Courtesy: Cal Athletics
LOS ANGELES, Calif. – The No. 1 California men’s water polo team opened the 2022 MPSF Championships with a big win, defeating Penn State Behrend 22-3 to advance to the semifinal round of the conference tournament.
“It’s a good way to start the tournament,” head coach Kirk Everist said. “It was a good opportunity for our guys to get into the weekend, get used to the environment and get the ball rolling.”
Cal’s offense jumped out to an explosive start, scoring four goals in just the first two minutes of play.
Sophomore center George Avakian tied the MPSF conference season-high and set a personal career-high of seven goals, adding one block and one steal in the effort. Senior utility player Jack Deely scored a goal and assisted on three for four points, also adding a steal.
Junior goalie Adrian Weinberg recorded 12 saves in the game, anchoring a defense that combined for 12 steals and held the Lions to three goals, the fewest of any Cal opponent this season.
The Bears will face No. 4 Stanford in the semifinal game tomorrow at 1 p.m. The two teams played in the annual Big Splash last week, and Cal came out on top, 18-12.
No. 1 Cal 22, Penn State Behrend 3
PSB 1 1 0 1
CAL 10 7 3 2
PSB Goals: Jack Holl, Chase Cordon, Ryan Kenney
Cal Goals: George Avakian (7), Marton Szatmary (3), Jordi Gascon (3), Roberto Valera (2), Joe Molina (2), Jack Deely, Marko Valecic, Nikolaos Papanikolaou, Albert Ponferrada, Garrett Dunn
PSB Saves: Devin Loackard (3), Leytron Vrono (2)
Cal Saves: Adrian Weinberg (12)
Courtesy: Penn State Athletics
LOS ANGELES, Calif. – The No. 1 California men’s water polo team defeated No. 8 Penn State Behrend 22-3 in the first-round game of the 2022 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) Championships hosted by USC on Friday morning.
Score: California 22, Penn State Behrend 3
Records: California (20-1), Penn State Behrend (0-22)
Key Moments
* California improved its winning streak to 10 straight games and advances to the winner’s bracket in the championships
* The Golden Bears scored 22 goals on 33 attempts and converting one powerplay
* George Avakian scores seven goals on seven attempts for California
* Behrend will face the loser of Augustana and Stanford in the first game tomorrow
* Jack Holl (Greenwich, CT/Greenwich), Chase Cordon (Canyon Lake, CA/Temescal Canyon) and Ryan Kenney (Skippack, PA/Perkiomen) all scored for Behrend
* Kenney also added one assist and one steal
* Goalies Devin Lockard (Edgewood, WA/Puyallup) and Leyton Vrono (Murrieta, CA/Murrieta Valley) made three saves each
Up Next:
* The Lions return to action on tomorrow for their second game of the MPSF Championships, beginning at 12:30 p.m.