Papanikolaou leads Cal to second straight water polo title

BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) — Nikolaos Papanikolaou had seven goals, Roberto Valera gave California the lead with 41 seconds left and the Golden Bears scored five straight goals to stun Southern California 13-12 and win their second straight NCAA men’s water polo championship. Cal (23-2) beat the Trojans (20-7) by an identical score last season when Papanikolaou had a field block in the closing seconds to preserve the win. It was the Golden Bears record 16th championship and they improved to 7-1 against USC when playing for the title. USC led 12-8 when Massimo Di Martire scored 47 seconds into the final quarter. Valera started the Bears’ comeback when he scored with 5:02 left to play.