Bears Fall To No. 1 Bruins

Cal Puts Up Opponent Season-High 14 Goals

LOS ANGELES – The No. 7 California men's water polo team came out firing in a hard-fought MPSF Championship semifinal with No. 1 UCLA on Saturday, but despite a trio of Golden Bear hat tricks, the Bruins pulled away in the second half en route to a 16-14 home win.

Cal (12-12) put up an opponent season high for the second straight time against the Bruins (23-1), led by junior Albert Ponferrada's season-high four goals. Seniors Max Casabella and George Avakian each scored three times.

The Bears took the momentum early on, as Avakian opened the scoring at the 6:47 mark of the first with a strong goal off a feed from William Kelly. After a 3-0 Bruin (23-1) run, Ponferrada answered with his first two goals, quickly firing in both shots from the right wing to tie it 3-3 after one.

Every time UCLA took a two-goal lead in the second, the Bears would cut it to one. Casabella struck twice with a pair of outside heaters. Freshman Alex Oprea smashed one in from the right side and Ponferrada secured his hat trick in the final minute to make Cal's deficit 8-7 heading into halftime.

Both teams scored to open the second half, as Avakian converted a power play to make it 9-8. Nik Mirkovic and Ponferrada would both score in the period, but the Bruins headed into the fourth quarter leading 14-10.

Casabella put in his third goal of the day on a 6-on-5 with 4:54 remaining to make it 14-11, but the Bruins responded with two more to build their largest lead of the day. Cal ended the game on a 3-0 run with Bende Pardi scoring twice and Avakian adding another in the final seconds.

Avakian finished with five earned exclusions and Mirkovic had four assists, both game highs. Goalkeeper Max LaGrange tallied seven saves.

The Bears will face No. 2 Stanford tomorrow in the MPSF third-place game at 11:15 a.m. PT.

No. 1 UCLA 16, No. 7 California 14
Cal 3 4 3 4 – 14
UCLA 3 5 6 2 – 16
Cal Goals: Ponferrada 4, Casabella 3, Avakian 3, Pardi 2, Mirkovic, Oprea
UCLA Goals: Tierney 5, Dodd 4, B. Liechty 2, Jucá Carsalade, E. Liechty, Szécsi, Castillo, Dodd
Cal Saves: Max LaGrange 7
UCLA Saves: Garret Griggs 14