BERKELEY - The 2018 Big Splash featured plenty of back and forth action and needed overtime to decide a winner but the Cal men's water polo team couldn't overcome a two-goal deficit in the second extra period as the No. 4-ranked Bears fell 12-11 to No. 3 Stanford in the final regular season match of the season at Spieker Aquatics Complex.

Multiple lead changes throughout regulation showed just how closely matched Cal (16-5, 1-2 MPSF) and Stanford (18-2, 2-1) were and that razor-thin margin stayed consistent all the way to the end. The Cardinal got the final chance to avoid overtime but Cal goalkeeper Bernardo Carelli, who finished the game with 12 saves, was there to register the huge save and force extra time.

Stanford struck first in overtime but Vassilis Tzavaras knotted the score, connecting on a skip shot to tie the game at 10. The Cardinal found the net once more before the end of the first extra period and Cal trailed 11-10 entering the second OT. 

Another Stanford goal left the Bears down two with 1:50 left but eventually a man-up chance for Cal resulted in a goal from Safak Simsek and left the deficit at just one with 36 seconds left. After Stanford worked the clock to zero and Cal called time out with six seconds, Johnny Hooper's last second lob shot glanced off the crossbar to give the Cardinal the one-goal victory.

"I thought both teams came out a little jumpy at the beginning. It was a little erratic," head coach Kirk Everist said. "But, it was the standard game between two teams that are closely matched. It went back and forth and unfortunately for us, we kind of ran out of time there. I thought it was a pretty good look that Hooper got at the end. The execution was there. We were a little anxious at certain times and that was feeding their counterattack, especially early. Managing that is important in these big games. For the most part, we executed and played pretty good defense. There were some breakdowns but it was a hard fought game and somebody has to win and somebody has to lose." 

Saturday's game also marked the final home contest for Cal's three-man senior class and the trio of Hooper, Odysseas Masmanidis and Tzavaras did its part to keep Cal close. Hooper finished with one goal, three assists, three steals and two ejections earned while Masmanidis scored two goals and drew six ejections. Tzavaras scored a goal and added three assists and two steals. Simsek led Cal in the scoring category with four goals, Nikos Delagrammatikas scored twice and Spencer Farrar also found the net once.

Now Cal turns its attention to the MPSF Championships as the Bears will take the No. 3 seed into action next week. The tournament, hosted by USC, begins Friday with Cal playing either Austin College or Penn State Behrend at 1 p.m. The winner of that game will go on to play No. 2 seed USC on Saturday at 1 p.m.