April 12, 2003

Berkeley, Calif. - The No. 5 California women's water polo team (12-7, 5-4, MPSF) battled the wind, rain and a powerful Stanford squad this afternoon, April 12, all adding up to an 8-2 Cardinal victory in the annual Big Splash at Spieker Aquatics Complex in Berkeley. The Bears fall to 12-7 overall and 5-4 in conference while No. 3 Stanford improves to 15-2, 7-1 in the MPSF.

It was an afternoon where the Bears couldn't find a rhythm on offense and the Cardinal took quick advantage, jumping out to a 1-0 lead at the 5:51 mark as junior Brenda Villa converted on a 4m penalty strike. Teammate Julie Gardner followed that up with a score of her own at the 1:52 mark, as she was heavily defended in front of the Cal net, but managed to slip a shot past her defender for the 2-0 lead.

In the second period neither team could get anything going offensively, and with time winding down each side utilized time outs to try and get something going. Cal earned a man-advantage situation at the 2:10 mark and immediately called a timeout to set things up. The ensuing play was scripted perfectly, but freshman Allison Gold hit the post on her shot attempt, giving the ball back to Stanford. The missed opportunity came back to haunt the Bears as junior Wendy Watkins found the back of the net on the next possession to put the Cardinal up 3-0 heading into the break.

The second half started much like the first, with Stanford recording three unanswered goals to take the 6-0 lead. One of the prettiest goals of the day happened to occur during this three-goal spurt, when Watkins issued a cross-crease pass to Villa for the one-timer from the left side. Watkins then connected with sophomore Hannah Luber for the second of the trio and freshman Scotti Shafer tallied the third with 1:43 left in the third period. California called a timeout with 43 seconds to play and this time the set offensive play worked. Approximately 16 seconds into the power play, Gold fired a shot from the right point that was knocked down by Stanford goalie Jackie Frank, but Lindy Spieker was there for the rebound to put the Bears on the board. The third period ended with a 6-1 Stanford lead.

In the fourth, the Cardinal tallied two more scores in the first 2:30 to take an 8-1 lead on Watkins second tally of the day and Villa's third. Cal responded with a goal at the 2:32 mark as freshman Lauren McGee lobbed the ball perfectly to Cara Chlebicki, who dropped it over the head of Frank for the score. That was all the scoring there would be as Stanford rolled to the 8-2 victory, supported by nine saves from Frank.

Cal concludes regular season play Saturday, April 19 in an MPSF matchup vs. Pacific at noon at Spieker Aquatics Complex in Berkeley.

#3 Stanford 8, #5 California 2

		1	2	3	4	Total
Stanford		2	1	3	2	8
Cal		0	0	1	1	2

Cal Goals: Lindy Spieker, Cara Chlebicki.
Cal Goalie Saves: Lauren Dennis 7

Stanford Goals: Brenda Villa 3, Wendy Watkins 2, Julie Gardner, Scotti Shafer, Hannah Luber.
Stanford Goalie Saves: Jackie Frank 9 (Amanda Matuk played the final 1:00)