STANFORD, Calif. – Jackson Painter scored four goals, Ethan Parrish and Riley Pittman added two apiece and No. 3 Stanford held on for a 9-8 victory over No. 2 California at Avery Aquatic Center on Saturday afternoon.
The Cardinal was up 7-4 heading into the final quarter and went up by four on two occasions in the final period. Stanford led 9-5 with 6:21 to go when Painter converted a penalty, but the Golden Bears regrouped and reeled off three consecutive scores to set up the tense final moments.
With 58 seconds remaining, Cal's Max Casabella scored on a penalty to cut the Cardinal edge to one, 9-8. Painter's shot on the other end was blocked by Casabella and Cal had a chance to tie it with under 30 seconds to go. The ball was dumped inside to Casabella, who was swarmed by a pair of Cardinal defenders in front of the goal and lost the ball when Griffen Price came out of the cage to knock it away and draw an exclusion with 22 ticks on the clock.
Stanford called its final timeout and milked the rest of the time to secure the win, its second over a top-3 team in as many weekends. Last Saturday, the Cardinal beat then-No. 3 USC, 14-13, in overtime.
Griffen Price was masterful in the cage and totaled 10 saves, including a point-blank attempt from Casabella as time ran out in the third quarter.
Stanford never trailed and the game was tie just once, 4-4, when Cal's Garrett Dunn scored in the 6-on-5 with 1:56 to go in the second quarter.
Three of Painter's four goals came in that second frame, at 7:27 and 6:33, and then again to break the tie on the power play with 1:37 until halftime.
Stanford returns to action on Thursday, Oct. 19 at 7 p.m. when it hosts No. 8 Long Beach State at Avery Aquatic Center.
