STANFORD, Calif. - The No. 1 California men's water polo team opened the 2022 MPSF Invitational with a decisive 24-6 victory over the Pomona-Pitzer Sagehens Friday afternoon at Stanford's Avery Aquatic Center.

The Bears got out to an early lead in the matchup, finishing the first quarter with a 7-0 advantage. Junior attacker Roberto Valera had a hat trick in the first eight minutes and went on to finish the game with a season-high-tying five goals and four assists.

The Bears effectively turned defense into offense throughout the effort, collecting 13 steals as a team compared to three for Pomona-Pitzer.

Senior Joe Molina and sophomores Max Casabella and Jordi Gascon also contributed three goals each, making this the third time this season that four players have finished with three or more goals each. Freshman Marton Szatmary added a goal of his own and assisted on four others.

Junior goalkeepers Adrian Weinberg and Xavier Casabella shared responsibility in the net, finishing the effort with seven and fives saves respectively in two quarters played each.

Cal will continue the 2022 MPSF Invitational on Saturday at 8 a.m., taking on No. 8 UC Santa Barbara.


No. 1 California 24, Pomona-Pitzer 6
PP 0 2 3 1
Cal 7 4 6 7
PP Goals: Benjamin Sasaki 2, Luca Bozzo, Sam Sasaki, Nico Perna, Andrew Plaschke
Cal Goals: Roberto Valera 5, Joe Molina 3, Max Casabella 3, Jordi Gascon 3, Jake Howerton 2, Marko Valecic, Nikolaos Papanikolaou, Albert Ponferrada, Marton Szatmary, Nik Mirkovic, Jake Stone, Jack Deely, William Kelly
PP Saves: William Byrne 9
Cal Saves: Adrian Weinberg 7, Xavier Casabella 5