The Bears entered the season No. 3 behind No. 1 USC and No. 2 UCLA with enough talent to give the four-time defending champion Trojans a run for their money this year.

Then everything fell apart.

Sophomore goalie Jon Sibley began the season with a concussion that kept him out of much of the summer’s training. The loss of Sibley was not the deadly knockout blow as the Bears still had last season’s starting goalie senior Justin Parsons in the reserves.

Then on Sept. 17, two weeks into the season, head coach Kirk Everist removed five players from the team for code of conduct violations. The expelled players included Parsons, as well as offensive star Max Bergeson.

“Those guys were teammates and our friends,” senior captain Marin Balarin said after the removal of the five players.“But we have to keep moving on. We don’t have time at this point in the season to lose focus.”

The Bears did lose focus and their winning groove — at least for parts of the season. Two weekends after placing fourth at the NorCal Invitational, in its first test without the five players, Cal finished disappointingly in seventh-place at the SoCal Invitational on Sept. 30. The losses to Pacific and UC Irvine dropped the Bears to No. 7— Cal’s lowest in five years.

But as the Bears struggled, there were moments of hope.

The Bears led the No. 1 Trojans for most of the game at Los Angeles before USC took a late lead to win, 7-6. Sibley, in his first game since the injury, broke out with 12 saves. Redshirt freshman Colin Mulcahy scored two goals and held USC’s leading scorer Nikola Vavic to just one goal.

Just a week after the SoCal Invitational disaster, Cal took No. 2 UCLA to sudden death double overtime, before falling 10-9 on a penalty shot. On Oct. 20, the Bears crushed then-No. 4 Stanford 14-8 in the Big Splash.

But again, Cal faltered back, losing to Long Beach State in an MPSF conference match at home 11-10.

Things turned around for the Bears as they won five straight games leading into the MPSF conference tournament last weekend in Los Angeles.

In the first game of the tournament, the Bears defeated No. 7 Pepperdine 11-9, but an altercation after a goal by junior leading scorer Collin Smith lead to the two game suspension of Smith and Cal’s second leading scorer, sophomore Aleksa Saponjic.

Without their two top scorers, the Bears met No. 2 UCLA in the semi-finals. Thanks to three goals from sophomore center Matt Russell and two each from senior Mason Cox and junior Hunter Gettelfinger, the Bears upset the Bruins 12-9.

“Its about the team,” Smith said after the Bears beat the Bruins without him. “It’s not about two players. They have just as much chemistry with us in or out of the pool.”

That was not the case in the final against No. 1 USC, however as they trailed the Trojans all game. At one point in the third quarter, the Bears trailed the Trojans 6-1, before Cal brought the score to 7-5 entering the fourth quarter. But the USC defense held the Bears silent and secured the undefeated Trojans the MPSF title and the automatic bid to the NCAA tournament this weekend.

Hours after the loss, Cal’s season came to its official end as the NCAA awarded the single “at-large” NCAA tournament bid to UCLA.

But despite not meeting their early season goals, the Bears had little to be ashamed about. Things could have been much worse.

“I am as proud of this team as any team I have ever been a part of,” Everist said.

Warren Laufer covers men’s water polo. Contact him at wlaufer@dailycal.org

The post Despite falling short, Cal averts overcome to stay strong appeared first on The Daily Californian.

Matthew Lee/File

The Cal men’s water polo team could have been playing next weekend in the NCAA Championships.

As it is, the Bears’ season ended Sunday after a 9-5 loss to No. 1 USC in the finals of the MPSF tournament. With the conference crown, the Trojans nabbed an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, and No.2 UCLA took the at-large bid.

But the fact that Bears (17-8, 5-3 MPSF) came so close to the national championship speaks to the dedication of the team.

From the start of the season, little went the Bears’ way. After six seniors graduated last season, experience and depth were already concerns for Cal.

Then two weeks into the season, head coach Kirk Everist was forced to remove five players — including starting goalkeeper Justin Parsons — from the team for code of conduct violations.

