Cal Upsets Irvine, Faces UCLA in Final

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 Los Alamitos Armed Forces Center.

Fourth-ranked Cal (16-8) will play UCLA at 6:30 tonight in the championship game and the winner gets an automatic berth in this week’s NCAA Final Four.

Second-ranked UCLA (20-3) rallied to defeat Pepperdine, 9-4, in the other semifinal after falling behind 3-1 against the upstart Waves.

Still at stake is the lone at-large berth for the Final Four.

For Irvine to boost its stock, the Anteaters must convincingly win tonight’s third-place game against Pepperdine (13-12). Navy and UC San Diego have already qualified for the Final Four.

Senior Jerry Smith, a former Anaheim Servite High two-meter man, gave the Bears a 7-6 lead with 1:15 left in regulation, but Irvine’s Andy Coffman caught Cal goalie Tim Kates chasing a loose ball with only seconds left and sent the game into overtime with his second goal of the match.

Cal scored the decisive goal with 1:07 left in the first of two three-minute overtime periods when driver Joe Kaiser went high in the air to snare a pass two meters out and fired the ball just inside the left post and by Irvine goalie Dan Hipp.

The Anteaters fumbled with their offensive sets and committed several turnovers in overtime that enabled Cal to counterattack.

“They did a good job on our two-meter man,” Irvine Coach Ted Newland said of Jeff Powers, who was held to two goals. “We were not moving very well. Everything went too slow.”

Smith added an an insurance goal with 1:28 left.