Courtesy: Stanford Athletics
STANFORD, Calif. – The No. 3 Cardinal came storming back from a second-half deficit this afternoon, erasing a 10-6 lead by No. 4 California to win 15-12 in the third place game of the MPSF tournament. Botond Balogh carried the Cardinal offense, scoring seven times in the win.
“We did a good job settling down and I think the big thing was our 5-on-6 [defense] in the second half was phenomenal,” said Dunlevie Family director of men’s water polo Brian Flacks. “Our 5-on-6 was our backbone all year, and we did a great job getting stops and then cleaning up our offense and putting some big goals in in big moments.”
California took the early lead at 2-0, but a pair of penalties from Balogh briefly tied the game. A pair of Bear goals in the final minute sent the Card into the first break trailing 4-2.
Two minutes into the second, California had pushed the lead to 7-3. Balogh’s fourth goal of the contest, and Ben Forer’s first, brought it back to a two-score game at 7-5. The Bears were able to answer and push the lead back to three at 8-5.
Balogh’s fifth goal cut it to two again at 8-6, which would take the rivals to halftime.
In the third, California would push the lead to 10-6 before the Card ripped off four unanswered goals to level it at 10 goals each with 3:10 left in the period. Then with just over a minute to go in the third, Chase McFarland found the back of the net on a 6-on-5 to put Stanford ahead 11-10 through three.
The Card offense kept going early in the fourth, with Balogh scoring his seventh and Forer his third to push the lead to three at 14-11 halfway through the period. The Bears scored with three minutes left to cut it to two goals, but the Stanford defense held from there to finish 15-12.
The Cardinal moves to a perfect 3-0 against the Bears this season, and 6-1 over the last two seasons with a pair of Big Splash wins.
Stanford will learn its postseason fate tomorrow, with the NCAA Championship selection show airing at 9:00 a.m. PT on NCAA.com. If the Cardinal secures an at-large bid to the eight-team tournament, the first round will Friday, Dec. 5.
Avery Aquatic Center is hosting the NCAA Championship for the second year in a row, with more information and tickets available here.
No. 3 Stanford vs. No. 4 California
CAL 4 – 4 – 2 – 2 = 12
STAN 2 – 4 – 5 – 4 = 15
STAN Goals: B. Balogh (7), B. Forer (3), C. McFarland (2), G. Di Martire, A. Gheorghe, D. Mnatsakanian
CAL Goals: B. Akhvlediani (5), A. Ponferrada (3), T. Perrone (2), R. Hagan, M. Arlett
Courtesy: Cal Athletics
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.
