LOS ANGELES – A quality defensive effort led to plenty of offense on the other end of the pool for the No. 1-ranked Cal men's water polo team as the Bears earned a 24-7 victory over Air Force on day one at the Mountain Pacific Invitational.

Playing the first match of the tournament at Loyola Marymount, Cal (9-0) got rolling right away when it came to goals. A 4-1 lead at the end of one period came courtesy of scores from Vassilis Tzavaras, Johnny Hooper, Pedro Stellet and Ethan Wojciechowski.

That lead grew to 10-3 by halftime with four goals by Hooper leading the charge. The advantage stood at 18-5 after three periods and six more goals in the fourth provided the final margin of victory.

Not to be lost in the goal-scoring barrage was one of Cal's best defensive efforts of the season. Air Force went 0 for 12 on power play opportunities and the tandem of Kevin Le Vine and Spencer Tagg was again strong in the cage as the two each played a half and each recorded seven saves.

Hooper finished as high scorer in front of a hometown crowd as the junior form Los Angeles tallied five goals. Nicholas Carniglia added four, Cameron Wright scored three, Spencer Farrar, Ethan Wojciechowski, Jordan Hoover and Nikos Delagrammatikas each had two and Odysseas Masmanidis, Pedro Stellet, Vassilis Tzavaras and Safak Simsek contributed with one apiece.

Cal will resume play on Saturday at 9 a.m. against Pepperdine. That match will take place at USC's Uytengsu Aquatic Center. The Bears will play a second match on Saturday as well with the time and opponent based on morning results. For updates, follow Cal men's water polo on Twitter (@CalWaterPolo).