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California Golden Bears Athletics
Friday, September 18
Stanford, CA
4:40 PM
California
vs
LMU
Photo by: Daniel Moebus-Bowles/Cal Athletics
No. 4 Cal Heads To Overnght MPSF Invitational
9/16/2026 3:48 PM | Men's Water Polo
Bears Face No. 13 LMU In First Round
The No. 4 California men's water polo team (6-0, 0-0 MPSF) is headed across the Bay Bridge this weekend to compete in the Overnght MPSF Invitational, a three-day tournament held at Stanford's Avery Aquatics Center that features 16 of the top teams in the country.
The Golden Bears will face No. 13 LMU in the first round Friday at 4:40 p.m. PT on Overnght. The rest of the weekend's bracket will unfold with each result and the full schedule can be found on the Overnght MPSF Invitational central page.
Game Information
No. 13 LMU (4-2, 0-0 WCC)
Game 1
· Date and Time: Friday, Sept. 18, at 4:40 p.m. PT
· Location: Stanford, CA | Avery Aquatics Center | Belardi Pool
· Live Stream: Overnght
· Live Scoring: 6-8
BEARS SWEEP MPSF AWARDS
Sophomore attacker Tomas Perrone and freshman center Ilias Angelopoulos swept the weekly MPSF awards Monday with Perrone being named the MPSF Delfina Player of the Week and Angelopoulos taking home MPSF S&R Sport Newcomer of the Week honors.
After missing the first two weeks of the season to help lead Team Spain to a silver medal at the U20 European Championships, Perrone came back and made an immediate impact on the Golden Bears in his weekend debut. The sophomore had a seven-goal, 11-point weekend scoring on a .636 clip to lead Cal past No. 10 Pacific 18-7 at home and No. 6 UC Davis 19-7 on the road. He was 5-for-5 with 4 assists, including a first quarter hat trick, against the Aggies and chipped in two goals in his season debut against the Tigers.
Angelopoulos played a key role in Cal's two dominant top-10 netting a pair of second-half goals against Pacific before going 3-for-3 versus the Aggies to earn his first career hat trick. Two of the goals came on back-to-back possessions in the first quarter as a part of a 6-1 opening run that UC Davis could not overcome.
AGGIE ROUNDUP
The Bears picked up a pair of wire-to-wire wins at the Aggie Roundup defeating No. 18 Harvard 16-6 and No. 10 San Jose State 14-10 in a Saturday doubleheader. Beso Ahkvlediani had a 15-point weekend scoring a season high seven goals on the Crimson to go with three assists and four steals. Loui Schuler led all scorers in Cal's win over the Spartans netting a career high four goals and added a trio of assists and drawn exclusions.
TRITON INVITATIONAL
Cal fought through early deficits with powerful second-half play to collect two wins in the Golden Bears' first official day of competition at the Triton Invitational in La Jolla. Luke Bachler and Dom Brown tallied respective hat tricks in Cal's 14-9 victory over No. 15 UC Santa Barbara and 15-11 win over No. 12 host UC San Diego in Saturday's action at the Triton Invitational in La Jolla. Cal goalie Riley Clansen manned the cage for both games, topping out with 17 saves in the win over the Tritons to help the Bears to a 2-0 start to the year.
2026 PRESEASON POLLS
Both the CWP Preseason Poll and the MPSF Coaches' Poll shook out the same this year reflecting the final standings of 2025. The Golden Bears were picked to finish fourth in conference and nationally while reigning national champion UCLA was picked to threepeat. MPSF champion and national runner-up USC was ranked second, and national semifinalist Stanford took third.
FAMILIAR FACES
The Bears return 18 members of last year's roster including its five top scorers who combined for 171 goals and 232 points in 2025. That group is led by sophomore Beso Akhvlediani who was named a Second-Team All-American after leading Cal with 59 goals and 82 points while also becoming the program's first freshman First-Team All-MPSF selection since 2019. On the defensive end Cal gets back sophomore goalkeeper Aran Pina who is fresh off a silver-medal finish as Spain's starter at the U-20 European Championships. Pina played in 21 of 23 games and compiled 166 saves and 29 steals.
2025 RECAP
Cal once again competed among the nation's elite during the 2025 season, facing one of the country's most demanding schedules in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation and posting a 15-8 overall record. The Golden Bears battled a slate that featured every 2024 NCAA semifinalist and multiple top-10 opponents, highlighted by an impressive 13-11 victory over then-No. 2 USC. Individually, four Golden Bears earned ACWPC All-America recognition. Seniors Albert Ponferrada and Nik Mirkovic, along with freshman goalkeeper Aran Pina, received All-America honorable mention honors for their contributions throughout the season. The Bears also continued their tradition of academic excellence, placing multiple student-athletes on the MPSF All-Academic Team.
GOLDEN SUCCESS
The Bears have won 17 NCAA championships, including three in a row from 2021-2023, making Cal the winningest program in men's water polo history. During Kirk Everist's tenure as a head coach, he has been named the ACWPC National Coach of the Year five times (2006, 2016, 2021, 2022, 2023), and the Bears have won six national championships (2006, 2007, 2016, 2021, 2022, 2023) amid his 25 seasons at the helm.
