April 3, 2004

STANFORD, Calif. - The California Golden Bears took No. 20 Stanford to the wire, but in the end the Cardinal proved to be too much, pulling away in overtime, 15-12, on Saturday at Stanford. The Bears' record moves to 6-6 on the season.

The two teams took center stage under the lights at in a rare West Coast night game and did not disappoint the loyal spectators. It was the second time the Bears took a ranked opponent to overtime this season; the first came on Feb. 27 in a 12-11 loss to No. 17 Notre Dame.

Cal got on the board first with a goal by senior Colleen O'Mara just 28 seconds into the game. Stanford answered with a score by Abbi Hills to tie the game at one just a minute later. The teams exchanged goals before back-to-back goals from Kelsey Twist and sophomore Cassie Harvey put the Cardinal up 4-2 with 14:58 remaining in the opening period. After a Cal goal from Julianne Wu, Claire Calzonetti kept Stanford ahead by two with a score at the 8:37 mark. The Bears stormed back with three unanswered goals in the final three minutes of the half to go into the break with a 6-5 lead.

The Bears continued where they left off in the second half, netting a goal at the 27:10 mark to increase their lead to 7-5. The Cardinal answered back with five straight scores, getting two scores each from Twist and Nina Pantano and one from Hills. Bach scored with 8:25 remaining in the contest to put Stanford ahead 11-8. Cal refused to go down, netting three straight goals in the final 4:41 to even the game at 11. Wu pulled the Bears even, scoring a goal with time running out to send the contest into overtime.

The Cardinal took control in overtime, scoring three straight goals in the first overtime period to take a commanding 14-11 lead. Sophomore Megan Burker assisted on the first two overtime scores, as the Cardinal went up on goals by Kim Cahill and Sarah Bach. Cal and Stanford traded goals in the second overtime period, as Twist capped the victory with an unassisted goal with just :10 remaining in the contest.

The Bears take next week off and resume action April 11 against Northwestern at Memorial Stadium.

Point Breakdown (goal-assist) Cal - Reifsnyder (1-0), Wu (4-1), Zilioli (3-0), Sokolow (0-1), Cavallo (1-2), Brady (1-0), O'Mara (2-3)

Stanford - Pantano (2-0), Hills (2-1), Calzoretta (2-0), Cahill (2-0), Barker (0-3), Bach (2-0), Twist (4-1), Harvey (1-0)