BERKELEY – California ended its 2011 season with a 3-0 loss to Pac-12 rival Stanford on a rainy Friday afternoon at Edwards Stadium. The Golden Bears wound up the year with a 3-9-5 record (0-7-3 in the Pac-12), while Stanford improved its final record to 6-10-2 (3-6-1 Pac-12).

 

“We’re just going to build on the positives,” said Cal junior defender and co-captain Steve Birnbaum. “It was a big year for the freshmen, who next season will have a year under their belts. Next year we’ll be more experienced and have seven seniors, kind of like last year, and we’ll move forward from there.”

 

Garrett Gunther scored Stanford’s first goal at 10:25. The senior fired a shot that Cal redshirt freshman goalkeeper Kevin Peach saved. Gunther pounced on the rebound and slotted the ball into the net to give the Cardinal a 1-0 lead.

 

At 43:56, forward Bobby Edwards crossed into the Cal box. Forward Zach Batteer ran onto the ball and scored from close range to make the score 2-0.

 

Stanford took the 2-0 lead into halftime, when it held an 11-2 shot advantage over the Bears.

 

Cal outshot Stanford, 9-8, in the second half but couldn’t get past goalie Drew Hutchins, who made three saves to blank the Bears.

 

At 61:20, after a Cal foul in the penalty area, Adam Jahn converted the ensuing penalty kick to give Stanford the 3-0 lead.

 

Cal outshot the Cardinal, 9-3, the rest of the way but could not score and wound up losing, 3-0.

 

Junior forward Kyle Lunt and freshman forward Stefano Bonomo led Cal with three shots apiece. Peach made eight saves.