Cal Women's Water Polo MPSF Tournament Quarterfinal Gamethread

No. 4 Cal (17-7, 2-4 MPSF) vs. No. 5 San Jose State (20-11, 2-4 MPSF)

When: 2:30 p.m. PT

Where: Uytengsu Aquatics Center - Los Angeles, Calif.

Online Stream: Pac-12 Digital

Game Update: Twitter (@CalWWPolo)

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Cal Women's Water Polo (17-7, 2-4 in MPSF)

Postseason Outlook: Likely need to win the MPSF tournament this weekend for the automatic bid

NCAA Tournament:

Although 8 teams are in the NCAA field, there are merely 2 at large bids. With the Bears in the best water polo conference, a No.4 ranking like they currently have would mean that the Bears will be on the outside looking in.

Bears missed out a chance to boost their ranking and resume when they fell to the top ranked 'Furd 9-6 in the Big Splash last week.

MPSF Tournament:

In addition to being a chance to get the automatic bid for the NCAA tournament should they win, the Bears will also get the chance to try to pad their resume by beating a top team.

Cal are currently ranked 4th in the country behind No.1 Furd and 2 and 3 in UCLA and USC. Bears will open MPSF tournament against the 5th ranked San Jose State today for the right to play Stanfurd on Saturday. Bears would definitely need a win today and likely a win tomorrow to possibly get in the NCAA tournament field.

One thing to note is that the MPSF Tournament is NOT a single elimination tournament as there are loser's bracket games. Can the Bears lose to 'Furd but beat a UCLA or USC in the 3rd place game to jump ahead of them? Maybe.

Full MPSF Tournament Schedule:

The MPSF Tournament takes place Friday-Sunday at USC’s Uytengsu Aquatic Center. All seven teams in the conference will participate. The schedule is as follows:
Friday (Quarterfinals)
Game 1 - No. 2 Seed UCLA vs. No. 7 Seed CSU Bakersfield, 10:30 a.m.
Game 2 - No. 3 Seed USC vs. No. 6 Seed Arizona State, 12:30 p.m.
Game 3- No. 4 Seed Cal vs. No. 5 Seed San Jose St., 2:30 p.m.
Saturday (Semifinals)
Game 4 - Losers Games 1 and 2, 10:30 a.m.
Game 5 – Winners Games 1 and 2, 12:30 p.m.
Game 6 - No. 1 Seed Stanford vs. Winner Game 3, 2:30 p.m.
Sunday, Apr. 27 (Finals)
Fifth Place Game - Loser Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4, 10:30 a.m.
Third Place Game - Losers Games 5 and 6, 12:30 p.m.
Championship - Winners Games 5 and 6, 2:30 p.m.

Future is bright for the young Cal Bears team

Trabucco Named MPSF Newcomer of the Week
Cal goalie Madeline Trabucco has been named the MPSF/KAP 7 Newcomer of the Week for her performance at No. 1 Stanford last weekend. Trabucco, a freshman from Santa Barbara, Calif., made a number of excellent saves and finished with seven ovverall as the Bears stayed close throughout before falling 9-6. Trabucco made a terrific save on a breakway lob shot by Stanford’s Ashley Grossman with Cal trailing 6-5 in the third quarter and also turned away a penalty shot. It was the second Newcomer of the Week honor for Trabucco this season.
he Bears are 22-17 all-time in the MPSF Tournament, which began in 2001. Cal won the conference tournament championship in 1999 and 2011. The Bears’ title three years ago marks the only time since 2007 that USC or UCLA did not win the crown. Cal hosted the MPSF Championships last season.

Freshman Antal Eyes Conference Scoring Title
Since she exploded on to the scene with a six-goal performance in Cal’s second match this season, Dora Antal has ruled the MPSF in scoring. The freshman from Eger, Hungary has led the conference in scoring average the entire season, including this week with a 3.10 goals-per-game average. Antal has been Cal’s leader or co-leader in goals in 17 of the 21 matches she has played this season. She has six two-goal games, one against UC Davis and the other against No. 16 Michigan. Antal is looking to become the first Cal player to lead the MPSF in scoring average since Alisa Von Hartizsch in 1997.

Freshmen Carry The Load
Much of the Bears’ offensive production this season is coming from freshmen, as their top three scorers are all first-year players, and they each rank among the top-11 in the MPSF. Dora Antal paces the MPSF with a 3.10 goal average (65 overall) while Roser Tarrago is sixth in the conference at 2.06 goals per game. Anna Illes, who is second on the team in goals with 44, is 11th in the MPSF in goal average at 1.83. Illes has been Cal’s leader or co-leader in goals scored in seven of the past nine matches. Overall, the trio has accounted for 49 percent of the Bears’ scoring this season, and 57 percent have come from the entire freshmen class.

Assaulting The Record Books
This season is causing some serious revisions to the Cal record book. Freshman Dora Antal is tied for second on the school’s freshman single-season scoring list with 65 goals, a mark that also is tied for seventh-best all-time overall. Meanwhile, Anna Illes is now tied for third place on the freshman single-season scoring list with 44, while Roser Tarrago’s 37 goals ranks eighth in that category. Antal and Tarrago each have two six-goal games this season, which is tied for third on Cal’s single-game scoring list. Meanwhile, senior Ashley Young has moved into the school’s top-10 list in career scoring with 129 goals, which is good for 10th place all-time at Cal.