May 12, 2002
The top-seeded Stanford women's water polo team used goals by six different players to defeat the UCLA Bruins 8-4 in the 2002 NCAA Women's Water Polo Championships at McDonald's Swim Stadium. The Cardinal win their first national title, avenging their loss to UCLA in last year's championship game.
In last year's inaugural NCAA championship, UCLA beat the host Cardinal, 5-4. Then, two weeks ago (April 28), the Bruins upset Stanford, 11-7, in the final of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Championship, also in the USC pool. That UCLA victory came after three losses earlier in the season to the Cardinal.
In Sunday's championship game, Stanford (23-2) scored twice in the first two minutes of the game on goals by Wendy Watkins (Modesto, CA) and Ellen Estes (Novato, CA). Julie Gardner (Atherton, CA) then scored with 2:52 to go in the opening period to give the Cardinal a 3-0 cushion. UCLA (22-4) closed to 4-2 late in the third quarter on a Natalie Golda goal and had a chance to pull within a goal when Robin Beauregard's shot came within inches of floating into the cage. Stanford quickly transitioned back down the pool and scored seconds later on a Kelty Luber (Beaverton, OR) shot with 1:01 to go in the third period, effectively sealing the victory.
Stanford goalie Jackie Frank (Long Beach, CA), named the tournament's MVP, had 12 saves and allowed UCLA to score just once in the Bruins' 10 six-on-five opportunities. Gardner and teammate Estes each scored twice for the Cardinal. Golda led the Bruins with 3 goals.
"We had a great feeling from the beginning," said Stanford head coach John Tanner. We dominated the game for the first quarter-and-a-half, but we then continued to make plays. We were anchored by Jackie, who was the key to the win. Despite everything that has happened the last few weeks, it all came together for us today."
Frank was named MVP of the championships and was joined by Estes and Brenda Villa (Commerce, CA) on the All-Tournament First Team. Gardner, Watkins and Margie Dingeldein (Merced, CA) were named to the second team.
In the consolation match, Lucy Windes scored 4 goals and Teresa Guidi added 2 to help Loyola Marymount (21-8) to its second consecutive third-place NCAA finish with a 6-4 win over Michigan (25-13).
1234FinalUCLA 01124Stanford 31138
Scoring --- Stanford: Ellen Estes 2, Julie Gardner 2, Jeanine Jackson, Kelty Luber, Brenda Villa, Wendy Watkins ..... UCLA: Natalie Golda 3, Kelly Heuchan
Saves --- Stanford: Jackie Frank 12 ..... UCLA: Jamie Hipp 4
2002 NCAA WOMEN'S WATER POLO CHAMPIONSHIP ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
First Team
Jackie Frank, Stanford -- MVP
Kelly Heuchan , UCLA
Ellen Estes, Stanford
Robin Beauregard, UCLA
Brenda Villa, Stanford
Lucy Windes, Loyola Marymount
Natalie Golda, UCLA
Amber Stachowski, UCLA
Second Team
Betsey Armstrong, Michigan
Thalia Munro, UCLA
Julie Gardner, Stanford
Teresa Guidi, Loyola Marymount
Wendy Watkins, Stanford
Jaime Hipp, UCLA
Jen Crisman, Michigan
Margie Dingeldein, Stanford