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Cal Water Polo: No. 1 Bears Top Stanford 18-12 in Big Splash, Improve to 19-1

Cal will be the top seed in next week's MPSF tournament in Los Angeles.

Reigning national player of the year Nikolaos Papanikolaou scored four goals and top-ranked Cal closed out its regular season with an 18-12 water polo victory over Stanford in the annual Big Splash at Avery Aquatic Center on Saturday afternoon.

The Bears (19-1) avenged a 12-11 loss to the Cardinal back on Sept. 24 — their only defeat of the season. That match also was played at Stanford.

Cal, which already had clinched the championship in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, finished with a 3-0 mark against conference opponents, and will be the top seed at next weekend’s MPSF tournament in Los Angeles.

The defending NCAA champion, Cal will host this year’s national championships at Spieker Aquatics Center, Dec. 3-4.

The Bears outscored the fourth-ranked Cardinal (20-4, 0-3) by a 7-2 margin in the second period on the way to their ninth consecutive victory.

Stanford scored first but Cal answered with three goals and never surrendered the lead. The Bears led 10-4 by halftime.

Max Casabella had three goals and three assists and Jack Dealy also scored three times for the Bears.  Roberto Valera contributed two goals and two assists while Jake Howerton and Nik Mirkovic each scored twice.

The Bears head into the postseason on a roll, having outscored their opponents by the whopping margin of 363 goals 189. Cal will be aiming for its fifth national championship since 2006.

Cover photo of Cal's water polo team by Catharyn Hayne, KLC fotos

Follow Jeff Faraudo of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jefffaraudo