BERKELEY, Calif. – In a wild back-and-forth affair between two of the nation's top men's water polo programs, No. 3 Stanford captured a 12-11 overtime victory over No. 4 California Saturday in the Big Splash at Spieker Aquatics Complex. The win, coupled with a UCLA loss, secured Stanford's second consecutive Mountain Pacific Sports Federation regular-season championship.
Say hello to your ??2???? @MPSFMensWP regular-season champions. #GoStanford pic.twitter.com/tEiUuZlY28
— Stanford Water Polo (@StanfordMWP) November 11, 2018
Neither team led by more than one goal during regulation. A Bennett Williams score with 1:51 remaining in the second overtime period gave the Cardinal the elusive two-goal advantage and proved to be the difference. Cal's Safek Simsek scored on other end to cut it to one and the Golden Bears took over possession with six seconds remaining for one final shot at an equalizer. With time expiring, Cal leading scorer Johnny Hooper lobbed one final attempt towards the cage. The ball ricocheted off the top bar and out, igniting a huge celebration for the Cardinal.
With the win, Stanford completed the regular season 18-2 overall and 2-1 in the MPSF. The record is tied with USC, but the Cardinal secured the No. 1 seed in next week's MPSF Championships by virtue of its 13-11 victory over the Trojans on The Farm on Oct. 6.
Stanford nearly won Saturday's Big Splash in regulation, after the Cardinal took over possession on a Golden Bear offensive foul with nine seconds remaining in a 9-9 tie. Sophomore two-meter standout Ben Hallock received a pass and tried to re-direct it into the goal as time expired. California goalie Bernardo Carelli, however, came up with a big stop from close range to send the game to overtime.
It didn't take Hallock and the Cardinal long to pull back ahead in the extra session. Less than a minute into overtime, the sophomore took a feed and made a spectacular acrobatic shot with his left hand to rattle the cage for the Cardinal.
.@ben_hallock with the left hand.
— Stanford Water Polo (@StanfordMWP) November 10, 2018
??: 10
??: 9#GoStanford pic.twitter.com/g3M3tw3Puj
Cal's Vassilis Tzavaras tied it back up moments later, but the Cardinal responded with back-to-back goals that proved to be the difference. Sophomore Tyler Abramson scored from four meters out for his fourth goal of the game as Stanford went back up one.
Stanford then found itself with a two-man advantage after a pair of exclusions by Cal. Williams got free in front of the cage and skipped a shot under the out-stretched arms of the defense to put the Cardinal up 12-10 with 1:51 to go.
2OT 1:51 | @ben__ben_will capitalizes on the two-man advantage as the junior puts it home to give the Cardinal a two-score lead.
— Stanford Water Polo (@StanfordMWP) November 10, 2018
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??: 10#GoStanford pic.twitter.com/StfTTQnUJC
The Cardinal then held the Bears off in the final seconds for the win. Abramson and Williams each had four scores, while Hallock posted a pair of goals and Blake Parrish and Marco Stanchi each recorded a score in the victory.
Cardinal goalie Oliver Lewis had another strong game with 12 stops.
With the No. 1 seed, Stanford now turns its attention to the MPSF Championships. The Cardinal earned a bye into Saturday's semifinal round, where it will face either UCLA, Austin College or Penn State Behrend at 3 p.m. at USC's Uytengsu Aquatics Center.