Nov. 9, 2011
STANFORD, Calif. - Stanford (5-10-2, 2-6-1 Pac-12) will finish the regular season on Friday when it travels to Berkeley to face California (3-8-5, 0-6-3 Pac-12). The rivalry game will take place at Edwards Stadium at 2pm, November 11.
It has been a disappointing season for both Stanford and Cal with both programs expecting to compete for conference title. However, despite the lack of postseason intrigue, Friday's match will surely not lack for intensity as it the case any time these two rivals square off.
In the earlier meeting at Cagan Stadium, the two teams ended in a 1-1 draw. Adam Jahn drilled a perfect free kick into the top right corner to bring Stanford even in the 77th minute of the second half. The two teams played an even game on that day with head coach Bret Simon remarking, "It was probably a just result," after the game, referring to the way the two teams had battled evenly.
Overall, Stanford holds a 25-21-8 all-time advantage over the Golden Bears, but is just 0-6-1 during the last four seasons. Friday will be the last chance for the Cardinal senior class to earn its first victory over the Golden Bears.
The Cardinal is coming off a 1-1 home weekend that included a 4-1 win over San Diego State and a 3-0 loss to No. 6 UCLA. Friday's big win included goals from four different scorers, including the first career goal for Felipe Noguerol and the team-leading fourth goal from Garrett Gunther. Dersu Abolfathi and JJ Koval also tallied goals in the game as Stanford enjoyed its highest-scoring output of the season.
Drew Hutchins earned both starts in goal last weekend and now has a 2-2-1 record for the season. Hutchins has a team-best goals against average of 1.38, while making 13 saves. Jason Dodson is the team leader in saves with 43 and has the Cardinal's lone shutout.
Stanford is looking for its first road win of the season, having gone 0-7-0 away from Cagan Stadium so far this year. The Cardinal hopes that the familiar Edwards Stadium will put an end to that run.
California entered the season coming off a deep run in the NCAA tournament and a high preseason national ranking. However, the young Bears that lost a large group of seniors from last season have struggled so far this year. Cal is led by John Fitzpatrick with five goals and 11 points, but overall Cal has struggled to score, managing just 18 goals in 16 games.
Robby Gogatz and Kevin Peach have split time in goal for Cal with Gogatz leading the team with 47 saves. Peach has the better goals against average of 1.05.
Friday's game is the season finale for both Stanford and California. Neither team is eligible for the NCAA tournament with a below .500 record.