April 20, 2012
Box Score
BERKELEY -
A goal in the last-minute upended California, 9-8, in the Big Draw against Stanford on a sunny Friday evening at Witter Rugby Field. With the match knotted at 8-8 for seven minutes and 21 seconds, Emilie Boeri scored the winning goal for Stanford with just 24 seconds left in the game. The Golden Bears' record fell to 8-7 (4-3 in the MPSF), while the Cardinal improved to 6-9 (4-2 MPSF).
Cal honored its four seniors - Emily Abbood, Tara Arolla, Tori Harrison and Vail Horn - prior to the match, their last regular-season game in Berkeley.
"They're an incredible group of seniors," Cal head coach Ginger Miles said. "All four of them. They're all captains this year. They've just done an extraordinary job leading this team through thick and thin. Obviously it's a transition year. It's had its bumps along the way. But they've always been that group that's kept us together, kept us motivated, kept us focused, kept us pushing towards our goals.
"Even though it's only been one year, it's seems like it's been four. I'm so fortunate to have had the opportunity to coach them. I know they're all going to go on and do great things with their lives."
The Bears could host one more game at Witter Rugby Field this season - if they win the MPSF Tournament that runs April 27-29 in Stanford, Calif. The conference tournament champion hosts an NCAA Tournament play-in game on May 5 against the Patriot League Tournament champ.
Against the Cardinal, Paige Gasparino led Cal in goals with a game-high tying three. Emilie Boeri scored three for Stanford.
Also for the Bears, Horn scored two goals, junior attacker Alexa Rozelle scored once, junior attacker Melissa Humphrey scored once and sophomore midfielder Amelia Burke scored once. Sophomore goalkeeper Megan McGinnis made 10 saves.
The Bears next play in the MPSF Tournament semifinals on April 27, along with host Stanford, Denver and Oregon. As the No. 4 seed in the four-team tournament, Cal will play the top seed as determined by the winner of the Denver-Oregon game set for Saturday at 1 p.m. in Eugene, Ore.
