STANFORD, Calif. – Ryann Neushul scored four goals for the second consecutive game and No. 1 Stanford advanced to its 16th MPSF Championship final with an 11-9 victory over No. 4 Cal on Saturday afternoon.
The Cardinal will meet No. 2 USC in tomorrow's championship at 3 p.m., with the winner likely securing the top seed for the NCAA Tournament at Avery Aquatic Center in two weeks. Stanford (20-1) and the Trojans (25-1) split their two regular-season meetings. The two schools have won the past nine NCAA titles. Tomorrow's game will be carried live on the Pac-12 Network with Greg Mescall and Adam Krikorian on the call.
Saturday's semifinal was eerily similar to Stanford's 13-12 win over the Bears in Berkeley two weeks ago. The Cardinal was up 9-2 at the half and withstood a furious Cal rally in the fourth quarter to give itself an opportunity to win conference tournament title No. 6 on Sunday.
On April 13 at Cal, Stanford went up by as many as seven late in the first half was still up five after three quarters. The Cardinal slowly saw its lead dwindle to one late in the game, but was also able to hold on for that victory.
At home on Saturday, Stanford scored the game's first three, two from Kat Klass and one from Neushul, to take an early edge. Cal's Sarah Siepker rattled the cage with 3:14 to go in the first and then the Cardinal scored five straight over the 8:44 to go up 8-1 on an Aria Fischer strike at 2:30 in the second quarter.
Claire Sonne scored in the 6-on-5 with 85 seconds to go until intermission for the Golden Bears, but Neushul answered the next time down the pool to again push the advantage to seven.
Stanford's freshman, who also scored four in the regular-season finale against San Jose State last weekend, put in her four in the semifinal on just four shots. While not a perfect 100 percent, the Cardinal was solidly efficient on its power plays, scoring six times in 12 man-up situations.
Neushul again stretched the lead to seven, 10-3, on a power-play goal with 5:33 to go in the third before Cal began its late surge. Carla Traplin (4:00) and Elli Protopapas (3:11) made it 10-5 and Kayla Constandse scored Stanford's last just prior to the end of the period in another 6-on-5.
Cal scored three times in the first half of the fourth quarter to pull to within three, 11-8, but wouldn't get any closer until Emma Wright put one in with under 30 seconds remaining.
It was difficult for either side to get into much of a flow. The two teams combined for 31 exclusions and 22 offensive fouls. Five players – three on Stanford and two on Cal – had their afternoons end early after collecting three major fouls.
Stanford is 36-36 all-time against the Trojans (records since 1997). USC won 10-8 in the championship of the Barbara Kalbus Invitational on February 24 and Stanford won in overtime, 9-8, to snap the Trojans' 36-game winning streak on March 30 in Los Angeles.
No. 1 Stanford vs. No. 4 California
April 27, 2019 • Stanford, Calif.
CAL 1 – 1 – 3 – 4 = 9
STAN 4 – 5 – 2 – 0 = 11
California Goals: Emma Wright 3, Elli Protopapas 2, Hannah DeRose 1, Sarah Siepker 1, Claire Sonne 1, Carla Traplin 1
California Saves: Madison Tagg 7
Stanford Goals: Ryann Neushul 4, Aria Fischer 3, Kat Klass 2, Kayla Constandse 1, Makenzie Fischer 1
Stanford Saves: Emalia Eichelberger 6
