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Bears Thrash Stanford For Second Straight Week

by calbears.com
Apr 27, 2024

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – For the second time in eight days, the No. 3 California women's water polo team claimed its largest win ever over No. 4 Stanford, dominating from the outset in a 10-4 MPSF Semifinal blowout Saturday at Counsilman-Billingsley Aquatic Center.

The Golden Bears (17-5) advance to the final for the first time since they won the 2011 MPSF Championship.

"We wanted to get after it right away," Cal head coach Coralie Simmons said. "A good start always allows us to get our momentum, sustain it and find a streamline for the rest of the game, and we were able to accomplish that."

Goalkeeper Isabel Williams finished with 10 saves and two steals as the Bears' nation-leading defense held an opponent to five goals or fewer for the eighth time this season. The Cardinal (17-6) scored under five goals for the first time since May of 2018.

"Someone like [Williams] in the last line of defense makes our defense look easy sometimes," said Simmons. "She really locks things down for us on the communicative side as well. Her being a leader in sustaining our ability to do what we want to do in our defense really allows us to do everything else in the pool."

It didn't take long for the Bears to prove that last Friday's 11-6 victory at Stanford – which went down as Cal's first five-goal win in the rivalry since 1997 – was no fluke. First-quarter goals by Rozanne Voorvelt and Maryn Dempsey got the Bears out to a 2-0 start.

While Cal's defense maintained a shut out until the final minute of the opening half, its fluid offensive attack moved the ball around well for three more goals. Williams helped force a penalty miss for the seventh time in six games, but the Cardinal finally got on the board with 36 seconds to go before halftime. The Bears came right back with more gorgeous ball movement, moving it inside and out before finding Maryn Dempsey for her second goal with three seconds left on the clock, making it 6-1 at the break.

Cal kept it going in the third, with early goals by Elena Flynn and Feline Voordouw putting the No. 2 seed Bears ahead 8-1. Jessie Rose and Abbi Magee capped things off with a pair of dagger goals from the outside in the fourth quarter.

The Bears will move on to face undefeated No. 1 UCLA (21-0) – which earned its own 10-4 win Saturday over USC – in the championship game tomorrow at 10:30 a.m. PT. The Bears' won their lone MPSF Championship when they defeated the Bruins 7-6 in the 2011 final. In their only meeting of this season exactly two weeks ago, Cal was narrowly beaten by UCLA by the same score in a nail-biter that went down to the final shot.

No. 3 California 10, No. 4 Stanford 4
Cal 2 4 2 2 – 10
Stan 0 1 2 1 – 4
Cal Goals: Maryn Dempsey 2, Elena Flynn 2, Rozanne Voorvelt 2, Feline Voordouw 2, Jessie Rose, Abbi Magee
Stan Goals: Sophie Wallace 3, Sophia Sanders
Cal Saves: Isabel Williams 10
Stan Saves: Maya Avital 7

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For further coverage of Cal women's water polo, follow the Bears on Twitter (@CalWWPolo), Instagram (@calwwpolo) and Facebook (CalWomensWaterPolo).

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