NCAA WATER POLO : Goal in Third Overtime by Zeien Gives Cal Title

Dirk Zeien’s goal 1 minute 42 seconds into the third overtime gave California a 12-11 victory over Stanford Sunday and its third consecutive NCAA water polo championship.

Zeien was fouled at the two-meter position and was able to quickly throw the ball to Russ Stryker, who drove in to set up one meter to his left.

Stryker tapped the pass right back to Zeien who caught it and shot in one motion into the lower left corner of the goal. Zeien scored five goals and was named the tournament’s most valuable player.

The victory gave California (31-0) its 11th national title in the 24 years of the tournament. Interestingly, the last team to go undefeated in a season was Stanford (36-0) in 1986.

California Coach Steve Heaston called it the most exciting game a team could have outside of the Olympic gold medal game but already started worrying about next season.

“The weight of an undefeated season is on us now,” he said. “We’re going to lose the frst game of the next season.”

California seemingly took control of the game in the second quarter when the Bears outscored Stanford (22-6), 4-1, to take a 7-3 lead.

Stanford pulled to within 10-6 after three quarters and outscored the Golden Bears, 5-1, in the fourth quarter to force overtime.

Neither team could establish a two-meter position in the first overtime and neither team scored to force sudden-death overtime.

In the first sudden death period, the Bears had a golden opportunity to score with a man advantage with 2:40 left. However, Larry Bercutt blocked Tony Barnes shot.

One minute later, Stanford had the same opportunity but Nick Kittredge blocked Brian Clemens’ shot. California controlled the ball but never took a last shot before the buzzer.

In the third place game, USC defeated UC Irvine, 11-10. Danny Leyson scored his sixth goal early in the fourth quarter and USC (21-9) escaped with the victory when Irvine (20-10) could not score with a one-man advantage in the last 10 seconds.

In the fifth-place game, Pepperdine defeated UC San Diego, 13-6. Eight different players scored for Pepperdine (20-10), with Alex Asta scoring four goals. Pepperdine led, 7-2, at halftime and was never seriously threatened. Michael Nalu and George Hegarty each scored twice for UC San Diego (23-9).

In the seventh-place game, Navy defeated Princeton, 14-9. Rebel Cobb scored five goals and Doug Munz scored four for the Midshipmen (19-10), who took an 8-4 lead at halftime. Princeton (20-7) was led by Chad Elliott’s four goals.