The Bears struggled with ups and downs that eventually saw them with the No. 3 ranking in the MPSF  — and the No. 4 ranking in the nation — heading into this weekend’s MPSF tournament.

First up in the conference championship was  a first-round matchup Friday evening with No. 7 Pepperdine at USC’s McDonald’s Swim Stadium.

But after Collin Smith scored in the fourth quarter, emotions took over.

A scrum resulted in Smith and Hunter Gettelfinger being removed from the game for flagrant fouls.

The Waves protested the game because they believed Cal’s second-leading scorer, Aleksa Saponjic, should have been ejected instead of Gettelfinger. Two hours after the final whistle, the teams replayed the last 50 seconds of the game.

Yet Cal held the 11-9 lead and won its first game.

Even without their top scorers, the Bears cruised past No. 2 UCLA, 12-9, in the semifinal on Saturday afternoon. The Bruins defeated the Bears in two prior meetings, including a conference match on Oct. 6 that ended in sudden-death double overtime.

“Its about the team,” Smith said after Saturday’s win. “It’s not about two players. They have just as much chemistry with us in or out of the pool. We just have to be their biggest fans now and cheer them on until the last possible second.”

That last second ticked down on Sunday afternoon, as the Bears were unable to ruin the Trojans’ perfect season.

After USC jumped out to an early 2-0 lead, senior captain Marin Balarin scored with 53 seconds left in the first quarter to cut the lead in half. The Trojans added one more in the second quarter while the Bears’ attackers were silent.

The biggest blow came in the third quarter, when the Trojans scored twice to make the score 6-1.

The Bears went on a scoring run of their own to bring the score to 7-5 after the third quarter, but USC’s offensive onslaught gave the Trojans the victory, the MPSF title and an automatic bid for next week’s NCAA tournament.

The Bears had little to be ashamed of after battling through problem after problem this season.

“It’s been a challenging year on a number of fronts,” Everist said. “They’re young kids, but they’ve handled everything well.

“Their support of me and what they fought through and battling through everything — I’m proud of this team. They’re resilient, and they never quit.”

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The No. 4 Bears host No. 18 Santa Clara on Saturday at 10 a.m. in Spieker Aquatic Complex. They’ll follow that up with a noon matchup on Sunday against No. 4 UC Santa Barbara. The Bears, UCSB and Pepperdine are all tied at No. 4 in the nation.

When Cal men’s water polo opened up the season, no one on  — and off — the team was predicting that they would drop out of their No. 3 preseason spot.

A few difficult matchups later, the team found themselves at their lowest ranking – No. 7 – since 2008.

More concerning, confidence was at an all-time low, and players weren’t seeing the results that their hard work should have reaped.

But in the past couple of weeks, and the next games on the schedule should push Cal right back to where the team wants to be.

Starting with a massive statement victory in the Big Splash in late October, Cal has stormed back into the “W” column.

“We need to make a statement and let everyone know we’re not a team they want to face,” senior Marin Balarin said. “We want to beat them before they even play us.”

With its priorities now solely focused on the MPSF tournament, Cal is using this weekend’s games more as an internal gauge than a match to remember. It starts with No. 18 Santa Clara in a nonconference game. Since the Bears won’t be entering the NCAA tournament based off their current record, this game is admittedly just for practice.

“The outcome is less important,” head coach Kirk Everist said. “But it’ll be good to get some experience in with players as well as to work with some other rotations.”

The more important matchup of the weekend is that against the Gauchos. UCSB has performed far above expectations this season, notching impressive wins over Stanford and No. 2 UCLA.

However, lately UCSB has faltered, losing four of the last five by an average four goals per game. Nevertheless, the team still poses a significant threat on offense.

Leading the Gauchos is the dynamic attacking duo of juniors Evan Dellinger and Matt Gronow. The pair has scored 40 and 39 goals, respectively, and are also top five in assists and steals on their team.

