In collegiate men’s water polo, it does not get much better than this.
Sixteen of the nation’s top teams are converging on the UC Berkeley campus this weekend for the sport’s annual NorCal Invitational. And the No. 4 ranked Bears will see their toughest matches so far in the nascent 2013 season.
“It is an exciting first test to see where we are as a group against teams that will be around in December,” said Cal senior Collin Smith, referring to the conference and national championship tournaments that take place during that month. “There is a certain pride to the fact that it is our pool, and we don’t want another team to beat us in front of our home crowd.”
On Saturday, Cal (4-0) will open up at the Spieker Aquatic Complex against No. 20 Air Force Academy at 10:50 a.m. in the first of four matches on the weekend. The Bears secured the third overall seed by moving up to No. 3 in the Sept. 11 Collegiate Water Polo Association’s national rankings. With a win over Air Force, the Bears would play the winner of Long Beach State and Loyola Marymount University Saturday afternoon.
Barring an upset in either of its first two matches on Saturday, Cal would likely face UCLA Sunday morning in a rematch of the semifinals of last season’s NorCal Invitational. In that match, held at Stanford University, the Bears fell to the Bruins in overtime by one goal. Cal finished fourth overall.
A third overall seed in this year’s tournament also means that the Bears will not have to face the University of Southern California until the finals — if both teams advance that far. The Trojans have won five consecutive NCAA Championships and are a favorite to win a national championship once again. USC returns national player of the year Nikola Vavic and four of its top-five goal scorers from last season’s 29-0 squad.
But potential matches against UCLA and USC will not make or break the tournament for the Bears. How Cal fares against whichever teams it faces will provide an early indicator of its performance.
Like in previous years, all nine teams in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, which Cal is a part of, are ranked in the top 10 nationally. Overall, 15 of the 16 teams taking part in the tournament are ranked in the top 20.
In matches against even opponents, where a win or loss is often decided by one goal, stamina is crucial.
“One thing we were not satisfied with two weeks ago was our fitness,” said junior Aleksa Saponjic.
With last weekend off, he said the team focused on improving its conditioning, which will help the Bears’ defense. “We have good offensive players, but when we play defense, we can beat everyone,” Saponjic said.
Beating everyone is a possibility. Cal returned all but two of its major goal scorers from last season’s squad and has the experience. And with strong play so far from true freshmen Thomas Carroll and Chandler Jarrels-Stickney, who have combined for 13 goals, three assists and three steals in four matches, the Bears look to have two more players who can fit into head coach Kirk Everist’s rotation.
How much Cal’s youngest players can contribute, the players’ levels of conditioning and how the Bears match up nationally will be clearer after this weekend.
“The way we are looking at it right now is it is really our first big tournament,” Smith said. “And our start of the season.”
Stephen Hobbs covers men’s water polo. Contact him at [email protected]