Dec. 1, 2001
STANFORD, Calif. - Amidst heavy rain and wind, the first game of the NCAA Men's Water Polo Championship was played this afternoon on the campus of Stanford University at the Avery Aquatic Center. Stanford handed UMass the loss as the Cardinal won 8-4. Junior Jeff Nesmith tallied three goals to help give Stanford the four point margin.
Nesmith opened the game as he lobbed a soft shot over Massachusetts goalie J.R. VanderWall at 4:31 in the first quarter, but the Minutemen rallied as senior Mike Foley fired a shot into the back of the net to even out the score 20 second later. Nesmith took a short shot from Brian Darrow and pushed it into the net to regain the one-point lead for the Cardinal with just under two minutes to go in the first quarter.
The Minutemen and Cardinal both chalked up one more goal so that Stanford retained its lead at 3-2. Then with 36 seconds remaining in the second quarter, Stanford's Onno Koelman chalked up one more goal to give the Cardinal a 4-2 halftime margin. The Minutemen's VanderWall refused to let many Stanford shot through and racked up seven saves in the first half.
Coming off the break, UMass senior Adam Moore rallied for the Minutemen again cutting the lead to one, but Stanford would not relent and racked up two goals in the last two minutes of the third period, including Nesmith's third score of the day. Stand-out Cardinal freshman Tony Azevedo came to life in the final quarter putting two goals on the board. The Minutemen converted a 6-on-5 with 1:53 left in the game to cut the Stanford lead to 8-4, but Stanford's defense remained strong and Massachusetts could not convert again. VanderWall continued his impressive effort, adding eight saves in the second half to give him 15 for the game.
Stanford advances to the NCAA Championship match tomorrow at 2:30 p.m. Massachusetts will play in the third place game at 1:00 p.m. Their opponents will be decided by today's other semifinal match between UCLA and LMU.
Score by Period 1 2 3 4 Total Stanford 3 1 2 2 8 Massachusetts 2 0 1 1 4
Goals: S - Nesmith 3, Azevedo 2, Guyman, Hudnut, Koelman, M - Foley, Houck, Lutz, Moore. Saves: S - Ellis 6, M - VanderWall 15.