The Bears will counter with their own star player, Collin Smith. The junior attacker has 53 goals and 25 assists, both of which lead the team. The All-American has been on a tear lately, averaging 3.25 goals over the past four games.

If Cal hopes to succeed this weekend and going forward, the squad will need Smith’s production to stay consistent.

More importantly, the Bears will need to keep their confidence at peak levels.

“Confidence is important,” Everist said. “There are no easy outs in our conference we just have to be ready every weekend against whoever we play.”

Vincent Tzeng covers men’s water polo. Contact him at vtzeng@dailycal.org

The post Cal hopes to defilibrate season in home stretch appeared first on The Daily Californian.

The No. 6 Bears did not play like a team that has struggled more in the past two months than they had in past five years.

Instead, the Bears took down No. 9 UC Irvine, 12-10, Thursday night at Anteater Pool and No. 4 Pepperdine, 12-9, the following day in Malibu.

The Bears (12-7, 3-3) beat the Anteaters, 12-10, in an MPSF match for their second win in three meetings this season. Cal was led by junior Hunter Gettelfinger’s team-leading four goals and four steals in the Bears’ second conference win of the season.

Sophomore Aleksa Saponjic added three goals and senior team captain Marin Balarin and junior Collin Smith each scored two goals.

Cal also relied heavily on its six-on-five man down defense throughout the game. Sophomore goalie Jon Sibley secured the defense with 11 saves.

“This match was not pretty, but the guys played strong and got a win,” Cal coach Kirk Everist said in a postgame interview. “We had to play a lot of five-man defense tonight and made the plays down the stretch that we need to.”

The Bears did not have much time to celebrate Thursday’s victory as they were back in the pool less than 24 hours later to face Pepperdine.

The Bears’ second MPSF match in as many days was also the team’s second matchup with Pepperdine this season. The Bears rolled over the Waves 12-9 on Sept. 30 at the SoCal Invitational in Santa Barbara.

The Bears once again defeated the Waves by the same score on Friday afternoon. Smith led Cal with five goals to bring his team-leading season total to 53 goals in 19 games.

Sophomore Blake Kelly also got into the scoring action with two goals of his own. Saponjic contributed three assists and junior Giacomo Cupido had three steals.

Sibley was without a save for the entire first half, but the standout goalie came alive in the second half with six saves to bolster the Bears’ defense. Sibley’s highlight of the match was a five-meter penalty shot block to maintain the Bears’ lead in the fourth quarter.

The Bears opened the final quarter with back to back goals to take an 11-7 lead. But, the Waves returned the favor with two consecutive power play goals to bring the score to 11-9. But after Sibley blocked Marco Madaras’ penalty to deny him his fourth goal of the game, the Bears secured one last late goal to finish the game 12-9.

The win marked the Bears’ eighth consecutive win over the Waves, and the Bears’ third MPSF win of the season brought life back to the struggling team.

“Our team came out strong in the first period and set the tempo of the match,” said Everist. “Our man up offense and our man down defense was solid again today, which we will need to continue as we move toward the conference tournament.”

The post Bears stack road wins in SoCal trip appeared first on The Daily Californian.

In 2009, then-redshirt freshman Spencer White scored 23 goals in 28 matches with the Bears. He was named The Daily Californian’s Fall 2009 Best Newcomer.

But then, after a shoulder injury, he never played in another water polo game for the Bears, seemingly ended a promising collegiate career.

With six seconds left in Saturday’s game, the Bears were down by one goal. In a must-score last possession of the game, Cal sophomore goalie Jon Sibley made a desperate pass into two-meters. A 49ers defender tipped the pass away, and Long Beach State completed a devastating upset of the Bears.

The defender was none other than Spencer White, now working towards an M.B.A. at Long Beach State and playing with his final year of NCAA eligibility.

White also scored a goal Saturday as the Bears (10-7, 1-3) lost their third MPSF conference match, falling to the 49ers, 11-10, at Spieker Aquatics Complex.