STAY POSTED
For further coverage of Cal men's water polo, follow the Bears on X (@CalWaterPolo) and Instagram (@calmwaterpolo).
The Golden Bears will face No. 13 LMU in the first round Friday at 4:40 p.m. PT on Overnght. The rest of the weekend's bracket will unfold with each result and the full schedule can be found on the Overnght MPSF Invitational central page.
Game Information
No. 13 LMU (4-2, 0-0 WCC)
Game 1
· Date and Time: Friday, Sept. 18, at 4:40 p.m. PT
· Location: Stanford, CA | Avery Aquatics Center | Belardi Pool
· Live Stream: Overnght
· Live Scoring: 6-8
BEARS SWEEP MPSF AWARDS
Sophomore attacker Tomas Perrone and freshman center Ilias Angelopoulos swept the weekly MPSF awards Monday with Perrone being named the MPSF Delfina Player of the Week and Angelopoulos taking home MPSF S&R Sport Newcomer of the Week honors.
After missing the first two weeks of the season to help lead Team Spain to a silver medal at the U20 European Championships, Perrone came back and made an immediate impact on the Golden Bears in his weekend debut. The sophomore had a seven-goal, 11-point weekend scoring on a .636 clip to lead Cal past No. 10 Pacific 18-7 at home and No. 6 UC Davis 19-7 on the road. He was 5-for-5 with 4 assists, including a first quarter hat trick, against the Aggies and chipped in two goals in his season debut against the Tigers.
Angelopoulos played a key role in Cal's two dominant top-10 netting a pair of second-half goals against Pacific before going 3-for-3 versus the Aggies to earn his first career hat trick. Two of the goals came on back-to-back possessions in the first quarter as a part of a 6-1 opening run that UC Davis could not overcome.
AGGIE ROUNDUP
The Bears picked up a pair of wire-to-wire wins at the Aggie Roundup defeating No. 18 Harvard 16-6 and No. 10 San Jose State 14-10 in a Saturday doubleheader. Beso Ahkvlediani had a 15-point weekend scoring a season high seven goals on the Crimson to go with three assists and four steals. Loui Schuler led all scorers in Cal's win over the Spartans netting a career high four goals and added a trio of assists and drawn exclusions.
TRITON INVITATIONAL
Cal fought through early deficits with powerful second-half play to collect two wins in the Golden Bears' first official day of competition at the Triton Invitational in La Jolla. Luke Bachler and Dom Brown tallied respective hat tricks in Cal's 14-9 victory over No. 15 UC Santa Barbara and 15-11 win over No. 12 host UC San Diego in Saturday's action at the Triton Invitational in La Jolla. Cal goalie Riley Clansen manned the cage for both games, topping out with 17 saves in the win over the Tritons to help the Bears to a 2-0 start to the year.
2026 PRESEASON POLLS
Both the CWP Preseason Poll and the MPSF Coaches' Poll shook out the same this year reflecting the final standings of 2025. The Golden Bears were picked to finish fourth in conference and nationally while reigning national champion UCLA was picked to threepeat. MPSF champion and national runner-up USC was ranked second, and national semifinalist Stanford took third.
FAMILIAR FACES
The Bears return 18 members of last year's roster including its five top scorers who combined for 171 goals and 232 points in 2025. That group is led by sophomore Beso Akhvlediani who was named a Second-Team All-American after leading Cal with 59 goals and 82 points while also becoming the program's first freshman First-Team All-MPSF selection since 2019. On the defensive end Cal gets back sophomore goalkeeper Aran Pina who is fresh off a silver-medal finish as Spain's starter at the U-20 European Championships. Pina played in 21 of 23 games and compiled 166 saves and 29 steals.
2025 RECAP
Cal once again competed among the nation's elite during the 2025 season, facing one of the country's most demanding schedules in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation and posting a 15-8 overall record. The Golden Bears battled a slate that featured every 2024 NCAA semifinalist and multiple top-10 opponents, highlighted by an impressive 13-11 victory over then-No. 2 USC. Individually, four Golden Bears earned ACWPC All-America recognition. Seniors Albert Ponferrada and Nik Mirkovic, along with freshman goalkeeper Aran Pina, received All-America honorable mention honors for their contributions throughout the season. The Bears also continued their tradition of academic excellence, placing multiple student-athletes on the MPSF All-Academic Team.
GOLDEN SUCCESS
The Bears have won 17 NCAA championships, including three in a row from 2021-2023, making Cal the winningest program in men's water polo history. During Kirk Everist's tenure as a head coach, he has been named the ACWPC National Coach of the Year five times (2006, 2016, 2021, 2022, 2023), and the Bears have won six national championships (2006, 2007, 2016, 2021, 2022, 2023) amid his 25 seasons at the helm.
STAY POSTED
For further coverage of Cal men's water polo, follow the Bears on X (@CalWaterPolo) and Instagram (@calmwaterpolo).
Players Mentioned
ATT
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C
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ATT
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GK
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ATT
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ATT
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A
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UT
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