Nov. 19, 2011
No. 4 Stanford ended the 2011 regular season with an 11-4 loss to No. 3 California at the Big Splash Saturday night at Avery Aquatic Center.
The Cardinal finished the regular season with an overall record of 18-5, and its 5-3 MPSF mark earns Stanford the fourth seed at next weekend's MPSF Championship. The event takes place Nov. 25-27 at UCLA. Stanford will take on fifth-seeded UC Santa Barbara in Friday's quarterfinal round at 3 p.m. PT.
Saturday, things started off well enough for the Cardinal, as Forrest Watkins put Stanford ahead early in the first period. But it would quickly go downhill from there, as California ran off seven straight goals through the second period to go up 7-1.
California's Aleksa Saponjic, who scored three times in the game, netted the first two goals for the Golden Bears to begin the run. The Golden Bears would score twice more before the end of the opening frame, then add the first three of the second.
Jacob Smith scored the first of his two goals before the break to make it 7-2 California at halftime. The teams would trade goals to start the second half, but two goals from California's Collin Smith and Marin Balarin to start the fourth period put the Golden Bears firmly in the driver's seat, ahead 10-3.
California claimed the Steve Heaston Trophy with the Big Splash win, while Stanford still holds the series edge by a 7-6 margin since the trophy was first awarded to the event's winner in 1999.
California - 4 3 1 3 = 11
Stanford - 1 1 1 1 = 4
Stanford Goal Scorers: Smith 2, Sefton, Watkins
California Goal Scorers: A. Saponjic 3, Smith 3, Balarin, Rackov, L. Saponjic, Short, Steffens
Goalie Saves: Unavailable