The Bears quickly fell behind in the beginning of the game. Long Beach State jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first quarter when goals by junior Nick Rascon and freshman Zachary Kappos went unanswered by the Bears.

The Bears made a comeback in the second quarter, outscoring the 49ers five goals to two to take a 5-4 lead into halftime. The five goals were all scored by different Bears, including one by sophomore Aleksa Saponjic, who went on to score five goals in the match.

The third quarter was not as kind to the Bears. White opened the third quarter with a quick goal for the 49ers to tie the game 5-5.

Freshman Colin Mulcahy and Saponjic each added their second goals of the game, but the 49ers answered back with two goals. Long Beach State ended the quarter with two straight unanswered goals to take a 9-7 advantage into the last quarter of play.

Saponjic caught fire in the fourth quarter, scoring three more goals. Two goals from the 49ers made the lead too much for the Bears to handle, though.

A final possession gave Cal one last chance, but White knocked away Sibley’s pass to secure the upset victory for Long Beach State.

The Bears will try to improve their conference record as they hit the road this week for a pair of MPSF conference matchups on the road. On Thursday, Cal will be at No. 8 UC Irvine.The Bears will then head to Malibu to take on No. 6 Pepperdine on Friday.

The Bears are 1-1 against the Anteaters this season, winning 14-7 at the NorCal Invitational before falling 13-11 at the SoCal Invitational. The Bears bested Pepperdine 12-9 at the SoCal invitational in the two teams’ only matchup of the season.

Warren Laufer covers men’s water polo. Contact him at wlaufer@dailycal.org

The post Bears narrow fall to Long Beach State appeared first on The Daily Californian.

Brenna Alexander/Staff

Even with the toughest part of their schedule completed, the Bears still aren’t out of the woods.

The second half of the season begins with the No. 5 Bears hosting No. 9 Long Beach State at Spieker Aquatics Complex in Berkeley this Saturday at noon.
Cal (10-6, 1-2) is coming off its biggest win of the year thus far, in which the team crushed No. 4 Stanford, 14-8, in the Big Splash. The victory was the team’s first conference win and a sorely needed one at that.

The game also signaled the end of the team’s hardest month of water polo.

Since mid-September, the Bears have gone through two massive tournaments — the NorCal and SoCal Invitationals — in which they faced the top teams in the nation.

Following each of those tournaments, the program squared off against No. 1 USC and No. 2 UCLA, losing both in one-goal heartbreakers.

From now until the MPSF Tournament in late November, though, Cal’s schedule is lighter.

The first team up in the easier stretch in the schedule, the 49ers (18-4, 0-1), should be a game for the Bears to take. Though their record is better than Cal’s, theonly top-10 team they’ve beaten was then-No. 9 Loyola Marymount.

Long Beach will look to make this weekend a challenge with their two top scorers. Their leader in goals, junior Dan Matulis, is eighth in the conference this season with 53 goals in 22 games.

In the team’s latest 13-7 loss to the Trojans on Oct. 19, Matulis scored twice against a vaunted USC squad that has kept opponents to only 4.8 goals per game.By comparison, the Bears have allowed 6.9 goals per game.

The 49ers will also send former Cal player Spencer White. Named as the Daily Cal’s Fall 2009 Best Newcomer, the senior is currently 11th in the conference in scoring with 47 goals in 22 games.

Likewise, the Bears will offer their own prolific scorers, starting with junior Collin Smith. The All-American won his second MPSF Player of the Week award for his efforts last Saturday against Stanford. He scored six times in that game, raising his season total to a team-high 46 goals in 16 matches.

Sophomore attacker Aleksa Saponjic will be working next to Smith on the attacking front. The All-American spent his summer helping Serbia to a bronze medal in the 2012 London Olympics and now is third in scoring on the team with 25 goals in 13 games.

Though both sides offer plenty of offensive firepower, Cal’s defense should be the highlight of the game.

