Cal Splashes Cold Water on Anteaters

California didn’t just stop UC Irvine’s two-meter attack Saturday night, it suffocated it.

The underdog Bears used an extended defense on the perimeter and a tough double team in the hole that led to a 9-7 overtime victory over the top-ranked Anteaters in the semifinals of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation men’s water polo tournament at the Los Alamitos Armed Forces Reserve Center.

Fourth-ranked California (16-8) plays UCLA in today’s 6:30 p.m. championship final and the winner earns an automatic berth in next week’s NCAA final four. Second-ranked UCLA (20-3) fell behind, 3-1, to upstart Pepperdine in the other semifinal, but rallied to defeat the Waves, 9-4.

Still at stake is the lone at-large berth to the NCAA tournament. But Irvine Coach Ted Newland all but conceded after the loss that the Anteaters are through.

For Irvine (20-6) to boost its stock, it must win handily in tonight’s third-place game against Pepperdine (13-12), which hosts the final four. Then, according to several poolside officials, a big California victory over UCLA could improve the Anteaters’ chances for the at-large berth, which historically has been awarded to a West Coast team.

Eight mathematical criteria are used in selecting the at-large spot, which will be announced late tonight or early Monday. Navy and UC San Diego have already qualified.

Newland sat disconsolately on a folding chair on the pool deck after the loss. Irvine, which last advanced to the NCAA tournament in 1993, outshot the Bears, 27-20, but many of those shots were misguided.

“We shot poorly,” Newland said. “Why? I don’t know. Sometimes you are hot. Sometimes you are not.”

California’s two-meter guards, Mike West and former Foothill High standout Adam Metzger, certainly cooled off the hot-handed Anteaters, whose six-game winning streak was stopped.

Given the task of stalking Irvine swimmers who slipped into the two-meter area, West and Metzger did their job aggressively. They held UC Irvine’s leading scorer, Jeff Powers, to two goals in seven shots. Power’s second goal tied the score, 6-6, with 1:32 remaining in regulation.

Senior Jerry Smith, a former Servite High two-meter man, put the Bears back on top, 7-6, with 1:15 to go, but Irvine’s Andy Coffman caught California goalie Tim Kates chasing a loose ball and sent the game into overtime with his second goal of the game, scoring from just in front of the right post with three seconds left.

California went on top for good, 8-7, with 1:07 left in the first of two three-minute overtime periods when driver Joe Kaiser went high into the air at two meters to retrieve a pass and fired it just inside the left post and past Irvine goalie Dan Hipp.

Smith gave the Bears an insurance goal from two meters with 1:28 left.

Irvine, meanwhile, fumbled with its offensive sets and committed several turnovers in overtime that allowed California to counterattack.

“They did a good job on our two-meter man,” Newland said. “We were not moving very well. Everything went too slow.”