A goal by Pacific senior Matt Mitchell with 17 seconds left in the second overtime gave No. 7 Pacific their first win over the No. 5 Stanford men’s water polo team in six years. Saturday’s 11-10 loss was the Cardinal’s third consecutive defeat after starting the season 5-0.

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Freshman utility Janson Wigo winds in during the Cardinal’s first matchup with Pacific during last week’s NorCal Tournament. Stanford won that game 9-6, but the Tiger’s got their revenge, stunning the Cardinal 11-10 in double overtime on Saturday. #gallery http://daily.stanford.org/image/full/6194
Adrian Gaitan

Freshman utility Janson Wigo winds in during the Cardinal’s first matchup with Pacific during last week’s NorCal Tournament. Stanford won that game 9-6, but the Tiger’s got their revenge, stunning the Cardinal 11-10 in double overtime on Saturday.

Stanford started the game on the right foot, building a 3-0 lead on the strength of two goals by sophomore utility Will Hindle-Katel. Pacific answered, though, with its first goal by junior driver Duje Kaurloto. The Tigers again responded after a goal by junior Michael Bury, trimming their deficit back to two.

Bury opened the second quarter with his second goal, but Pacific closed out the half with two of its own, slowly creeping closer to the Cardinal at a 4-5 deficit.

Stanford hoped to open it up again in the third quarter, controlling play and notching goals from senior captain J.J. Garton and sophomore Andrew Drake. But the Tigers then launched a 3-1 rally, with freshman Drac Wigo scoring the only Cardinal goal, to end the quarter down only 7-8.

The fourth quarter didn’t open any more promisingly for the Cardinal with Pacific’s Dragan Bakic completing a hat trick, and tying the match for the first time. Drac’s brother, freshman utility Janson Wigo, scored to regain the lead for Stanford, but Bakic once again carried Pacific with a game-tying fourth goal. Janson Wigo stepped up at crunch time, giving Stanford a one-goal lead with 1:32 left in the game.

Unfortunately, the Cardinal couldn’t hang on. They gave up a penalty to the Tigers, who took advantage of the 6-5 man-up situation, forcing overtime with a goal in the last nine seconds.

Neither team scored in the first extra three-minute session, and during the second, another penalty was called on the Cardinal. The Tigers then set up Mitchell for his only goal of the game, to put Pacific in the lead with less than 17 seconds remaining. Stanford’s last-gasp attempt was blocked by Pacific goalie Brian Domecus.

As when it lost to top-ranked Cal in last week’s NorCal Tournament, holding the lead proved difficult for the Cardinal on Saturday. Junior goalie Sandy Hohener notched 10 saves, but Stanford’s overall defense wasn’t effective enough to hold onto the win.

The Cardinal have a chance this week to redeem a recent loss, and end their losing streak, when they travel to Pasadena, Calif. for a match against UCLA, Sept. 30.