BERKELEY, Calif. – The No. 1 Cardinal dropped just its second game of the season this afternoon, falling 12-8 to No. 4 California in Berkeley. The loss puts Stanford at 2-1 in MPSF play this season, and 13-2 overall.
Stanford fell behind early, trailing the Bears 2-0 before the Card’s first goal. Ben Forer put Stanford on the board – converting a penalty with just 42 seconds left to make it a 2-1 game. The Bears scored one more just before the break to make it a 3-1 deficit heading into the second.
Botond Balogh scored on another penalty to start the second, after Alex Gheorghe drew it to make it a 3-2 game. California again was able to answer, ripping off a three-goal run to make it a 6-2 lead. Gavin West scored with 2:41 to go in the period to snap the streak and make it a 6-3 game at halftime.
California struck first in the second half to make it 7-3. Chatzis scored with under a minute to go in the period, cutting it to 7-4, but Cal scored on the next possession to make it 8-4 heading into the fourth.
Guido Leonardi struck first in the fourth, cutting the lead to three at 8-5 with 6:39 to play. Again the Bears were able to answer, scoring to make it 9-5.
Forer and Chatzis would each score their second goal of the game in the final minute, but California’s four fourth-quarter goals put the game out of reach.
The Cardinal will look to bounce back with a pair of road games next weekend, heading south to take on No. 10 Long Beach State on Friday. Stanford continues on to play at No. 8 UC San Diego on Sunday.
Stanford Goals: B. Forer (2), D. Chatzis (2), B. Balogh, G. West, G. Leonardi