Complete Match Notes

Feb. 27, 2013

Saturday, March 2
1 p.m. PT - No. 1 USC (12-0) vs. No. 5 Cal (12-2)
Spieker Aquatics Complex - Berkeley, Calif.

BERKELEY - It will be a special afternoon at Spieker Aquatics Complex on Saturday. Before the fifth-ranked Bears host top-ranked USC in both teams' Mountain Pacific Sports Federation opener, Cal's women's water polo program will retire the cap of former All-American Heather Petri, a four-time Olympian who helped the United States win the Gold Medal at the Summer Olympics last summer in London. Then it will be into the pool where the Bears will try to get the early upper hand in the conference race. It will be only the second home match of the season for the Bears, and their first since defeating Michigan on Jan. 26.

Petri Festivities
As part of the Heather Petri cap retirement ceremony, there will be a special all-you-can-eat Mexican buffet after Saturday's match on the top deck of Spieker. Petri will be joined by family, friends, alumni and fans to celebrate the honor. Cost is $10. Fans can RSVP to Cal Annual Giving Manager Brian Raney at 510-643-0888 or braney@berkeley.edu.

Cal Goes 3-1 At UC Irvine Invitational
The Bears competed at the prestigious UC Irvine Invitational last weekend and won three of four matches, including two victories over top-10 teams. Cal notched wins over No. 7 San Diego State, No. 8 Hawaii and No. 16 Loyola Marymount while also dropping a close decision to No. 5 Arizona State. All 16 teams in the field were ranked in the CWPA Top-20. The Bears took fifth place overall.

Csikos Displays All-American Form
Three-time All-American Emily Csikos is rounding into her usual dominating form after taking last year off to train with the Canadian National Team. Csikos scored 11 goals at the UC Irvine Invitational and now leads the Bears with 31 scores this season. Her average of 2.21 goals per game ranks her fifth in the MPSF.

Csikos Ascends Cal's All-Time Scoring List
With 31 goals this season, senior Emily Csikos now has 198 in her Cal career, good for third place on the school's all-time list. She is one behind Kaliya Young for second place, and trails all-time leader Colette Glinkowski by just 14 goals. With two goals Saturday, Csikos will become only the second player in Cal history to amass 200 goals in a career. Senior Breda Vosters, meanwhile, has moved into eighth place on the program's all-time scoring list with 145 during her career.

About USC
• The Trojans upset No. 1 Stanford in the championship match of last week's UC Irvine Invitational. They also defeated No. 3 UCLA in the semifinals.
• USC is led by sophomore Monica Vavic, who leads the MPSF with 38 goals.

Cal to Host 2013 MPSF Championships
The 2013 MPSF Championships will take place at the Spieker Aquatics Complex April 26-28. The seven teams from the conference -- six of which are currently ranked in the top-8 in the Collegiate Water Polo top-20 - will converge on Berkeley to try to earn the automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament. The tourney runner-up also has a strong chance at earning an at-large berth to the NCAAs.