Nov. 28, 2009
MPSF Tournament Central
LOS ANGELES, Calif. - No. 2 Stanford had its MPSF Tournament title hopes dashed Saturday, falling 12-11 in overtime to No. 3 California in the MPSF Tournament semifinals at USC's McDonald's Swim Stadium.
Stanford (21-3) will now look to rebound in Sunday's third-place game against No. 1 USC, which suffered an upset of its own Saturday against UCLA in the other semifinal contest. Sunday's game between the Cardinal and Trojans is set for a 1:30 p.m. start.
The Wigo brothers, Drac and Janson, each posted a hat trick Saturday, with Travis Noll and Jeffrey Schwimer each scoring twice as well. Jacob Smith accounted for the remaining Cardinal goal.
Goalie Jimmie Sandman was Stanford's defensive standout, making a season-high 17 saves in the cage.
In a cruel twist of irony for the Cardinal, one week after coming back from a halftime deficit to defeat the Golden Bears in the Big Splash, this time it was California which made a second-half comeback to steal a victory from Stanford. Things looked to be going Stanford's way after the offense got off to another fast start in the first half, exploding for five second-period goals to take a 7-2 lead at the break.
California would score three goals against just one for Stanford in the third period, making it 8-5 in favor of Stanford heading into the final eight minutes of regulation. But there, it was California's turn to put up a crooked number, managing five goals in the frame against just two for Stanford to send the game to overtime tied at 10-10.
Stanford would score first in overtime, taking an 11-10 lead, but California would bounce back to score the final two goals of the contest, capped off by Luka Saponjic's score with just four seconds remaining.
California - 1 1 3 5 0-2 = 12
Stanford - 2 5 1 2 1-0 = 11
Stanford Goal Scorers: D. Wigo 3, J. Wigo 3, Noll 2, Schwimer 2, J. Smith
California Goal Scorers: Saponjic 4, Rackov 3, Dudley 2, Nasoff, Steffens, White
Goalie Saves: Sandman 17 (S); Toppen 6 (C)