BERKELEY, Calif. – Gabby Stone tied a career high with 15 saves and the No. 2 Cardinal held No. 5 Cal to a season-low goal total to win Sunday's Big Splash in Berkeley 8-2.
With the victory the Cardinal (16-1) moved to 3-0 in conference and into a three-way tie for first place in the MPSF with No. 1 USC and No. 3 UCLA, the teams it will play each of the next two weekends.
Stanford's defense was formidable from the start and the Cardinal jumped out to a 4-0 lead behind two goals from Maggie Steffens and one each from Makenzie Fischer and Madison Berggren.
Fischer skipped one under the right arm of Cal's Madeline Trabucco from a tight angle to start and then at 3:15 in the first quarter Steffens drew an exclusion, took a quick pass from Dani Jackovich and deposited the ball to the lower left corner of the cage.
With 52 seconds on the clock and the shot clock winding down in the opening period, Steffens rose and fired from near mid-tank for her second of the afternoon. Less than two minutes into the second, Madison Berggren converted in the 6-on-5 by stuffing it home near side to push the edge to 4-0.
Dora Antal finally got Cal on the board at 4:47 in the second and the Hungarian would be the only Golden Bear to generate any offense on Sunday. She'd tack on another late in the third after Stanford had gone up 8-1.
Stanford's defense did a good job on Cal's capable long-range shooters, limiting the number of balls that made it to Stone with a handful of field blocks. When something did get through, the senior was up to the task.
Carla Carrega had a one-on-none for the Golden Bears with just over a minute to go until halftime, but Stone tipped her attempt over the crossbar. The Cardinal quickly put the ball back in play with a pinpoint pass down the right side to Makenzie Fischer, who scored her second of the game with another skip to the far post.
Fischer tallied her hat trick with a sidearm shot coming out of the break and a beautiful cross past from Jamie Neushul set up Berggren's second at 4:44 in the third. With 4:00 on the clock Steffens collected her eighth hat trick in the last 10 games by scoring in the 6-on-5.
Stone's 15 saves equaled her personal best from March 29, 2015 against UC Davis. She pushed her career save total to 506 and became the fourth player in program history to reach the mark. With records dating back to 2001, Meridith McColl top the record book with 715, Kate Baldoni is second with 572 and Jackie Frank third with 523.
The Cardinal's 5-on-6 defense limited Cal to just one goal on seven chances.
Stanford is at USC on Saturday, April 8 for another game on Pac-12 Networks beginning at 5 p.m.
No. 2 Stanford at No. 5 California
April 2, 2017 • Berkeley, Calif.
CAL 0 – 1 – 1 – 0 = 2
STAN 3 – 2 – 3 – 0 = 8
Stanford Goals: Makenzie Fischer 3, Maggie Steffens 3, Madison Berggren 2
Stanford Saves: Gabby Stone 15