Max Casabella

The Cal men’s water polo team played five nonconference matches over three days, winning them all to head into the final stretch of the regular season.

The Cal men’s water polo team closes out nonconference play by playing five games in the next three days.

After suffering three losses to divisional rivals Stanford and UCLA, Cal hopes to get back to its usual form.

Cal men’s water polo started off the 2023 season undefeated with a solid 12-game winning streak. Since then, it appears that the Bears are in the midst of their own slump.

Having suffered their first defeat against UCLA last week, the Bears were unable to rebound against the Bruins in a rematch, but prevailed against USC.

For Cal men’s water polo, the Overnght MPSF Invitational could be considered its Achilles heel. 2023 marks the third consecutive year in which the Bears suffered their first loss of the season at the tournament.

For Cal men’s water polo, the first test of the season will take place in Los Angeles this upcoming weekend when it partakes in the annual Overnght MPSF Invitational, hoping for first place after settling for third last year.

Bears sweep road trip despite missing center Nikolaos Papanikolaou.

Down in Los Angeles, Saturday marked the home opener for USC at Uytengsu Aquatics Center and a rematch of the 2022 NCAA championship game. Saturday’s game also resulted in a new milestone for the Bears’ head coach Kirk Everist as his largest win over the Trojans during his tenure at Cal.

In a game that seemed to be heading in the wrong direction, Cal was able to make a 5-point comeback in the last six minutes of the game to win the national championship for the second year in a row.