STANFORD – For the second time in three weeks, the No. 4 Cal women's water polo team put together an inspired comeback bid against No. 1 Stanford only to come up short in an 11-9 setback during the semifinals of the 2019 MPSF Championships on Saturday at Avery Aquatic Center.

Cal (16-7) fell behind 10-3 with 5:33 left in the third quarter but outscored the Cardinal 6-1 the rest of the way despite playing without top scorers Brigit Mulder and Kitty Lynn Joustra, who each fouled out earlier in the third.

On April 13 at Spieker Aquatic Complex, the Bears also fell behind 10-3 and stormed back only to fall 13-12.

"We obviously didn't start well," Cal head coach Coralie Simmons said. "Unfortunately, by the time we settled in on defense, we didn't have some of our top guns in the game. We were forced to play in some rotations we haven't played in a while."

Joustra, a 2018 ACWPC All-American Honorable Mention, was named to the All-MPSF Second Team on Tuesday and is third on the Bears with 27 goals. Mulder is second on the team with 34 goals and earned All-MPSF Honorable Mention.

Junior Emma Wright, Cal's leading scorer and an All-MPSF First Team pick, picked up her second exclusion early in the second quarter but still played the rest of the way and finished with three goals, all in the second half. Sophomore Elli Protopapas added a pair of scores.

After freshman Carla Traplin and Protopapas scored to cut the deficit to 10-5 with 3:11 left in the third, Stanford's Ryann Neushul converted to push the advantage back to six. That was the Cardinal's last goal, as the Bears scored four in a row to close it out.

It was a physical game that featured 31 exclusions and a slew of offensive fouls.

"We continue to prove to the nation that we don't quit," Simmons said. "It's a long season and that's eventually hopefully going to pay off for us."

Senior goalie Madison Tagg made seven saves for the Bears. With 453 now in her career, she now needs just nine more to move into sixth place on Cal's all-time list.

Wright now has 148 career goals and has moved into 10^th place on Cal's all-time scoring list.

Cal will play in the Third Place Game of the MPSF Championships against No. 3 UCLA on Sunday at 1 p.m. The game will air on the Pac-12 Networks. The Bears and Bruins split their two regular season matchups with each game being decided by two goals or less.

"We usually respond well to games like this," Simmons said. "I think we'll give UCLA a good run. We need to continue to find where our endpoint is in terms of potential. We haven't cracked a dozen eggs yet. We need to crack them all."
 
 
 
No. 1 Stanford 11, No. 4 Cal 9
Cal 1 1 3 4 – 9
Stan 4 5 2 0 – 11
Cal Goals: Emma Wright 3, Elli Protopapas 2, Claire Sonne, Sarah Siepker, Carla Traplin, Hannah DeRose.
Stanford Goals: Ryann Neushul 4, Aria Fischer 3, Kat Klass 2, Kayla Constandse, Makenzie Fischer.
Cal Saves: Madison Tagg 7.
Stanford Saves: Emalia Eichelberger 6.