The defending champion California Golden Bears relied on a strong defense and seniors Adam Haley and Zac Monsees to register an 8-6 victory over Southern California in the final of the National Collegiate Men’s Water Polo Championship December 2 at Stanford.

California head coach Kirk Everist cited players who weren’t regular offensive contributors during the season and solid goal play as factors in the win.

“To win championships, someone else besides the regular scorers has to step up. We had a lot of great efforts from a lot of different people to win this title. And obviously, the last point of defense is the goalie, and Mark Sheredy was a wall,” Everist said.

Sheredy saw his share of action in the net, tallying 11 saves.

The match was a back-and-forth affair, with a tie score after the first and second periods. California took the lead for good in the third period.

Southern California coach Jovan Vivac, who fielded a young team with 15 freshmen and sophomores — which he said factored in the outcome — said the Trojans squandered power play chances.

“Our shots didn’t go today, and our youth showed,” he said. “I give Berkeley credit — they did a good job scoring when they needed to, but overall I felt that we had our opportunities. We missed a penalty and a couple of extra-man opportunities, and Berkeley converted theirs.”

In the third-place game, Navy became the first East Coast team since 2002 to beat a West Coast school when the Midshipmen downed Loyola-Marymount, 7-6. It was Navy’s first win in the tournament since 1995. But coach Mark Schofield said those wins need to come in the semifinals and final to be meaningful.

“Until that happens,” he said, “it’s still all conjecture and speculation, and ‘close but no cigar.’ But I told our guys last night after our (semifinal) loss that we had one more goal to accomplish this year. They had done everything possible but win an NCAA tournament game. This is probably the best senior class we have ever had and the best team we’ve ever had.”

Semifinals
California 2 1 2 3 — 8
Navy 2 0 0 3 — 5
California scoring: Michael Sharf 3, Jeff Tyrrell 3, Spencer Warden, Trent Calder.
Navy scoring: Bram Arnold, Mike Mulvey, Kevin Bell, Aaron Recko, Andrew Bingham.
Saves: California (Mark Sheredy) 10, Navy (George Naughton) 10.

Loyola Marymount 0 2 1 1 — 4
Southern California 1 4 2 1 — 8
Southern California scoring: Matt Sagehorn 3, Drew Vyn 2, Justin Rappel, Gabor Sarusi, Johan Vranes.
Loyola Marymount Goals: Tim Hummel 3, Julien Lormant.
Saves: Southern California (Adam Shilling) 3, Loyola Marymount (Andy Stevens) 10.

Third-place game
Loyola Marymount 1 2 1 2 — 6
Navy 1 3 1 2 — 7
Loyola Marymount scoring: Andrew Aki, Julien Lormant, Brian Benedetti, Tibor Forai, Tim Hummel, Mark Milovic.
Navy scoring: Bram Arnold 2, Mike Mulvey 2, Aaron Recko 2, Andrew Bingham.
Saves: Loyola Marymount (Andy Stevens) 13, Navy (George Naughton) 7.

Championship
California 1 3 1 3 — 8
Southern California 1 3 0 2 — 6
California scoring: Adam Haley 2, Zac Monsees 2, Thomas Pearson, Spencer Warden, Trent Calder, Brian Dudley
Southern California scoring: J.W. Krumpholz 2, Johan Vranes, Gabor Sarusi, Tommy Corcoran, Drew Vyn.
Saves: California (Mark Sheredy) 11, Southern California (Adam Schilling) 5.