Nov. 22, 2008
BERKELEY, Calif. - Drac Wigo posted a hat trick to lead six Cardinal goal scorers as No. 3 Stanford retained the Steve Heaston Trophy, awarded annually since 1999 to the winner of the Big Splash, with a 9-8 victory over No. 4 California Saturday morning in Berkeley. The victory was Stanford's third in a row in the Big Splash, and upped the Cardinal's advantage in the series to 6-4 since the trophy was first awarded.
Stanford (22-4, 6-2 MPSF), which captured second place in the MPSF and the second seed in the conference tournament with the win, will next see action at the MPSF Tournament, set for next weekend, Nov. 28-30, on the campus of Pepperdine University in Malibu. The Cardinal will open tournament play Friday, Nov. 28 at 11:30 a.m. against No. 7 seed Long Beach State.
California fell to 17-7 overall and 3-4 in MPSF play with the loss.
Drac Wigo's hat trick played a vital role in the Stanford victory, as his third goal, with 1:21 remaining in the contest gave the Cardinal a 9-7 advantage that the Golden Bears could not make up. Sophomore Alex Pulido netted a pair of goals in the game, both coming in the third period, while individual goals were scored by Will Hindle-Katel, Peter Sefton, Janson Wigo and Sage Wright.
The evenly-matched contest saw both teams' goalkeepers, Jimmie Sandman for Stanford and Jacob McIntosh for California, make nine saves.
With Stanford holding a slight 7-6 advantage heading into the final period of play Saturday, California's Ivan Rackov knotted things up early on with a long shot that got past Sandman. Sefton, though, would give the Cardinal the lead that it would not relinquish, scoring his lone goal of the contest with 4:32 remaining.
Drac Wigo's goal with 1:21 to go would make it a two-goal game, and although California managed to pull within one at 9-8 on Brian Dudley's goal with 53 seconds to play, Stanford was able to run out the clock and preserve the win.
Stanford - 2 3 2 2 = 9
California - 2 2 2 2 = 8
Stanford Goal Scorers: D. Wigo 3, Pulido 2, Hindle-Katel, Sefton, J. Wigo, Sa. Wright
California Goal Scorers: Calder 3, Rackov 2, Dudley, Saponjic, Warden
Goalie Saves: Sandman 9 (S); McIntosh 9 (C)