If their performance at the Triton Invitational was any indication of how well they will execute this weekend, the Cal men’s water polo team should completely demolish its competition.
At the Aggie Shootout on Saturday, the squad will take on both UC Davis and the University of Redlands for the second time in three weeks in Davis, Calif. The No. 4 Bears will go head to head against host UC Davis at 10 a.m. and will face the University of Redlands in an 11:30 a.m. matchup.
Just a few weeks earlier, from Sept. 7 to 8, the Bears massacred the Bulldogs at the Triton Invitational in their season-opening match at UC San Diego. Led by senior team captain Collin Smith’s four goals, the squad easily defeated its Redlands counterpart, 21-3, in its most lopsided victory this season. The next day, Cal finished off the tournament with a 15-4 domination of the No. 17 Aggies.
By the numbers, this weekend should not prove to be much of a challenge for the top-seeded Cal squad.
However, it will provide the Bears with the perfect platform to adjust to new team rotations without the presence of utility Ayal Keren. The team lost the senior leader to a herniated disc injury just two days prior to the NorCal Invitational last weekend and had no chance to practice without the veteran player leading the second squad rotation.
“We’re looking at using those two games to understand our rotations a little better without Ayal and to fine-tune and get some growth in our younger players,” said Cal coach Kirk Everist. “After UCLA, it became apparent that our younger group didn’t have a rudder — they were young and trying to figure it out on their own — and Ayal gave them that stability.”
According to Everist, the Bears will be looking at sophomore attacker Colin Mulcahy to fill the void Keren’s absence has created. Mulcahy tallied 25 goals in 25 matches played last season and was the leading second on the team, with 29 ejections garnered as a redshirt freshman.
“From a production standpoint dynamic, (Mulcahy) has a lot of energy, and he can definitely fill that role,” Everist said. “He had great production over the weekend and, quite frankly, not enough play time — he really is a No. 6 or 7 player on the team.”
Along with adjusting to Keren’s absence, the Bears will look to improve on defensive positioning issues that prevented them from finishing out their fourth quarters, especially in the UCLA and Stanford matches at the NorCal Invitational.
Cal will continue to make ejection draws one of its main focuses as it moves further along this season, but the team also hopes to gradually improve on gaining advantageous positions on the frontcourt.
“There were kick-outs because we were giving up our position, and we have to see why we were doing that, because it was consistent,” Everist said. “We have to reinforce where we need our defenders to be in order for our help to actually help out.”
The Bears will look to develop their court positioning throughout the season, but for now, the team is just hoping to get through a less challenging weekend after having a chance to train with a reorganized squad.
“(Losing Ayal) was definitely a huge hit for our team, but it gives us something to rally around — it gives us a little more inspiration,” Smith said.
Janice Chua covers men’s water polo. Contact her at [email protected].