Courtesy: Cal Athletics
THURSDAY, SEPT. 26
NO. 6 CAL AT POMONA-PITZER | 7 P.M. PT
at HALDEMAN POOL | CLAREMONT
LIVE STATS | LIVE STREAM (FloSwimming)
FRIDAY, SEPT. 27
NO. 6 CAL AT NO. 8 UC IRVINE | 1 P.M. PT
at ANTEATER AQUATICS COMPLEX | IRVINE
LIVE STATS
Following a fourth-place finish in its first set of home games hosting the Overnght MPSF Invitational, the No. 6 California men’s water polo team returns to the road this week for its final games ahead of MPSF play. The Golden Bears (7-3) face No. 2-ranked D-III program Pomona-Pitzer Thursday night at 7 p.m. PT before taking on No. 8 UC Irvine for the second time this season Friday at 1 p.m. Cal owns a 3-2 record against top-8 D-I schools through 10 games led by three-time ACWPC All-American Max Casabella, who currently paces the MPSF with 29 goals.
BEAR NECESSITIES
OVERNGHT MPSF INVITATIONAL RECAP
The Bears defeated No. 16 UC San Diego 14-11 in their 2024 home opener last Friday behind an eight-point performance by Casabella, who reached four goals for the second time this year and set a season high with four assists. Redshirt junior Bende Pardi added three goals and two assists in his first game as a Bear at Spieker Aquatics Complex. Cal followed that up with a strong team effort in a 15-10 win over No. 7 Princeton, getting multi-goal efforts from five players and the first double-digit save outing of the year by redshirt freshman goalkeeper Riley Clansen.
Clansen topped himself with 14 more saves in the Bears’ 12-7 MPSF Invitational Semifinal loss to No. 1 UCLA. Cal closed out the weekend with a 15-10 defeat to No. 2 Stanford.
TO THE MAX
A two-time All-NCAA Championship First Team honoree and crucial contributor during the Bears’ current NCAA three-peat run, Casabella has continuously shown up in big games. His game high of five goals in last year’s 13-11 NCAA Championship Game win over UCLA provided a sign of things to come following the departure of Nikolaos Papanikolaou, who had been Cal’s focal point on offense for the previous three seasons. Casabella has taken the reins as the Bears’ go-to attacker so far in his senior season, registering hat tricks in half of his appearances thus far for an average of 2.9 goals per game and an MPSF-leading 29 goals. His seven goals against No. 4 Pepperdine on Sept. 8 are tied for the second-most in a single game of any Bear since 1992.
HOT START
Casabella’s Spanish counterpart Roberto Valera owns the same distinction of going three-for-three on NCAA titles and All-American selections in each of his first three years at Cal. Although he saw very limited time during last weekend’s four-game home stand, Valera still ranks seventh in the MPSF in goals (19) thanks to a red-hot start to the season. He led Cal in goals in three of their first four games, highlighted by an eight-goal outburst against Pepperdine that saw him tie for the third-most goals in a game in MPSF history. The performance also went down as the highest-scoring game by any Cal player since the program’s first year in the MPSF in 1992.
NEW ROLES, NEW FACES
With new responsibilities and opportunities up for grabs among Cal’s talented group of returners and newcomers, multiple Bears have made their presence known over their first 10 outings.
Pardi and freshman Maddox Arlett are tied for third on the team with 12 goals apiece. Center George Avakian owns an MPSF-best 26 earned exclusions, ranks third with five field blocks, and sits fifth on his squad with 11 goals. His season high of seven earned exclusions came in the Bears’ 20-14 win over then-No. 6 UCI on Sept. 7.
Senior Jake Howerton and junior Will Kelly have both put away nine goals, tying for sixth-most on the team. Kelly is coming off his first hat trick of the season against Stanford. 2024 All-America Honorable Mention Albert Ponferrada has been finding his teammates at a high rate, ranking second in the conference in assists (20) and ninth in points (27) while contributing defensively with five field blocks.
*2024 Cal Season Stats
THE STAFF
Kirk Everist was named ACWPC National Coach of the Year for the fifth time last season after winning his sixth NCAA Championship as the Bears’ head coach and eighth overall with the program. The USA Water Polo Hall of Famer enters his 23rd season at the helm of the program with an all-time coaching record of 467-137 (.773).
Joining Everist on the staff are third-year assistant coach Jakov Belamaric and former Golden Bear player Iosefa Tuiasau. Tuiasau – who played for Everist from 2009-11 – rejoins the Bears following two successful seasons as an assistant coach at Pacific and a highly successful coaching run in his native New Zealand at the high school, club and international levels. That included serving as an assistant coach for the New Zealand Women’s National Team and a stint at Rangitoto College that resulted in numerous trophies.
REPEAT SUCCESS
No men’s water polo program has won more national championships than Cal, which claimed its 17th on Dec. 3, 2023, after defeating UCLA 13-11 in the NCAA final. The historic win gave the Bears the distinction of owning three of the four three-peats in NCAA men’s water polo history.
