BERKELEY. – The No. 4 California men's water polo team led by as many as four goals in the third-place game of the MPSF Championship but ultimately fell to host No. 3 Stanford 15-12.
 
After notching a hat trick in yesterday's match against No. 1 UCLA, freshman Beso Akhvlediani followed that up by leading the Golden Bears again in scoring today with five goals. Senior Albert Ponferrada collected a hat trick of his own netting three and freshman Tomas Perrone added a pair. Senior Nik Mirkovic led Cal with four assists and earned two field blocks.
 
Cal jumped out to an early lead with Maddox Arlett scoring a goal on the first possession of the game and Akhvlediani netting his first goal two possessions later. A 5-1 run that started at the end of the first quarter and stretched till early in the second saw the Bears take a 7-3 lead.
 
The Bears led by four again at 10-6 early in the second half but the Cardinal mounted a comeback going a 5-0 run to end the third quarter up 11-10. Akhvlediani added two more goals in the fourth quarter, but it wasn't enough as Stanford clinched third place by outscoring Cal 4-2 in the period.
 
Aran Pina earned seven saves for the Bears.
 
The Bears will now await tomorrow's NCAA selection show to see if their season will continue. The show is scheduled for 9 a.m. PT on NCAA.com.