April 12, 2003
BERKELEY, Calif. - The Stanford women's water polo team posted a convincing 8-2 victory over arch-rival California in "The Big Splash" on Saturday afternoon at the Spieker Aquatics Complex in Berkeley.
Second-ranked Stanford, which is now 2-0 against California this season (7-4 win at Stanford on Feb. 8), improved to 15-2 overall and 7-1 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. The Cardinal completes the weekend with a 1:00 p.m. home match against eighth-ranked Hawai'i (10-11, 4-5) on Sunday at the Avery Aquatic Center. Fifth-ranked California dropped to 12-7 and 5-4.
Stanford jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the third period, and never looked back to post its sixth win in its last seven matches.
Stanford found the net early, as junior Brenda Villa (Commerce, CA) scored on a four-meter penalty strike just 1:09 into the contest. Senior Julie Gardner (Atherton, CA) gave the Cardinal a 2-0 advantage as she found the net with 1:52 left in the opening period. The visitors made it 3-0 at the break as junior Wendy Watkins (Modesto, CA) added a second period goal.
The Cardinal broke the match wide open in the third period, as unanswered goals from Villa, sophomore Hannah Luber (Beaverton, OR) and freshman Scotti Shafer (Carlsbad, CA) stretched the advantage to 6-0.
Villa led the Cardinal with three goals on the afternoon, while Watkins added two. Senior goalie Jackie Frank (Long Beach, CA) made nine saves in net for the winners.
Game Summary
Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
Stanford Scoring: Brenda Villa 3, Wendy Watkins 2, Julie Gardner, Scotti Shafer, Hannah Luber.
California Scoring: Lindy Spieker, Cara Chlebicki.
Goalie Saves: Jackie Frank (S) 9, Amanda Matuk (S) 0, Lauren Dennis (C) 7.
Records: #2 Stanford 15-2 overall (7-1 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation), #5 California 12-7 (5-4).