Cagan Stadium was loud on Saturday afternoon as No. 14 Stanford (13-5-1, 7-3-1 Pac-12) defeated Bay Area rival Cal (8-8-3, 4-7-1 Pac-12) 3-1 in regular time. The back-and-forth match featured strong plays on both sides of the field and had the potential to have gone either way. 

The match started off with a big save by redshirt junior goalkeeper Katie Meyer in the fourth minute, preventing Cal from taking an early lead. Senior forward Madison Haley made her last appearance memorable as she won the team a free kick in the 17th minute, nearly scored and earned a corner in the 19th minute and finally provided the opening goal for the Cardinal in the 21st minute. 

Haley was back, in what appeared to be perfect health, putting in 65 minutes for the team. The goal marked her second of the season. The score remained at 1-0 heading into halftime. 

Soon after halftime, in the 57th minute, graduate student defender Jojo Harber made it 2-0 for the home team. It was Harber’s fourth goal of the season. Despite the momentum being in Stanford’s favor, and the roar of the home crowd, Cal clawed back in the 61st minute with a goal coming from sophomore forward Anysa Gray. 

As the second half carried on, the game became more physical. However, Stanford held strong, and in the 85th minute, junior midfielder Maya Doms scored her 11th goal of the season to make the score 3-1. 

Honored seniors at the match included fifth year midfielder Belle Briede, Harber, Haley, Meyer, senior defender Naomi Girma, redshirt junior midfielder Sierra Enge and senior forward Abby Greubel, along with 2020-21 redshirt sophomore midfielder Bianca Caetano-Ferrara and redshirt junior forward Civana Kuhlmann. Caetano-Ferrara and Kuhlmann are not rostered this year due to medical retirements, but were honored due to their membership on the team during previous years.

The Cardinal won 3-1 at the final whistle, a fairytale ending for the honored seniors. Stanford will now wait to see its NCAA Tournament fate when the selection show happens on Monday.