April 3, 1999
STANFORD, CA - Freshmen Aniko Pelle (Budapest, Hungary/Madach Imre) and Nina Wengst (Krefeld, Germany/AM Moltgeplatz) scored two goals each to lead top-ranked USC past No. 2 Stanford 5-3 at deGuerre Pool Saturday. Both teams finish the MPSF regular season with 8-1 records, but the Trojans (20-1 overall) will be the top seed in the MPSF Tournament, by virtue of the head-to-head victory.
Stanford (15-3) tallied first, 2:08 into the game, when sophomore Anne-Marie Keenan (Woodside, CA/Menlo School) took an outlet pass from goalie Heather Crary (Atherton, CA/Menlo School) and scored on a counter-attack. USC tied it up late in the first period on an outside shot from junior Selah Mapes (Spring Valley, CA/Monte Vista) that appeared to be deflected by Trojan freshman Sandra Milicev (Becej, Yugoslavia/Desing Bogdan). Mapes was credited with the score. Stanford took the lead again when freshman Margie Dingeldein (Merced, CA/Merced) scored from outside on a perfect shot into the far upper corner of the net for her team-leading 24th goal. Wengst tied it up on a counter-attack, taking a pass from Pelle, with 2:37 remaining before halftime, and Pelle gave USC the lead by drawing a four-meter penalty shot and converting 45 seconds later.
The Trojans extended their lead midway through the third quarter when Wengst scored on another penalty shot, and Pelle's second goal, her team-leading 35th, with 1:27 left in the third gave the visitors a three-goal advantage. Sophomore Dani Bell (Long Beach, CA/Wilson) scored on a penalty shot with 4:53 remaining, and the Cardinal earned another penalty shot with 1:09 left, but missed. For the game, Stanford drew 11 USC ejections, in addition to earning the two penalty shots, but was unable to score on nine 6-on-5 opportunities and one 6-on-4 opportunity. USC was 0-for-4 in 6-on-5 situations. In a match-up of two three-time All-American goalies, Stanfords Crary finished with nine saves and USCs Bernice Orwig (Anaheim, CA/Savanna) tallied eight.
Both teams return to action at the MPSF Tournament next Friday, April 9, at UCLA's Sunset Canyon Recreation Center. USC will meet either No. 8 UC Santa Barbara or No. 10 San Jose State at 7:30 a.m. and Stanford will meet No. 15 Pacific at 8:35 a.m. The tournament concludes Sunday, April 11, with the championship game at 1:00 p.m.
USC 5, Stanford 3
1 2 3 4 F #1 USC 1 2 2 0 - 5 #2 Stanford 1 1 0 1 - 3
Scoring
USC: Aniko Pelle 2, Nina Wengst 2, Selah Mapes
Stanford: Dani Bell, Margie Dingeldein, Anne-Marie Keenan
Saves
USC: Bernice Orwig 8
Stanford: Heather Crary 9
Records - Stanford 15-3 overall, 8-1 MPSF; USC 20-1, 8-1.