BERKELEY – Seventh-ranked California rallied from an early four-goal deficit and nearly pulled off the upset of No. 1 USC before falling, 14-13, in the final moments of the regular season finale at Spieker Aquatics Complex on Saturday afternoon.
 
USC's Jake Ehrhardt scored the game-winner with 25 seconds remaining to break a 13-13 tie and push the Trojans' record to 13-4 (3-0 MPSF). Cal, which honored Bernardo Carelli, Jordan Hoover, Cade Kruse and Safak Simsek with a pregame Senior Day ceremony in front of a packed house, fell to 12-10 (0-3 MPSF).
 
A hot start by the Trojans put Cal in a three-goal hole at the end of the first quarter (4-1). The Bears trailed by as many as four goals, 7-3, with less than a minute left in the first half before Nikolaos Papanikolaou's first goal of the match brought them within three again.
 
The Bears' rally started in the third quarter as Hoover (twice), Simsek, Papanikolaou and Jake Stone all found the back of the net for five total goals. Garrett Dunn assisted Stone – who celebrated his birthday on Saturday – on a power-play goal with 55 seconds left in the frame to tie the match (9-9) and spark the Cal crowd. USC pulled back ahead, however, as Chris Sturtevant scored with 24 seconds on the clock.
 
A back-and-forth fourth period saw four lead changes between the familiar foes. After Marko Valecic tied it at 10-10 less than 30 seconds into the quarter, Papanikolaou followed him up to give Cal its first lead of the match at 6:18. The Trojans responded with two consecutive goals of their own, only to see Cal shift momentum back in its favor with goals by Miles O'Brien-Schridde and Hoover. The scores gave Cal a 13-12 advantage with 3:13 on the clock.
 
Cal mustered just two shots the rest of the way while USC knotted the contest, 13-13, at the 2:25 mark and then took the lead with Ehrhardt's goal in the final minute.
 
The hard-fought match featured 28 exclusions and three cards. Cal's two losses to USC this fall have been one-goal affairs.
 
NOTABLES

• Jordan Hoover excelled on Senior Day with three goals and three assists to lead the Bears.
• Garrett Dunn dished out a match-best four assists.
• Adrian Weinberg logged 12 saves and two steals in goal.
• Hoover (hat trick), Papanikolaou (hat trick), O'Brien-Schridde (two) and Stone (two) all had multi-goal efforts.
• Papanikolaou had a match-leading seven drawn exclusions.

NEXT TIME
Cal will host the MPSF Tournament at Spieker Aquatics Complex on Nov. 22-24. The Bears, slotted as the No. 4 seed, will face the tournament's fifth seed – the winner of Penn State Behrend and Austin College (9 a.m. Friday) – at 3 p.m. on Friday. Further details regarding the MPSF Tournament can be found at mpsports.org and CalBears.com.
 
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