Against Stanford, Cal utilized its suffocating defense to launch effective counterattacks. In the second quarter, the Bears shined through, shutting down the Cardinal offense and proceeded to go on a 4-0 scoring streak.

In the grand scheme of the season, another win or loss won’t matter much to Cal. The Bears won’t be getting into the NCAA playoffs through an at-large bid; they’ll have to win the MPSF Tournament for a spot.

But every win until then builds confidence, and running the table starting on Saturday will surely help.

Vincent Tzeng covers men’s water polo. Contact him at vtzeng@dailycal.org

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The No. 7 Bears crushed the No. 4 Cardinal, 14-8, at the Spieker Aquatics Complex. The win was Cal’s first conference victory of the season and gave the squad the Steve Heaston Trophy, which goes to the winner of the Big Splash, for a second consecutive year.

Early on, the game looked to be a repeat of the Cal-Stanford matchup in NorCal Invitational in midSeptember. In that game, the Bears (10-6, 1-2) found themselves in an 8-3 deficit after the first half, only to lose in a heartbreaking 9-8 loss.

Stanford (8-4, 2-2) opened the scoreboard with a five-meter penalty shot by sophomore Alex Bowen two minutes into the game. Cal equalized shortly after off a goal from Matt Russell; but two more strikes from the Cardinal placed the visitor ahead 3-1 after only six minutes of play.

“They hit quite a few good shots early on and we got too many fouls and turnovers,” senior captain Marin Balarin said. “So we just got together during the timeout and said let’s get our heads on and get back in this”.

With that timeout, the Cardinal would have the last fun of the day.

After Bowen and Giacomo Cupido traded goals, the first period came to a close with Stanford narrowly leading, 4-3.

The Bears then dominated the second quarter, led by a shutout defensive effort. Goalkeeper Jon Sibley was a brick wall in front of the net en route to his eight saves, and the Bears utilized the counter-attack effectively.

Spreading the ball allowed four separate Cal players, including attacker Aleksa Saponjic, to score and brought the halftime score to 7-4 for the Bears.

“We played focused and with energy on defense,” junior Collin Smith said. “Like Aleksa said (earlier in the week), our best offense is our defense.”

Smith himself was a huge beneficiary of the team’s improved effort. The Cal’s leading scorer this season notched a game-high six goals on Saturday.

Heading into the third quarter, the Bears did not relent. Another goal by Smith capped a 5-0 run and left Stanford in a 8-4 ditch.

A concerted Cardinal effort, though, closed the deficit to 8-6 within the third quarter. With plenty of time left, a comeback was certainly not out of the question.

Earlier in the season, the Bears had dropped games against top squads No. 1 USC and then No. 2 UCLA after leading late in the game.

But the Big Splash would be no Big Flop.

“As opposed to the USC and UCLA game where we tried to protect the lead,” Balarin said. “We treated every quarter, minute, and shot like it was 0-0. We just came out and attacked no matter what the situation was.”

The Bears stuck to their firm defense for the rest of the game, only allowing two more goals. Balarin and Smith scored two and three more goals, respectively, in the second half to steal the game at 14-8.

By the end of the game, the Bears had both the Steve Heaston trophy in hand and, perhaps more importantly, a new level of confidence.

“It’s a huge building block for our team’s confidence,” Smith said. “This win just gives us the mentality to keep progressing.”

Vincent Tzeng covers men’s water polo. Contact him at vtzeng@dailycal.org

The post Cal cruises past Stanford in Big Splash appeared first on The Daily Californian.

Tony Zhou/File

With the way the Bears’ season has been going, the Big Splash might just be the Big Flop.

At 9:30 a.m., right before the Big Game, the No. 7 Bears (9-6, 0-2) will host Stanford at Spieker Aquatics Complex.

The Big Splash will be the second matchup of the year between the two teams, who last met on Sept. 16 in the NorCal Invitational. Only hours after an overtime loss to UCLA, the Bears dropped a difficult third-place match to the Cardinal, 9-8.

