Nov. 23, 2002

Berkeley, Calif. - The top two teams in the nation battled it out for 27 minutes and 55 seconds, until Stanford's Greg Crum netted the game winner with five seconds left to play, as the Cardinal (21-3, 7-2) defeated the Golden Bears (16-6, 5-4), 8-7, in the Big Splash at Spieker Aquatics Complex in Berkeley. With the victory, Stanford wins its first Heaston Trophy since its induction in 1999.

Junior All-American Attilah Banhidy gave the Bears a quick one-goal lead just 48 seconds into the game. But it wouldn't be long before the Cardinal tied it up just under a minute later on a 6-on-5 opportunity from Jeff Guyman. Stanford's Peter Hudnut and Cal's Todd Hylton traded goals as the two teams finished one period of action notched at two goals apiece.

The second period belonged to Stanford's leading scorer Tony Azevedo as he found the back of the net three times, outscoring the Bears team 3-2 in the period. Azevedo got things started at the 6:14 mark and Cal's Andrew Stoddard answered back at the 5:11 mark. Azevedo found the back of the net again with 2:00 minutes left in the half, on a 10 meter lob shot that passed over the outstretched arms of Bears' keeper Russell Bernstein. Junior Will Quist tied it up for the Bears on a power play goal and Azevedo gave the Cardinal a one-goal lead with just 16 seconds to play.

The third period saw very little scoring as the Cardinal outscored the Bears 2-1. Greg Panawek scored on a nice cross-court pass from Banhidy just 44 seconds into the half, tying the game at five. But Hudnut and Azevedo went on to notch two more scores while Cardinal goalie Nick Ellis tallied two of his five saves in the period. The Cardinal took the 7-5 lead into the final period.

The two teams entered the final period of action with extreme intensity as they battled back and forth in a defensive struggle. Stoddard scored his second goal of the game at the 5:22 mark to bring the Bears within one goal. Chris Lathrop took advantage of a 6-on-5 power play opportunity to tie the game at seven with 4:28 to play. The final four minutes and 23 seconds had the fans on the edge of their seats as both sides battled it out for the game's final score. Stanford's Crum would be the hero of the day as he skated his first goal of the game, and the game winner, past Bernstein with five seconds to play. One last-ditch attempt by the Bears, a Stanford steal at midpool, and the game was over, 8-7 Stanford.

Senior keeper Russell Bernstein tied his season high, collecting 12 saves in goal while Stanford's Nick Ellis grabbed five.

Six Cal seniors played their final home match of their Cal career in front of a raucous crowd at Spieker. Russell Bernstein, Todd Hylton, Chris Lathrop, Peter Conte, Andrew Stoddard and Rob Arroyo all were honored before the match.

The Bears return to action as the No. 3 seed in next weekend's MPSF tournament (Nov. 29-Dec. 1). Cal will face the No. 6 seed UC Irvine on Friday Nov. 29 at 2:30 p.m. at the U.S. Water Polo National Training Center in Los Alamitos.

Game Summary:

Team	       1       2      3       4	      Total
Stanford       2       3      2       1	          8
California     2       2      1       2	          7

Stanford Scoring: Tony Azevedo 4, Peter Hudnut 2, Jeff Guyman 1, Greg Crum 1
California Scoring: Andrew Stoddard 2, Attilah Banhidy 1, Todd Hylton 1, Will Quist 1, Chris Lathrop 1, Greg Panawek 1
Goalie Saves: Nick Ellis (Stan) 5; Russell Bernstein (Cal) 12.