Feb. 9, 2003
Stanford, Calif. - No. 1 Stanford (5-0) collected two wins today as the Cardinal claimed the Stanford Invitational Championship by defeating Indiana 15-3 in the morning game and then handing No. 2 UCLA a 4-3 loss in the title match this evening.
Indiana took seventh place at the tournament after losing to the Cardinal earlier today but finishing the day with a 14-2 win over UC Santa Cruz. Kristin Stanford was the high scorer for the Hoosiers this weekend, notching 11 goals in her four games.
San Jose State captured fifth place by defeating Hawai'i 6-5. The Spartans tied the game at 5-5 with 1:23 left in the third quarter and then finished off the Rainbows on a man-up goal by Delores Johnson with 4:29 to go in the game.
USC earned third place by defeating California in the bronze medal match, 9-3. The keepers combined for 21 saves during the game, but the Trojan offense was relentless. Despite an early 2-1 Golden Bear lead, USC scored seven straight goals to give themselves an 8-2 lead. Katrin Dierolf led the USC scoring drive with four goals, including a penalty score.
In the final contest of the day, Stanford faced UCLA in their first rematch since the NCAA Championship game of 2002. Last May, the Cardinal defeated the Bruins 8-4 for the national crown and today downed the Bruins 4-3 for the Stanford Invitational title.
UCLA took the first lead with a goal two minutes into the game, but Stanford tied the game at 1-1 with 2:43 left in the first quarter. Both teams were scoreless for the rest of the half, but after a steal by sophomore Hannah Luber on the defensive end, captain Julie Gardner found Brenda Villa in front of the goal as she lobbed a pass over the UCLA keeper for a 2-1 lead. The Bruins responded with a goal of their own to tie the game at 2-2 heading into the final seven minutes.
In the fourth period, goalie Jackie Frank blocked a shot by UCLA's Maureen Flanagan and Villa picked up the ball in front of the goal. Villa then passed up-court to Gardner who went one-on-one with the goalie and found the back of the net with five minutes left to give the Cardinal a 3-2 lead. Junior Lauren Faust extended the Stanford lead to 4-2 with just over 2 minutes to go, but UCLA converted a 6-on-5 opportunity cutting the lead to one with 55 seconds remaining. With just under 20 seconds to go, UCLA reclaimed possession of the ball but sophomore Kelty Luber stole it, securing the 4-3 Cardinal win.
Stanford will be back in action on Sat., Feb. 22nd as the Cardinal host the U.S. Senior National Team at 5:30 p.m. Ellen Estes, Margie Dingeldein and Kate Pettit, standouts from last season's squad, will return to The Farm and face off against their former teammates. Stanford resumes collegiate play in a rematch of today's title game when UCLA returns to Stanford for the MPSF opener on Fri., Feb. 28th at 3 p.m.