May 9, 1999
DAVIS, Calif. - Christine Zador scored on a skip shot just inside the left post 1:39 into the fifth overtime period as USC beat Stanford 7-6 to claim their first-ever national title in women's water polo Sunday afternoon at UC Davis. Stanford sophomore Hilary Gallogly (Orinda, CA/Miramonte) scored with nine seconds left in regulation to send the game into overtime, and senior goalie Heather Crary (Atherton, CA/Menlo School) scored on a length-of-the-pool shot with 59 seconds left in the second overtime to tie the game at six and force sudden death.
"To be successful in sports, it's about dealing with adversity," Stanford Coach John Tanner said about coming back from deficits twice late in the game. "I think resiliancy is what this team has been about all year. Whether we scored the last goal or they did, we're still a championship team."
No team led by more than a goal at any point of what many observers called the best title game ever. After Gallogly scored, powering the ball in despite a deflection off a USC defender during a 6-on-5 situation at the end of regulation, USC's Lisa Saenz scored her third goal of the game with 32 seconds left in the first three-minute overtime period. After the teams switched ends for the second overtime, Gallogly recorded her second straight steal, and tossed the ball back to Crary. Stanford freshman Margie Dingeldein (Merced, CA/Merced) had swum past the USC defense on a counterattack, but before Crary could pass to her, Trojan goalie Bernice Orwig came out to defend Dingeldein. Crary then lobbed the ball the length of the 30-meter pool, over Orwig, into the net, to tie the game 6-6. It was Crary's second career goal as a goalie (she also scored twice as a freshman playing in the field during a lopsided victory). Crary scored in similar fashion, one year ago, in the third-place game at Collegiate Nationals. After Stanford's defense held, the game went into a third overtime period, and became sudden death. In addition to the 28 minutes of regulation, the teams played 13:39 of overtime, including 7:39 of sudden death, before Zador's winning goal. Each team took six shots during sudden death.
Sophomore Anne-Marie Keenan (Woodside, CA/Menlo School) put Stanford ahead less than a minute into the game, converting a four-meter penalty shot that sophomore Kelly Shouey (Concord, CA/Carondelet) earned. Saenz tied it up, then Shouey gave Stanford the lead again, skipping a shot off the water and over Orwig's head into the goal. Saenz tied it up again before the half ended. Aniko Pelle scored on a four-meter shot for USC, but Keenan tied it with a lob shot, and Gallogly scored 89 seconds later. Selah Mapes tied it at 4-4 for USC at the end of the third period. Saenz scored on a 6-on-5 early in the fourth, but Gallogly tied it up from outside before time expired in regulation.
Orwig finished with 10 saves and was named the tournament's MVP. Crary had 11 saves and a goal and earned second-team all-tournament honors, along with sophomore Kris Koblik (Davis, CA/Davis), who was playing in her hometown. Dingeldein and Shouey were first-team all-tournament selections for Stanford.
Stanford also lost to USC in the men's water polo NCAA championship game, 9-8 in overtime, last November. Stanford has seven national runner-up finishes this year: both water polos, men's cross country, men's soccer, men's indoor track & field, women's swimming & diving, and men's swimming & diving.
1 2 3 4 OT 2O 3O 4O 5O F #1 USC 1 1 2 1 1 0 0 0 1 7 #2 Stanford 1 1 2 1 0 1 0 0 0 6
Scoring
USC: Lisa Saenz 3, Selah Mapes 2, Aniko Pelle, Christine Zador
Stanford: Hilary Gallogly 2, Anne-Marie Keenan 2, Heather Crary, Kelly Shouey
Saves
USC: Bernice Orwig 10
Stanford: Heather Crary 11
Records - Stanford 25-6, USC 30-2
Collegiate Nationals All-Tournament Team
First Team Larisa Baltgavis Junior San Diego State Margie Dingeldein Freshman Stanford Aniko Pelle Freshman USC Heather Petri Junior California Kelly Shouey Sophomore Stanford Elaine Zivich Freshman UCLA
Second Team Heather Crary Senior Stanford Colette Glinkowski Junior California Beth Irwin Sophomore California Kris Koblik Sophomore Stanford Sandra Milicev Freshman USC Lynn Nisbet Junior UC Santa Barbara Katie Tenenbaum Senior UCLA
Honorable Mention Jennifer Durley Sophomore USC Katie Grogan Junior UMass Sara Hanneman Senior San Diego State Jenny Lamb Freshman UCLA Melanie vonHartitzsch Senior California Alice Wallace Senior UC Davis Nina Wengst Freshman USC
MVP and Most Outstanding Goalie: Bernice Orwig (Senior, USC)