Saturday, October 31
1:00 pm PT
California
14-4
14
vs
12
UCLA
17-2
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UCLA | 1 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 12 |
| California | 2 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 14 |
Photo by: Emi Segovia/Cal Athletics
10/31/2026 7:26 PM | Men's Water Polo
Kirk Everist Joins 500-Win Club
BERKELEY – For the second time this year, the No. 3 California men's water polo team took down the nation's top-ranked team defeating No. 1 UCLA 14-12 on Saturday at Spieker Aquatics Complex.
The win over the two-time reigning champion Bruins (17-2, 2-2 MPSF) was not only a key victory in the Golden Bears' late season push, but also a milestone for head coach Kirk Everist who earned his 500th win. Everist is just the sixth Cal coach to join this exclusive club and is the ninth coach in the sport.
Cal (13-4, 2-2 MPSF) got help from all over the pool on the offensive end led by mostly familiar faces, but also a few key
contributions from Bears that aren't typically known for their scoring. Sophomore Beso Akhvlediani put up a hat trick for the third game in a row and added four assists, two field blocks and a drawn exclusion while freshman Ilia Angelopoulos went for two goals and four drawn exclusions. Junior Maddox Arlett collected his first hat trick of the season which ties his career high and did so on 3-for-4 shooting with two assists and a steal.
As a team the Bears shot a potent .467 (14-for-30) from the field and assisted on all but one goal.
Defensively it was a stellar day once again for sophomore Aran Pina came up one shy of his career high with 14 saves and anchored Cal as it killed 11 of UCLA's 12 power play opportunities.
Despite coming up empty on their first four possessions, the Bears' defense kept it a one-score game through the first half of the opening period which allowed Arlett and sophomore Tomas Perrone get on the board and give Cal a 2-1 lead that it would never relinquish.
The Bears won the next two quarters by a goal each giving them a 10-7 lead going into the fourth. The Bruins scored five in the final period to cut the lead to one on two occasions but clutch goals in the final four minutes by Arlett and Angelopoulos kept Cal a step ahead and sealed the victory for the home team that is now 6-0 at Spieker this year.
The big weekend continues tomorrow when No. 4 USC comes to Berkeley for a 1 p.m. matchup on Overnght.
STAY POSTED
For further coverage of Cal men's water polo, follow the Bears on X (@CalWaterPolo) and Instagram (@calmwaterpolo).
The win over the two-time reigning champion Bruins (17-2, 2-2 MPSF) was not only a key victory in the Golden Bears' late season push, but also a milestone for head coach Kirk Everist who earned his 500th win. Everist is just the sixth Cal coach to join this exclusive club and is the ninth coach in the sport.
Cal (13-4, 2-2 MPSF) got help from all over the pool on the offensive end led by mostly familiar faces, but also a few key
contributions from Bears that aren't typically known for their scoring. Sophomore Beso Akhvlediani put up a hat trick for the third game in a row and added four assists, two field blocks and a drawn exclusion while freshman Ilia Angelopoulos went for two goals and four drawn exclusions. Junior Maddox Arlett collected his first hat trick of the season which ties his career high and did so on 3-for-4 shooting with two assists and a steal.
As a team the Bears shot a potent .467 (14-for-30) from the field and assisted on all but one goal.
Defensively it was a stellar day once again for sophomore Aran Pina came up one shy of his career high with 14 saves and anchored Cal as it killed 11 of UCLA's 12 power play opportunities.
Despite coming up empty on their first four possessions, the Bears' defense kept it a one-score game through the first half of the opening period which allowed Arlett and sophomore Tomas Perrone get on the board and give Cal a 2-1 lead that it would never relinquish.
The Bears won the next two quarters by a goal each giving them a 10-7 lead going into the fourth. The Bruins scored five in the final period to cut the lead to one on two occasions but clutch goals in the final four minutes by Arlett and Angelopoulos kept Cal a step ahead and sealed the victory for the home team that is now 6-0 at Spieker this year.
The big weekend continues tomorrow when No. 4 USC comes to Berkeley for a 1 p.m. matchup on Overnght.
STAY POSTED
For further coverage of Cal men's water polo, follow the Bears on X (@CalWaterPolo) and Instagram (@calmwaterpolo).
Players Mentioned
ATT
/ Men's Water Polo
D
/ Men's Water Polo
ATT
/ Men's Water PoloGK
/ Men's Water PoloTeam Stats
UCLA
CAL
Shots
30
30
Goals
11
14
Assists
9
13
Points
20
27
Exclusions
7
12
Steals
11
7
Sprints
5
0
1
Ryder Dodd
7:14
Maddox Arlett
4:02
Tomas Perrone
2:36
2
Beso Akhvlediani
7:19
Maddox Arlett
6:34
Bode Brinkema
5:33
Patrik Kolak
5:13
Luka Gladovic
4:49
Alex Oprea
2:39
Frederico Juca Carsalade
0:01
3
Alex Oprea
7:03
Team
6:24
Ilias Angelopoulos
5:58
Beso Akhvlediani
5:23
Ben Liechty
3:15
Frederico Juca Carsalade
2:07
Beso Akhvlediani
1:54
4
Ben Liechty
6:18
Ryder Dodd
5:31
Kai Inoue
5:09
Ryder Dodd
4:44
Maddox Arlett
4:09
Ben Larsen
2:13
Ilias Angelopoulos
1:51
Patrik Kolak
0:32
Team
0:22
Game Leaders
Shots
6
Goals
2
Assists
0
Points
2
Shots
5
Goals
3
Assists
4
Points
7
Shots
4
Goals
3
Assists
2
Points
5
Shots
4
Goals
1
Assists
2
Points
3
Thursday, October 05
Thursday, October 20
Thursday, June 23
