BERKELEY, Calif. – No. 6 Stanford rallied back from a five-goal, fourth-quarter deficit, but No. 3 Cal hang on to win its second straight Big Splash on Saturday afternoon, 11-10.
Blake Parrish tallied his sixth hat trick of the season to lead the Cardinal, which trailed 11-6 with 5:47 to go before closing with four straight scores.
Sam Pfeil fired in his 19th of the year with 4:25 on the clock and Parrish rattled two more home at 2:07 and 1:37, the first via a penalty. Cody Smith's 6-on-5 goal pulled the Cardinal within one, but with just six seconds left Stanford wouldn't get another possession.
Parrish used a low skip to send one in front and center 95 seconds into the game to give Stanford an early 1-0 advantage. Cal's Luca Cupido and Johnny Hooper nudged the Bears in front by the end of the first with two nearly identical skips to the right of Cardinal goalkeeper Oliver Lewis.
Cal led 4-3 with 3:04 on the clock in the second quarter before reeling off five unanswered to take its largest lead, 9-3, at 4:14 in the third. Stanford's third goal before the run came when Nelson Perla-Ward punched in and redirected an entry pass past Cal's Lazar Andric.
Stanford and Cal will join USC, UCLA and Penn State Behrend for the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Championships next weekend in Los Angeles, California.
