Nov. 19, 2005
No. 3 Stanford finished the regular season undefeated at home in front of a packed house at the Avery Aquatics Center Saturday. The Cardinal downed second-ranked Cal in a 7-4 upset to take back the Big Splash. Stanford improves to 17-5 this season, 6-2 in the MPSF, and drops Cal to 19-6, 5-3 in conference play.
With the Avery Stadium overflowing with nearly 3,000 in attendance, the Cardinal jumped to an early lead with a goal by junior Tyler Drake just 1:40 into the first quarter. The Cardinal maintained the 1-0 lead heading into the second quarter, but the Golden Bears tied it up at 5:14 in the second. Michael Bury's rocket shot over Cal goalie Nate Bennett at 4:42 gave Stanford the lead for good. Stanford senior Marcello Pantuliano and sophomore Ryan Fortune gave the Cardinal an insurmountable lead at the end of the half with two straight-on, unstoppable goals at the end of the second period.
With a 4-1 Stanford advantage, both teams intensified their defensive play in the third quarter. Stanford goalie, Sandy Hohener, added an addition three saves onto his six stuffs in the first half. The only goal of the third period came at 2:02 when Cal's Shea Buckner fired a shot between two Stanford defenders to make it 4-2 Cardinal, entering the final period.
Four close Golden Bear shots were blocked by Sandy Hohener in the fourth quarter. At 5:19, William Hindle-Katel saw the net to give Stanford the 5-2 lead. Cal's Tom Kurth then scored at 3:02 off of a stolen pass to make it 5-3. Stanford's Peter Varellas put one on the board in a 6-on-5 advantage at 2:27, and Hindle-Katel netted one at :53 in the fourth quarter. With only 37 seconds remaining in the match, Cal's Brian Kinsel put in a last effort for the Golden Bears to end the Big Splash: Stanford 7, Cal 4.
Stanford's upset over Cal is a great way for the Cardinal to head into the MPSF tournament next weekend, November 25-27, at USC. The winner of the MPSF gets an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, and only one other MPSF team will get their shot at the National Championship. The MPSF tournament is set to begin at 10:00am Friday, with the #4 seed vs. #5 seed, and will run all day Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Seedings for the tournament will be announced early next week.
Game Summary
Nov. 19, 2005
Stanford Scoring: Hindle-Katel 2, Bury 1, T. Drake 1, Fortune 1, Pantuliano 1, Varellas 1.
Cal Scorers: Kinsel 2, Kurth 1, Vasiljevic 1.
Goalie Saves: Hohener (Stan) 13, Bennett (Cal) 9.