STANFORD – A shorthanded No. 2 California men's water polo team made a late run to pull within one goal in the final minute of Saturday afternoon's Big Splash clash at No. 3 Stanford, but the comeback came up just short, resulting in a 9-8 defeat at Avery Aquatic Center.

The Golden Bears – who were without star center Nikolaos Papanikolaou for the third straight game – are now 13-3 overall this season and 2-2 in MPSF play. The Cardinal improves to 11-5 overall and 2-2 in the conference.

Cal trailed 9-5 with less than five minutes to go, but began a furious rally with two goals being rocketed in from the outside by junior All-American Roberto Valera. With 59 seconds on the clock, Albert Ponferrada drew a penalty and Max Casabella fired it in from five meters to cut the deficit to one.

After getting a big defensive stop on a Casabella field block, the Bears found themselves with a chance to tie the game. However, they weren't able to get a good look on their final possession and Stanford played keepaway until the final buzzer.

The fourth-quarter run was the second 3-0 spurt of the day for Cal. Stanford had jumped out to 4-1 lead in the second period before Jake Howerton and Nik Mirkovic scored on back-to-back plays. Garrett Dunn tied it 4-4 with a goal from the right side on a power play. The Cardinal retook the lead with a goal before halftime and held it the rest of the way.

Valera finished with a team-high three goals, notching his seventh hat trick of the season. Goalkeeper Adrian Weinberg registered six saves and three steals as the Bear defense held its opponent to single digits for the 12th time in 16 games this year.

Cal will be back in Berkeley next week to play five home games in the span of three days, starting with a doubleheader against Fordham and West Valley on Thursday, Oct. 19.

 

No. 3 Stanford 9, No. 2 California 8
Cal 1 3 0 4 – 8
Stan 2 3 2 2 – 9
Cal Goals: Roberto Valera 3, Garrett Dunn, Jake Howerton, Max Casabella, Nik Mirkovic, George Avakian
Stan Goals: Jackson Painter 4, Riley Pittman 2, Ethan Parrish 2, Tanner Pulice
Cal Saves: Adrian Weinberg 6
Stan Saves: Griffen Price 10

The Bears cut it to 1 in the final minutes! pic.twitter.com/rxwWmPV3xg

— Cal Water Polo (@CalWaterPolo) October 14, 2023

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