, the Bears defeated the Cardinal, 7-4, Oct. 3 at Diablo Valley College.
SUMMARY
UC Santa Barbara 0 0 2 3 --5
California 4 5 2 0 --11
UCSB: Nutcher 2, Pacelli 1, Rave 1, Vlasic 1.
California: Albright 3, Flynn 2, Molougney 2, Gardner 1, Hazor 1, Ross 1, Won 1.
Saves: Kiefer 4 (Cal), Russell 2 (Cal); Wahlert 8 (UCSB).
Records: California 19-5 (7-1), UC Santa Barbara 9-11 (1-8).
