Dec. 8, 2002

Los Angeles, Calif. - A hat trick from junior Will Quist was not enough to overcome Cardinal sophomore Tony Azevedo's four goals, as the Bears dropped yet another one-goal match to Stanford in this afternoon's 2002 NCAA Men's Water Polo Championship game at the Burns Recreation Center on the campus of Loyola Marymount University.

This was the seventh time that the two squads have met in the NCAA title match, with Stanford now holding a 4-3 edge over the Bears. In this being the fifth contest of the year between the cross-bay rivals, the Cardinal also took the 3-2 edge with today's victory - all five matches decided by one goal.

Stanford got off to a quick start, riding the momentum of two quick scores from Peter Hudnut at 6:01 and 5:17 of the first period. Cal's Quist netted his first goal of the afternoon at the 3:11 mark, as he found the back of the net from the low post to cut the Stanford lead in half, 2-1.

The second period belonged to Stanford as Azevedo scored three of his four goals in the stanza. The sophomore MPSF Player of the Year scored off a Cal turnover at the 6:21 mark, before Cal's Andrew Stoddard and Quist would notch back-to-back scores to tie the match at three apiece. Stanford ensued to go on their own run, scoring three straight to double their lead, 6-3. Junior All-American Attila Banhidy blasted a shot from the point at the 1:16 mark to cut the Stanford lead to 6-4 going into the half.

The 6-4 score was how it would stand going into the final period of action, as neither team could muster a score in the defensive struggle. The third period saw a strong Cal defense contending against a Stanford offense that seemed content to just run the 35-second clock down with two-goal lead. The Bears spent most of the period in the Cardinal end, but could not find the back of the net.

As the fourth period started, once again Azevedo tallied a goal at the 5:48 mark, giving the Cardinal a seemingly insurmountable three-goal lead, 7-4. But the Bears bounced back, on Quist's third goal with 3:32 to play and Greg Panawek's first goal, cutting the Stanford lead to one with 1:46 to play. The Bears received the ball again after Stanford ran out the 35-second clock and looked poised to tie it up. In a game of inches, Banhidy ripped a shot from 10M with 1:01 to play, only to bounce of the post and give the Cardinal possession. The Bears had one last opportunity with 30 seconds to play, but an errant pass led to the turnover and Stanford swam its way to victory, 7-6.

"We're disappointed with the loss," said head coach Kirk Everist, who finished his first season with a 20-7 record. "We had a goal at the beginning of the year and that was to win a national championship. I tried to set the tone early on of never quitting and this team showed that today. We had a chance to tie it up with a minute and a half left to play and this team kept on fighting. I'm very, very proud of this team."

For their efforts, Cal's Attila Banhidy, who finished with four goals over the weekend, Andrew Stoddard and Chris Lathrop earned First Team All-Tournament honors. Will Quist, Greg Panawek and Russell Bernstein were named to the 2002 All-Tournament second team.

Complete tournament results can be found at www.lmulions.com or www.ncaasports.com.

GAME SUMMARY GOALS STAN - Tony Azevedo 4, Peter Hudnut 2, Thomas Hopkins 1. CAL - Will Quist 3, Andrew Stoddard 1, Attila Banhidy 1, Greg Panawek 1.

SAVES STAN - Ellis 7 CAL - Bernstein 6

BOX SCORE

	                           1     2     3     4     T
STAN (25-4)      2     4     0    1      7
CAL (20-7)        1      3     0    2      6