Cal Water Polo Top-Seeded Bears Rout Pac

Getting strong play from its defense, the top-seeded Cal mens water polo team quickly shifted into high gear at the other end of the pool and scored a dominant 16-9 victory over Pacific in the semifinals of the NCAA Championships at Spieker Aquatics Complex under rainy skies on the Berkeley campus.The Bears (22-2) will try to capture their second straight national title when they face USC (19-6) in the championship match Sunday at 3 p.m. The game will be shown on ESPNU.Cal is attempting to become the first team to win Joe Ingles Jersey consecutive NCAA crowns in the sport since UCLA pulled it off in 2014 and 15.Pacific (22-7) took Cal to overtime back on Sept. 9 before the Bears prevailed 16-15. The Tigers werent able to stay with the Bears in the rematch. The seven-goal margin was the most lopsided NCAA semifinal result since Stanford defeated UC San Diego 16-7 in 2018."I was a little bit concerned that we might come out scared because of that (previous game)," goalie Adrian NBA Utah Jazz Jeresy Weinberg said. "I'm glad none of us did. I think our team knows that we can do a lot, so we were thinking about it but it wasn't something that was going to set us back. It was just something that motivated us to do better."Weinberg had 13 saves and directed the Bears defense, making life tough for Pacific. "We were executing well on offense early and they mi sed a few shots," Cal coach Kirk Everistsays in the video above. "Adrian made a couple great blocks. They mi sed a couple opportunities and you kind of felt like we dodged a bullet Jarrell Brantley Jersey there. Then all of the sudden you're up 4-1, and then we just kept playing well offensively the whole game and our defense was good.Scroll to ContinueSophomore Max Casabella had four goals and two a sists, senior Jack Deely scored three times and Nikolaos Papanikolaou and Warren Loth each recorded two goals for the Bears. Freshman Albert Ponferrada chipped in four a sists.The Bears recorded four field blocks and eight steals and limited Pacific to two goals Utah Jazz Hats on 10 power-play opportunities."It's reading plays that are happening instead of just reacting to what they do," Weinberg said. "UOP has really great shooters. I think it says a lot about us to make the cage seem small. We were able to play together as a team.Mihailo Vukazic scored three goals for the Tigers.USC beat cro stown rival and Jeff Green Jersey second-seeded UCLA 15-12 to advance to the championship game.Cal topped the Trojans 13-12 in last years title game to win the programs 15th national crown, most of any school.The Bears beat USC in both of their regular-season matchups, winning 11-10 and 14-10.Cover photo of Max Casabella by Cathryn Hayne, KLC fotos