That loss began Cal’s fall from the top – since then, the Bears have dropped four spots in the rankings, a huge drop in collegiate water polo.

“Obviously we should’ve had a better start,” senior team captain Marin Balarin said. “At least we know now where we are and we aren’t going to worry about how high we are ranked.”

While the team dismissed its recent losing streak as nothing serious, history tells a different story.

Cal hasn’t been ranked this low in men’s water polo since the calamitous end to the 2008 season, when it similarly dropped from No. 3 to a two-place tie for No. 6. That year, the Bears lost every game in the MPSF Tournament, along with their chance at a national championship.

This year’s Bears’winless record in conference play is also their worst since 2008, when they dropped their first three MPSF games. Though their two conference losses were to the top two teams, No. 1 USC and then-No.2 UCLA, their other defeats have not inspired any confidence.

At the SoCal Invitational in late September, the Bears lost to UC Irvine and Pacific, two teams they routinely dominate. Only two weeks ago, Cal crushed the Anteaters in the NorCal tournament 14-7.

These losses are all the more reason the Bears consider the Big Splash an absolute must win.

Record-wise, they recognize one more game in the win or loss column means little. With a disappointing 9-6 record, the only way they’ll be getting to the NCAA finals is by winning the MPSF tournament.

“It is for sure our only opportunity to make the NCAAs,” sophomore attacker Aleksa Saponjic said. “Our team hasn’t won a big tournament in a few years, so we need this win more to build our confidence.”

Confidence is key, and the losses have kept the Bears locked out. In the past two years, nine of their 10 losses have come by one goal difference. A more upsetting fact in addition is the that the Bears are letting the games slip through their fingers.

“We were up against USC and UCLA, but then we have had late game collapses,” Balarin said. “So against Stanford we need to prove to ourselves that we can beat those top teams.”

Both Balarin and Saponjic are expected to be the Bears’ top scorers into Saturday. The two paced Cal in their last game with three and two goals respectively.

Even so, both expect the focal point of the game to be on defense.

“Last year we beat them in the Big Splash because we only allowed them to score four times,” Saponjic said. “Our defense is our best offense against them.”

Vincent Tzeng covers men’s water polo. Contact him at vtzeng@dailycal.org

The post Cal smell revenge in the water against Stanford appeared first on The Daily Californian.

Tony Zhou/File

The enormous pregame cheer that emanated from the Cal men’s water polo team and echoed through Spieker Aquatics Complex Saturday afternoon was deafening.

But after four quarters of regulation, two overtime periods and a sudden death overtime that ended with a penalty shot, it was No. 3 UCLA that celebrated with its fans.

The Bears dominated the first quarter, taking a 4-0 lead after eight minutes. After UCLA coach Adam Wright substituted all six of his starters when sophomore Aleksa Saponjic scored the Bears’ second goal, Saponjic scored again.

The Bears cooled down and the second quarter was a standstill until UCLA sophomore Paul Reynolds broke Cal’s shutout with a little over a minute left in the half. Yet Cal junior Giacamo Cupido responded with a goal on the next possession, giving the Bears a 5-1 lead at halftime.

But the Bruins went on a scoring rampage in the third quarter. The Bears were held to one goal, shakily holding a 6-5 lead into the final quarter.

With his team only up one goal, Balarin began the fourth quarter with a point to put the Bears up, 7-5.

UCLA then scored its sixth point on a power play. An ill-advised Cal lob was blocked by Bruins’ senior goalie Matt Rapacz and UCLA tied it up, 7-7, forcing overtime.

In the first of two overtime periods, UCLA took its first lead of the game when Samuels’ penalty shot and Paul Reynolds’ lob put UCLA up by two points.  Cal junior Hunter Gettelfinger scored with five seconds left to bring the deficit to 9-8.

In the second overtime period, Balarin tipped a pass from Cupido into the bottom right corner to tie the game.

