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Bears Visit Long Beach State Wednesday, USC Saturday<\/p>\n
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\t\t\t\tBEAR BITES
\nCalifornia heads south this week for two games, starting with a Wednesday visit to Long Beach State for a 4 p.m. nonconference battle with the Beach.
\nFrom there, the Bears go to Los Angeles for an MPSF meeting against USC at 12 p.m. on Saturday (March 28) at Uytengsu Aquatics Center.<\/p>\n
FOLLOW ALONG LAST ACTION CENTURY CLUB JULIA JOINS THE LIST BACK FOR MORE NEW CREW GOALIE CORPS WORLD STAGE HONORING BRIGITTE LAST SEASON STAY POSTED \t\t\t
\nWednesday’s game at Long Beach State will have live stats available at thefosh.net<\/a>. Saturday’s Cal-USC game will stream on overnght.com<\/a>, and live stats will be available at 6-8sports.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n
\nCal \u00a0took an early lead and never looked back as the Golden Bears built toward a 19-7 win over No. 12 Indiana in MPSF action. After the win, Cal celebrated its four graduating seniors \u2014 Nieve Courtney<\/a>, Lindsey Harris<\/a>, Abbi Magee<\/a> and Claire Rowell<\/a> \u2014 in a Senior Day ceremony at Spieker Aquatics Complex. All four seniors factored into the win, helping the Bears improve to 12-3 overall and 3-1 in MPSF play.
\nCal sophomores Maria Bogachenko<\/a> and Feline Voordouw<\/a> and junior Julia Bonaguidi<\/a> generated the bulk of the Bears’ offense, combining for 11 goals on the day, but the seniors also had their say in this one. Abbi Magee<\/a> scored her 103rd career goal to lift the Bears ahead 13-4 in the third, then later found Rowell for a blast that made it 18-5 in the fourth. Harris earned a 6-on-5 for the Bears in the fourth, and Courtney had grabbed an early steal for Cal to help set up one of Bonaguidi’s four goals on the day.
\nIn all, Cal had 10 scorers in on the action, while the goal was cared for by Talia Fonseca<\/a> (seven saves) and Lexi Nelson<\/a> (1 save).
\nNOTABLE:
\n– With four goals, Julia Bonaguidi<\/a> has scored multiple goals in Cal’s last four games.
\n– With two goals, Despoina Drakotou<\/a> recorded her team-best 12th game with multiple goals.
\n– Drakotou, Abbi Magee<\/a> (1 goal) and Feline Voordouw<\/a> (3 goals) have each scored in 13 of Cal’s 14 games this season.<\/p>\n
\nSenior Abbi Magee<\/a> needed three goals to get to the 100th of her career, and she did it one better with a four-goal outburst in Cal’s 22-10 win over San Jos\u00e9 State on March 7. Now with 102 career goals, Magee is primed to continue her climb up the Bears scoring ladder this season. She’s currently third on the team in scoring with 30 goals tallied to date.<\/p>\n
\nJunior Julia Bonaguidi<\/a> earned her first career MPSF weekly award with her March 3 pick as the MPSF Player of the Week. She’s the first Golden Bear to secure that honor since 2024.
\nBonaguidi tied her career high with four goals \u2014 including three in the fourth period \u2014 to help Cal beat host No. 5 Arizona State 11-10 last weekend. Bonaguidi’s first goal tied up the game at 3-3 in the second period, and her next two gave Cal one-goal leads in the fourth. She’d score on a 5-meter penalty shot to tie the game at 9-9, and she’d serve up the game-winning assist on Abbi Magee’s<\/a> goal with one second left. Bonaguidi had two assists and a steal in the win.
\nBonaguidi’s first MPSF Player of the Week award makes her the first Bear honoree since 2024, when Cal’s Isabel Williams was a three-time winner and Elena Flynn<\/a> won it once.
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\nDESPI SECURES SIX
\nAfter opening her Cal career with three MPSF Newcomer of the Week awards in her first three weeks of action, freshman Despoina Drakotou<\/a> continues to add to her Cal-record win count, now with her sixth MPSF Newcomer of the Week honor earned this week. Cal’s Kitty Lynn Joustra was a three-time MPSF Newcomer of the Week honoree in 2018, and Isabel Williams earned three MPSF Player of the Week awards as a Bear in 2024. The MPSF record of seven Newcomer of the Week awards is shared by three players.
\nDrakotou’s five MPSF Newcomer of the Week awards increases the Cal single-season record she set with her fourth pick. Prior to Drakotou, two other players had earned three weekly honors in a season. In 2024, Isabel Williams was a three-time MPSF Player of the Week, and Kitty Lynn Joustra earned three MPSF Newcomer of the Week honors in 2018.
\nDrakotou’s first selection came after scoring seven goals in her first weekend of work with Cal at the Polopalooza in Fresno. She had a hat trick in her collegiate debut along with two steals to help the Bears beat No. 15 Michigan 23-18, then scored twice and tallied four steals and a field block as Cal upset No. 4 Hawai’i 14-9. Against No. 8 UC Irvine, Drakotou scored two more with an assist, steal and field block as Cal improved to 3-0 with a 16-9 victory over the Anteaters. She was one of three Bears to record three multiple-goal games at the event.
\nAt the Brigitte Donner Daws Memorial Invitational, Drakotou recorded back-to-back hat tricks in Cal’s two wins at the event, matching her career best in both games. In the 15-11 win over No. 9 Fresno State, she also served up three assists before adding two assists, two field blocks and an assist in a 21-7 win over No. 12 San Jos\u00e9 State.
