STANFORD – The No. 7 California men's water polo team concluded its 2024 regular season with the Big Splash at No. 3 Stanford on Friday night, falling to the Cardinal 16-11.

Marci Szatmary led all players with three goals for his second hat trick of the year, scoring twice in the third quarter. Senior Jake Howerton added two goals and an assist of his own.

Center George Avakian increased his MPSF-leading earned exclusion total, drawing five more exclusions to go with a goal early in the fourth quarter. Goalkeeper Max LaGrange finished with seven saves.

The Golden Bears (11-11, 1-5) matched the Cardinal (19-3, 4-2) in the early going, getting the game's opening goal from Howerton roughly two minutes in. Szatmary set up Alex Oprea for a goal, Blake Hoover dished an assist to Szatmary for his first strike of the day, and Nik Mirkovic converted a 6-on-5 to give the Bears a 4-3 first-quarter lead.

Goals by Albert Ponferrada and Wyatt Mundelius would keep Cal close for a few minutes, but Stanford won the second period 5-2 to take a 9-6 lead into the break.

Max Casabella tucked away his lone goal of the game early in the third to make it 9-7, but that would be the closest the Bears were the rest of the way. Casabella also tallied two assists and a steal. Ponferrada matched him for team-high honors with two assists of his own.

With the regular season in the books, Cal will look ahead to next weekend's MPSF Championships hosted by UCLA. The Bears take on Augustana in the quarterfinals on Friday, Nov. 22 at 3:30 p.m. PT at Spieker Aquatics Center in Los Angeles.

No. 3 Stanford 16, No. 7 California 11
Cal 4 2 3 2 – 11
Stan 4 5 5 2 – 16
Cal Goals: Szatmary 3, Howerton 2, Mundelius, Ponferrada, Casabella, Oprea, Mirkovic, Avakian
Stan Goals: D. McFarland 2, Pittman 2, Gheorghe 2, Balogh 2, Painter 2, Schneider 2, C. McFarland, Indart, Parrish, Jensen
Cal Saves: Max LaGrange 7
Stan Saves: West Temkin 9

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