Sept. 7, 2006

Berkeley, Calif. - The No. 8 ranked Pacific men's water polo team fell to MPSF foe and No. 1 ranked Cal by the final score of 20-8 on Thursday, September 7th. With the loss, the Tigers fall to 2-3 on the season, while Cal improves to 6-0.

Cal stormed out of the gate to start, scoring three goals in the first 2:36 of the period to take a 3-0 lead. Pacific fired back quickly as junior Duje Kaurloto (Split, Croatia) found the back of the cage in the next Pacific possession to cut the lead to two. The Pacific comeback continued as senior Chris Garcia (Burbank, Calif.) scored on a 6-on-5 opportunity to cut the Golden Bear lead to one, before senior Matt Mitchell (San Diego, Calif.) connected on a goal that tied the score at 3-3. Pacific then took advantage of another Golden Bear kick-out, calling a timeout to set up a goal by junior Andy Skora (San Clemente, Calif.) to take a 4-3 lead with 1:51 left in the period. Cal All-American Michael Sharf then scored on a 6-on-5 opportunity of his own to tie the score 4-4 after one period of play. The No. 1 ranked team in the nation came back in the second period, however, outscoring Pacific 4-0 to take an 8-4 halftime advantage.

In the second half, the Golden Bears struck again, scoring the first two goals of the third period to take a 10-4 lead before sophomore Grant Hollis (Redlands, Calif.) scored to pull the Tigers to within five. Cal then scored four straight goals to lead 14-5 when All-American junior Dragan Bakic (Split, Croatia) scored with less than a minute remaining to make the score 14-6 entering the fourth. Pacific was again outscored 6-2 in the period as sophomores Will Milcovich (Walnut Creek, Calif.) and Evan Garcia (Seabrook, Texas) scored in the final period, to account for the 20-8 final margin in favor of Cal.

In the cage for the Tigers, sophomore goalie David Andrus (Houston, Texas) recorded 12 blocks. Eight different Tigers accounted for Pacific's eight goals.

For the Golden Bears, John Mann, Zac Monsees, and Michael Sharf each scored three goals to lead all players.

The Tigers are next in action on Saturday, September 9th as they travel to New Jersey to take part in the Princeton Invitational.

Pacific: 4-0-2-2 = 8
Cal: 4-4-6-6= 20

Goals:
Pacific: Bakic (7), Chris Garcia (3), Evan Garcia (1), Hollis (1), Kaurloto (11), Milcovich (4), Matt Mitchell (4), Skora (5)
Cal: Mann 3, Monsees 3, Sharf 3, Calder 2, Platshon 2, Cruikshank, Hayes, Jones, Kinsel, Matthies, Tyrrell, Warden

Blocks: Andrus (Pacific) 12, Vacquier (Cal) 8