NCAA Men’s Water Polo: No. 2 Stanford Defeats No. 3 Cal In The Big Splash

STANFORD, Calif., November 22. CHAD Taylor recorded a career-high 12 saves to lead the second-ranked Stanford men's water polo team to a 5-3 victory over third-ranked California in The Big Splash on Saturday morning at the Avery Aquatic Center.

Throughout the game, Cal peppered Taylor with close-range shots, but the sophomore from Alamo made numerous remarkable saves against the Golden Bears.

After a scoreless first period, Cal scored the game's first goal at 6:14 of the second period on a Andrija Vasiljevic's 33rd goal of the year. Stanford then scored the game's next five goals. Peter Varellas tied the game at 1-1 at 5:57 of the second period, followed by goals at 4:16 by Sam Tyre, at 3:00 by Greg Crum and 22 seconds by Tony Azevedo.

Stanford's fifth straight goal was scored at 6:10 of the third period by Thomas Hopkins. Cal stopped Stanford's scoring streak at 5:04 on a goal by Greg Panawek.

Only one goal was scored by either team in the fourth period by Cal's Attila Banhidy with seven seconds remaining.

The victory increased Stanford's winning streak to eleven games. The Cardinal now is 19-3 overall while the Golden Bears fall to 19-6.

Stanford (19-3) 0-4-1-0 = 5
California (19-6) 0-1-1-1 = 3

Stanford Scorers:
Azevedo 1, Varellas 1, Tyre 1, Crum 1, Hopkins 1

California Scorers:
Vasiljevic 1, Panawek 1, Banhidy 1

Goalie Saves:
Taylor (S) 12
Kates (C) 3

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