After two overtime periods, the game entered sudden death. Sibley blocked a shot from Paul Reynolds, but after weak pass from the Bears led to a steal and a UCLA advantage on the counterattack, Lucas Reynolds turned inside and drew a penalty shot.

The penalty shot matched up a pair of U.S. Junior National team superstars, with Sibley in the goal and Samuels with this shot.

“Me and the big dog, Sibley, go way back,” Samuels said. “It was just another 5 meter — me and Sibs. I tried to get in his mind a little bit.”

Samuels placed his shot into the lower left corner beyond Sibley’s reach, just as he had during the first overtime period.

“I think he was baiting me to go where I ended up going, thinking that he could get there,” Samuels said. “I just threw it and once I saw where he was I knew it was going in.”

The 10-9 loss was just another disappointment in a season in which nothing seems to be going the Bears’ way.

With four one-goal losses to top-four teams, Cal is playing well above its No. 7 rank. The Bears have been waiting for a needed break, and so far, they have not gotten it.

“No matter what Cal’s ranking is, the big four are always going to be Cal, Stanford, UCLA and USC,” Samuels said.

Warren Laufer covers men’s water polo. Contact him at wlaufer@dailycal.org

The post UCLA Bruins Cal’s big chance appeared first on The Daily Californian.

But if the Bears can’t perform better than they did last weekend, it will be hard to hang on to those hopes for much longer.

The No. 7 Bears (9-5, 0-1) will take on the Bruins (15-2, 0-0) on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. at Spieker Aquatics Complex for Cal’s first home game of the season.

Conference games against UCLA, USC and Stanford are always marquee matchups for the Bears — but this time, a tilt with an MPSF juggernaut carries even more weight than usual.

The Bears already have an uphill battle to overcome. When the new rankings came out Wednesday, Cal is at No. 7, marking the first time since 2008 that Cal had been ranked below No. 5. It’s the lowest rank that the Bears have had in the past four years.

Last year, in a season in which the Bears stayed within the top three rankings, Cal split the regular season series with UCLA, initially losing 6-5 in the NorCal Invitational and then winning 8-5 in an MPSF conference match in Los Angeles.

The game that mattered, however, occurred in the MPSF semifinals on Nov. 26. The Bears lost a 7-6 overtime heartbreaker and watched their national title hopes die.

To make matters worse, the Bears carried a perfect 7-0 record into the teams’ first matchup of this season.

But history has a habit of repeating itself.

This year on Sept. 16, the Bears were again faced with an eerily familiar situation. After battling for a tied score of 10-10 at the end of regulation, the Bruins scored the match-winner in overtime.

Since that loss, the Bears have been unable to regain their top form. Cal dropped its next two games to No. 4 Stanford and No. 1 USC and has gone 4-4 since the loss to the Bruins.

UCLA will also have something to prove this weekend. The Bruins dropped from No. 2 to No. 3 after losing to UC Santa Barbara at the SoCal Invitational.

As they attempt a comeback, the Bruins will rely heavily on senior attacker and leading scorer Josh Samuels on offense. True freshman left-handed attacker Joey Fuentes has provided speed for the Bruins from the right side, already scoring against top teams like Pacific and Princeton early in his collegiate career.

Fuentes adds to the Bruins’ already young and fast offense, which includes sophomore Paul Reynolds, who scored the overtime goal to knock the Bears out of MPSF contention last season.

On defense, UCLA has a strong base with senior goalie Matt Rapacz in the cage. Rapacz adds to a strong veteran presence on UCLA after he was named to the All-NCAA First Team for his performance at the 2011 NCAA tournament.

The Bears will need strong offensive performances from the usual suspects: leading scorer junior Collin Smith, sophomore Aleksa Saponjic and senior team captain Marin Balarin.

Both Cal and UCLA came into the season with hopes of challenging four-time defending champion USC for this years NCAA title.

After disappointments for both squads, there will be little room for error on Saturday.

Warren Laufer covers men’s water polo. Contact him at wlaufer@dailycal.org

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