Oct. 18, 2008
STANFORD, Calif. - The Big Match between Stanford and No. 13 California went 90 hard-fought and scoreless minutes, but it took just less than two for it all to come to a sudden end for the Cardinal. A fumbled cross just in front of the goal line allowed California's Servando Carrasco to tap the ball into a wide open net to net the Golden Bears the 1-0 overtime win.
With the loss, Stanford falls to 3-7-2 overall and 1-3-1 in Pac-10 play. California improves to 7-2-4, 2-1-2 Pac-10.
The game got off to a quick start for the Golden Bears, as Cardinal keeper John Moore was tested early on. California's Paul Davis got off a shot that Moore deflected into the air, but back to Davis, who fired a line drive that Moore stopped from point-blank range.
Moore made nine saves in the contest, playing a major role in keeping the Cardinal afloat during the 90 minutes of regulation. His California counterpart, Stefan Frei, made a pair of saves.
The teams were even in shots, 12-12, in the contest, but many of the Cardinal's chances sailed high or wide of the goal, as the team could only manage to put two attempts on frame the entire night. Shots from Bobby Warshaw and Tom Montgomery went wide and high, respectively, just 1:21 apart in the 16th and 17th minutes.
Moore again thwarted a California opportunity, hustling off of his line to make a sliding block of Carrasco's breakaway attempt in the 32nd minute. He would again stifle a breakaway chance for the Golden Bears in the 75th minute, making a sliding deflection of Hector Jimenez' shot to keep his sheet clean.
Stanford had its last good chances at the net with about 10 minutes remaining in regulation, as Cameron Lamming had his shot go wide in the 82nd minute, and just over a minute later, Montgomery had another look on goal blocked before it could reach the line.
Neither team could breakthrough in the final 10 minutes, leading to the extra session, where just under two minutes in, Jimenez served a ball towards the far corner that Moore dropped back to make a play on, but fumbled the catch. As Moore and the Stanford defense scrambled to make the clearance, Carrasco was in the right spot and nudged it into the open net for the game-winner.
The Cardinal returns to action next Saturday, traveling to Albuquerque to take on the New Mexico Lobos at 6 p.m. PT in non-conference action.