LOS ANGELES – No. 4 Stanford (8-3) split a pair of games at the Overnght MPSF Invitational on Saturday, defeating No. 4 Princeton (10-1) 11-6 to advance to a semifinal match against rival No. 1 California where the Golden Bears (12-0) outlasted the Cardinal 18-17 in quadruple overtime.
Redshirt freshman goalkeeper Griffen Price turned in a career game in the opener vs. the Tigers, making 14 saves and adding four steals to compile a 70% save percentage.
Ethan Parrish led all players with three goals on five shots for the Cardinal, while also pitching in an assist.
Riley Pittman had three assists and one goal, while Jackson Painter totaled a pair of goals and one assist. Grant Watson also had two goals for the Cardinal.
Stanford led 3-2 after one quarter, but posted a 4-1 advantage in the second to put some distance between the two teams and take a 7-3 lead into halftime. The Cardinal closed the match by outscoring Princeton 3-1 in the fourth to punch a ticket into the semifinals.
Getting off to a stellar start against the two-time reigning national champions, Stanford outscored California 7-3 in the first quarter. Painter led the way with four goals in the opening stanza.
While Cal managed to win the second quarter 4-2, the Cardinal carried a 9-7 lead into halftime.
Coming out of the break, Stanford limited Cal to just one goal while scoring three of its own to stretch its advantage to four goals at 12-8 headed to the fourth.
The Cardinal scored the first goal of the fourth to make it 13-8, and led by the same margin at 14-9 with 6:23 to go, but California rattled off five straight goals – the last coming with two seconds remaining in regulation – to knot the tally at 14-14 and force overtime.
Cal scored the first goal of overtime to take it first lead of the day, but the two teams traded three goals in the first overtime period, and neither scored in the second overtime, as the game went to sudden-victory overtime. Cal won the opening sprint, but Tanner Pulice stole an errant pass out of a timeout to end the first possession. Stanford ultimately missed on its first possession and the two teams went back-and-forth down the pool, with neither able to find the back of the net through one period.
Now playing the second sudden-victory overtime period, California once again won the sprint and earned an exclusion on the ensuing possession. Taking advantage of the 6-on-5, the Golden Bears fed Albert Ponferrada for the game-winner to remain undefeated.
Including his four tallies in the first period, Painter finished the game with five goals and two assists. Pittman fired 10 shots in the setback, scoring four goals while also contributing three assists.
Going the distance against the Golden Bears, Price finished with 12 saves and two steals in goal.
The Cardinal will now play either USC or UCLA in the third-place game at 11:30 a.m. on Sunday.
