BERKELEY, Calif. – Julia Hermann made 11 saves, Makenzie Fischer rattled the cage five times and No. 2 Stanford beat No. 3 Cal in an MPSF semifinal on Saturday afternoon, 12-9.
The Cardinal advances to tomorrow's championship and will play No. 1 USC for the confernce title at 12:45 p.m. A live stream will be available via MPSF College Sports Live and in-game updates can be found on the team's Twitter account @Stanfordh2opolo.
Down 4-2 midway through the second quarter, Stanford closed the gap on a Makenzie Fischer goal to the top corner (5:31) and tied it on an Aria Fischer score inside at 4:27. Cal would inch back in front on an Emma Wright lob, but that would be its last lead. The Cardinal closed the period with a pair of goals from Makenzie Fischer to head into halftime with its first advantage, 6-5.
On defense at 3:08, Madison Berggren sagged off the person she was guarding on the outside and knocked the ball out of the hand of a Cal player to win back possession for Stanford. Fischer would fire it in at the other end to make it 5-5. With just eight seconds to go until intermission, Jordan Raney found Fischer at the back post and the sophomore was able to beat Madison Tagg to the near side.
Fischer, who had four of her game-high five goals in the first half, has been a force since Stanford returned from its finals break. The MPSF's scoring leader has put in nine goals so far at the MPSF Tournament and is averaging 4.13 goals per game in the Cardinal's last eight. She's had six outings this season with five goals and five of those have come during this post-exams stretch.
Its first lead in hand, Stanford kept rolling in the second half. Cal's Kindred Paul was kicked out early in the third and with three Golden Bears guarding the cage, Berggren used her dominant left hand to muscle it in and put the Cardinal up a pair.
Wright skipped one in from beyond five meters for the hosts before Raney rose and fired from just to the left of mid-tank at 4:21 in the third to make it 8-6 Stanford. At 1:37, Aria Fischer took the ball down the right side, crossed it to sister Makenzie on the left and the elder Fischer sister rifled it past Tagg at the near post to give the Cardinal a three-goal edge.
Kat Klass would add two more back-to-back following a successful Carla Carrega penalty to give the Cardinal is largest lead, 11-7, early in the fourth. The junior went to the near side with 13 seconds left in the third for her first and took a pinpoint pass from Berggren with 7:29 on the clock in the fourth before beating Tagg again to the goalkeeper's right.
Carrega and Anna Illes would each score inside to pull the Golden Bears within two late. Stanford ended the scoring on a nearly identical play to the one that freed up Kat Klass for her second score. This time Katie Dudley was the beneficiary of Berggren's on-target feed with 2:56 to go to close it out, 12-9.
A Jordan Raney field block with 1:23 left sent a Cal shot up and over the cage and the Cardinal was able to run out the clock on its final couple of possessions.
Hermann made 11 saves, her most since stopping 13 in a victory over USC on Feb. 25. Cal was successful on just one of its seven power-play opportunities. Stanford converted at a 50-percent clip (3-6) in its 6-on-5 chances.
Wright put Cal up first with a goal as the shot clock was about to expire early in the opening frame. Makenzie Fischer evened it with a skip less than two minutes later. Stanford shut down the Bears' first 6-on-5 chance, but Brigit Mulder converted the second to momentarily push Cal in front, 2-1. Cassidy Wiley scored on lob for the Cardinal with less than 30 seconds to go in the first quarter and it was 2-2 after one.
Dora Antal would score Cal's next two goals before the Cardinal began its second-quarter charge.
No. 2 Stanford vs. No. 3 California
April 28, 2018 • Berkeley, Calif.
CAL 2 – 3 – 2 – 2 = 9
STAN 2 – 4 – 4 – 2 = 12
Cal Goals: Emma Wright 3, Dora Antal 2, Anna Illes 2, Carla Carrega, Brigit Mulder
Cal Saves: Madison Tagg 8
Stanford Goals: Makenzie Fischer 5, Kat Klass 2, Madison Berggren, Katie Dudley, Aria Fischer, Jordan Raney, Cassidy Wiley
Stanford Saves: Julia Hermann 11
