LOS ANGELES -- Arizona improved to 3-0 on the season by going 2-0 at the Pac 12 tournament this past weekend, beating Cal-Berkeley and Utah. The tournament, which is in its ninth year, is held on the campus of UCLA.

Arizona picked up a 9-3 win against No. 24 California on Saturday in its first game. The defense was the story of the weekend and it started off Saturday with goalie Tanner Knego making 13 saves and allowing only three goals. A big part of that was due to the defense in front of him. Poles Nolan Baker (5 GBs), Griffin Goudreau (7 GBs), Jackson Pinney (3 GBs) and Greg Gautieri (4 GBs) shut the Bears down and gave Knego the shots a goalie wants to see. Freshmen defensive middie Zach Joseph, close defender Barry Baker and long-stick middie Harry Bunim were also solid defensively.

Arizona got off to a hot start on offense, leading 3-0 after the first and 7-1 at the half. The second half was much different, as the Bears did a good job of mixing up defenses, frustrating the Arizona offense. The 'Cats were held to a goal in both the third and fourth quarters, keeping the game somewhat interesting.

The offense was led by sophomore attack Jeff Howard, who was playing in his first game back after having a season-ending injury early last year. Howard scored three goals along with an assist, highlighted by a goal in which Howard was laying on his stomach and still managed to get the ball past the netminder. Sophomore midfielder Christian Turri also helped the offense with a hat trick.Junior Matt Lai, sophomore Ryan Falbo and freshman Colton Lyold also found the net in the victory.

The Laxcats pitched a 9-0 shutout against a very tough hard noised Utah team on Sunday. The Arizona defense was dominant the entire game, earning their first shutout of 2016 season. Knego was huge in the net, making nine saves with a few of them highlight-reel worthy. Baker and Goudreau completely shut down their matchups, as did Gautieri. Matt Irvine won 7-of-11 faceoffs and LSM Jackson Pinney won 3-of-4 at the X.

Arizona was held scoreless in the first quarter due to the Utes goalie making several big-time saves. The Cats were able to find the back of the net when senior Foster Bundy stepped up with a big-time split dodge before ripping a shot into the top, right corner to put Arizona on the board. Lai also made a great move, splitting a double at the midline and dodging the length of the field to push the lead to 2-0 at the half. The offense pumped in six goals in the third quarter, pushing the lead to 8-0 heading into the fourth.

The offense was led by Bundy and freshmen Winsor Mclean, who each had two goals and an assist on the day. Howard once again had a big day, chipping in with three assist. Arizona also had two newcomers score for the first time in their careers. Freshmen Connor Weisman and Brad Moeller found the back of the net in the second half, which provided a nice spark for the Arizona squad. Senior Brett Burkholder and sophomore Zach Rogers each chipped in with a goal to round out the scoring.

Arizona is 3-0 on the season and will host Colorado State and Colorado on the weekend of Feb. 27.