LA JOLLA – The California women's water polo team exploded in the third period of play to shove its way ahead of top-seeded Stanford, building a five-goal lead that the Cardinal could not overcome as the Golden Bears emerged with a 13-11 win in the NCAA semifinals. The win over its rival propels Cal into the NCAA championship game for the third time in program history. The Bears will go in pursuit of their first national championship tomorrow against USC at 6 p.m. PT at Canvonview Aquatic Center in La Jolla.
Five different Bears scored in the third period to help turn a game that was tied 7-7 at halftime into a 12-7 Cal advantage. The Bears' 5-0 rally featured fierce work from Eszter Varró, who earned a 5-meter penalty that Rosalie Hassett deposited to spark the winning rally. Julianne Snyder continued her sniper work with the Bears' next blast on a savvy bar-in slider to make it 9-7. Then Varro earned a 6-on-5 and found Julia Bonaguidi for her third blast of the day. Varro later took matters into her own hands with a sweep shot for a lift to 11-7. Another Varró -produced power play saw Harper Price hit Abbi Magee for her fourth goal of the game, and Cal had pinned up five goals in under four minutes to storm ahead 12-7.
Stanford would follow with three straight goals spanning the third and fourth frames to make it a two-goal game with 6:13 to go. Bonaguidi came up with a takeaway at two meters next for the Bears, and then Maria Bogachenko rose up for a rocket that skipped through to net a 13-10 lead for Cal with 4:50 to go. The Bears worked the clock well in the remaining time, even after Stanford found an even score to make it 13-11 with 2:01 left. In fitting fashion, Feline Voordouw knocked down a late last look by the Cardinal, and the Bears had a huge victory in the books.
NCAA SEMIFINAL
Cal 13, Stanford 11
April 25, 2026 | Canyonview Aquatic Center (La Jolla, Calif.)
CAL 5 - 2 - 5 - 1 = 13
STAN 4 - 3 - 1 - 3 = 11
SCORING:
CAL – Abbi Magee 4, Julia Bonaguidi 3, Rosalie Hassett 2, Despoina Drakotou, Julianne Snyder, Eszter Varró, Maria Bogachenko.
STAN – Jenna Flynn 4, Sienna Green 2, Juliette Dhalluin 2, Ella Woodhead, Kamryn Barone, Lucy Haaland-Ford.
SAVES: Talia Fonseca (CAL) 2, Christine Carpenter (STAN) 3, Jackie King (STAN) 4.
NEXT: Cal will face USC in the 2026 National Collegiate Women's Water Polo Championship game tomorrow at 6 p.m. PT in La Jolla. The game will be televised on ESPNU.
NOTABLE:
- With a team-high four goals today, Abbi Magee continues to lead Cal in games scored in, now with at least one goal in 20 different games.
- With three goals today, Julia Bonaguidi now has scored 97 career goals at Cal.
- She now sits as Cal's top scorer this season with 47 goals.
- With two goals today, Rosalie Hassett has scored at least once in Cal's last seven games.
- With her goal today, Eszter Varró has scored at least once in Cal's last four games.
- Today's win marked Cal's first NCAA tournament victory over Stanford.
- The Bears last beat the Cardinal in a national championship even prior to NCAA's sponsorship, when Cal beat Stanford in the 1998 tourney semifinals.
- Cal moves into the NCAA final for the third time in program history, following second-place finishes in 2011 and 2024.
- Prior to NCAA sponsorship, Cal placed second in three straight collegiate national championships (1996-98).
ncbears said:
Alas, Cal missed several opportunities and falls to USC by one goal.
it was a gritty game. Giving up goals in the last 10 seconds of the first two periods was huge - although Cal did get a buzzer beating goal at the end of the third.
DiabloWags said:
With 29 seconds left in the third period, there was a wide-open cage as SC Goalie Reed came out to defend Holly Dunn.
Unfortunately, Dunn's shot hit the crossbar.
ncbears said:DiabloWags said:
With 29 seconds left in the third period, there was a wide-open cage as SC Goalie Reed came out to defend Holly Dunn.
Unfortunately, Dunn's shot hit the crossbar.
I exclaimed loudly when that happened, such that Mrs. NCBears came down to find out what I was screaming about.
The cross-bar was SC's friend (although arguably, shots hit the crossbar because the defense forces the shot to be aimed such that it hits crossbar and not go into the net)
A couple of SC's goals, I think, came off of tips by the defender that Fonseca could then not get to - essentially an "own goal"
juarezbear said:
Agreed. We had several hit off the crossbar and they didn't. The goalie won the game for SC, especially with the block on the penalty shot. Really disappointed for our coach and team. Fonseca played well.
