BERKELEY, Calif. - No. 2 Stanford received goals from eight different players and a tremendous defensive effort from Maya Avital, fueling a 16-9 victory over No. 6 California on Saturday afternoon to close out the regular season.
Ryann Neushul scored a game-high four goals while Jewel Roemer added three as Stanford (18-1, 5-1 MPSF) clinched the No. 2 seed in next weekend's MPSF Championship.
The Cardinal, which has won 13 of the last 14 meetings in the rivalry series dating back to 2018, also defeated the Golden Bears for the fourth time in a season for the first time since 2014. Stanford defeated California 9-6 on Jan. 29 at the Cal Cup in Berkeley, recorded a 14-8 win on Feb. 5 at the Stanford Invitational and posted an 11-6 neutral-site victory on Feb. 25 at the Barbara Kalbus Invitational.
Stanford's defense was opportunistic and made several clutch plays, led by Avital's career-high 17 saves. Recording at least 10 saves for the sixth time this season, Avital delivered another strong performance against California and has now made 53 saves over four games in 2023 against the Golden Bears.
Aria Fischer, Jenna Flynn and Sophie Wallace also produced multi-goal performances for the Cardinal.
Leading 5-3 at halftime, Stanford outscored California (17-8, 3-3 MPSF) 11-6 in the second half, highlighted by a seven-goal outburst in the third period.
Lexi Rowell's goal with 4:45 remaining in the third quarter accounted for Stanford's 10th goal.
Leading 12-8 entering the third period, Neushul and Fischer put the game out of reach with goals over the first two minutes.
Stanford next faces San Jose State on Friday, April 28, at 11 a.m. in the opening round of the MPSF Championship, with the Spartans also hosting the event.
Stanford Goals: Ryann Neushul (4), Jewel Roemer (3), Aria Fischer (2), Jenna Flynn (2), Sophie Wallace (2), Hannah Constandse (1), Skyler Jones (1), Lexi Rowell (1).