\nNext, Drakotou was a perfect 7-for-7 shooting in Cal’s 25-9 victory over No. 17 Pacific. She also added an assist in the win, while her seven goals marked the most in a game by a Bear since 2019 and was just one off the Cal record of eight set in 1997.
\nIn an overtime loss to UCLA on Feb. 21, Drakotou had a hat trick on 3-of-4 shooting with two drawn exclusions, an assist and a steal. It was enough to secure her fourth round of MPSF Newcomer of the Week accolades to set a new Cal record.
\nHer fifth pick came after she scored twice and had three steals and two assists in the Bears’ 10-8 win over No. 5 Hawai’i last weekend. Her steal and second goal of the game gave Cal a 7-4 lead in the first half, and she’d later serve up an assist on the Bears’ 10th goal of the game, which had been tied up during the first half.
\nThe latest honor \u2014 her sixth \u2014 followed a game in which Drakotou was 2-for-2 shooting and had a steal and drawn 5-meter penalty for the Golden Bears in their 19-7 MPSF win over No. 12 Indiana.
\nDrakotou is Cal’s top scorer with 36 goals, and she has scored in 14 of the Bear’s 15 games this season with a team-best 12 multiple-goal outings.
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\nEURO ACTION
\nTwo current Bears and three Cal alumnae were in action at the European Championships from Jan. 25-Feb. 5 in Funchal, Portugal. Ezster Varr\u00f3 (Hungary) and Maria Bogachenko<\/a> (Israel) took time away from Cal to compete for their respective nations.
\nBogachenko scored a team-high 20 goals in Portugal. She served up seven goals for Israel to help finish seventh place overall. Varr\u00f3 helped her Hungarians reach the championship game and earn silver, with Varr\u00f3 scoring twice in that final and finishing the event with nine total goals scored.
\nCal alum and Olympian Kitty Lynn Joustra was one of the event’s top scorers, leading Netherlands to gold as she tallied a total of 22 goals in Portugal. Two more former Bears were representing Great Britain, which finished in 10th place thanks to work from Cal alums Cassidy Ball and Cecily Turner. Turner led her team with 16 goals scored.<\/p>\n
\nCal returns three of its top five scorers from 2025. Gone are Ruby Swadling<\/a> (55 goals) and Elena Flynn<\/a> (48), but the Bears have Maria Bogachenko<\/a>, Julia Bonaguidi<\/a> and Abbi Magee<\/a> all back after boasting a combined 107 goals last year. In their first seasons as Bears, Ezster Varr\u00f3 and Rosalie Hassett<\/a> tallied 21 and 17 goals, respectively. In goal, Talia Fonseca<\/a> capped up in all 25 games and averaged 7.4 saves per game for the Bears.<\/p>\n
\nCal welcomes many new faces to the pool for this 2026 season. Six true freshmen are in the mix \u2013 Marina Brown<\/a> (Santa Barbara), Despoina Drakotou<\/a> (Athens, Greece), Reece Helsel<\/a> (Clovis), Lexi Nelson<\/a> (Menlo Park), Harper Price<\/a> (Newport Beach) and Gabby Reichley<\/a> (San Anselmo).<\/p>\n
\nCal has two talented goalies tabbed for duty this season, led by 2025 All-MPSF Honorable Mention recipient Talia Fonseca<\/a>. True freshman Lexi Nelson<\/a> rounds out the Bears’ defensive backbone.<\/p>\n
\nSix Bears stepped up for international duty during the summer at the World Aquatics U20 Championships in Brazil. Team USA \u2013 featuring Cal players Julia Bonaguidi<\/a> and Rosalie Hassett<\/a> with head coach Coralie Simmons<\/a> on the coaching staff \u2013 captured gold medals at the event. Incoming freshman Despoina Drakotou<\/a> also took home some hardware in helping Greece claim bronze. Also representing their countries were sophomore Holly Dunn<\/a> with New Zealand and Hungarian sophomore Eszter Varr\u00f3.<\/p>\n
\nThis year, Cal hosted the ninth edition of its early-season tournament known as the Cal Cup. Now named the Brigitte Donner Daws Memorial Invitational, the competition honors the memory of Brigitte Donner Daws, who played water polo at Cal from 1998-2002 and passed away tragically in 2020.
\nThe inaugural Brigitte Donner Daws Memorial Invitational was held Jan. 24-25 at Spieker Aquatics Complex and featured both official and exhibition competition between eight teams. Brigitte’s family members participated in a ceremonial ball drop ahead of the Cal-Fresno State game. At halftime of that game, a special moment of remembrance was held for Brigitte along with other alumni and members of the water polo community that have been lost. \u00a0<\/p>\n
\nCal is coming off a season where the Bears reached the NCAA Tournament for the fourth straight year. The 2025 squad went 19-6 overall and placed third at the MPSF Tournament. In their final seasons at Cal, three Bears earned All-America honors \u2013 Ruby Swadling<\/a> (first team), Elena Flynn<\/a> (second team) and Rozanne Voorvelt<\/a> (honorable mention). All three also earned All-MPSF accolades along with redshirt sophomore goalie Talia Fonseca<\/a> (honorable mention) and All-Newcomer honorees Maria Bogachenko<\/a> and Rosalie Hassett<\/a>. Swadling was the 2025 team’s top scorer with 55 goals.<\/p>\n
\nFor more coverage of Cal women’s water polo, follow the Bears on X (@calwwpolo<\/a>), Instagram (@calwwpolo<\/a>) and Facebook (@calwwpolo<\/a>).<\/p>\n