May 8, 2004
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STANFORD, Calif. - Stanford was stunned by Loyola Marymount after sophomore utility Stacia Peterson found the back of the cage with no time remaining to lift the Lions to their first ever championship game appearance. On the last possession of the game, Stanford's Kelty Luber was ejected with 0:26 left, givng LMU a 6-on-5 opportunity in which Peterson lofted a lob over the head of tight defense by Wendy Watkins and past goalkeeper Meridith McColl to win the game 5-4 at Avery Aquatics Center.
Stanford scored two early goals, but ended up trailing by one at the half before coming back in the third period. The Cardinal could not hold on and allowed two goals in the last 1:32 of the game to go down in a closely contested semifinal match-up between two teams ranked in the top 5 in the nation.
Stanford used a mixture of man-on-man and double team defenses to stifle LMU at the onset of the match. Scotti Shafer recorded the first goal for the Cardinal when she managed to get a shot past LMU keeper Katie Murray that slowly drifted into the goal on a 6-on-5 prompted by the ejection of senior utility Jamie Kroeze. Stanford netted another score when freshman 2-meter utility Christina Hewko found the back of the cage with 3:21 remaining in the first period.
The Lions were the first to score in the first period, when Peterson found the back of the goal by powering a shot past freshman Stanford keeper McColl. LMU then made an impressive defensive stop and stormed back down the pool to even the score with 3:03 left in the half when senior Devon Wright fired one from 6-meters and had the shot deflect off the hand of Stanford's Shafer and into the left corner of the cage as McColl watched helplessly. The Cardinal were held scoreless in the second period after solid goalkeeping by Murray and found themselves trailing for the first time when senior utility Teresa Guidi fired one over the hands of McColl to put the Lions ahead with 0:02 remaining on the first half clock.
The Cardinal played scolid defense at the beginning of the second half with back to back to back steals, then finally converted as senior 2-meter defender Watkins made a long pass to fellow senior Lauren Faust on the breakaway to tie up the game with 2:44 left in the third period. LMU called a 20-second timeout after Stanford's Laurel Champion was ejected with 2:17 remaining, in an attempt to set up a scoring chance, but missed the opportunity when Jessica Connor's shot went over the crossbar. The Cardinal regained the lead with 0:41 left in the third on a rare 6-on-5 chance with Katie Hansen receiving Champion's long pass on the left side of the goal, then bouncing one off the hands of the Lion's keeper.
The fourth quarter was a defensive slugfest, featuring several missed opportunities by Stanford and many LMU shots wide or off the posts of the Stanford cage. Stanford tried to get a two-goal edge after a Lion ejection with 4:48 left in the game. Head coach John Tanner called a timeout to set up an offensive strategy, but it failed. The Lions finally evened it up with 1:32 left on a quick backhand shot by freshman utility Sarah Hamiliton over the head of Stanford's keeper from 2-meters. Peterson then won it with no time left to send Stanford to its first-ever semifinal defeat.
Notes: LMU keeper Katie Murray had 3 first period saves, including one with 1:22 remaining in the period which robbed Hannah Luber of a one-timer goal...She had 12 saves on the game...Murray came in averaging 5.43 saves per game...Stanford won 3-of-4 sprints...Entering the game, LMU averaged 9.31 goals per game and allowed 4.55; they scored 5 and gave up 4 tonight...Stanford's lone first-team MPSF player, Wendy Watkins, did not score in the contest, but made several key defensive stops...Since the NCAA tournament began in 2001, Stanford and LMU are the only two schools to have appeared in it every year...This was their first NCAA meeting...Stanford dropped to 20-5 on the year, with the loss being their first to a school other than USC; LMU improved to 24-5 and advances to their first NCAA championship game.
Scoring Summary1234TOTAL (2) Stanford20204 (3) LMU03025
Stanford Scorers: Faust, Hansen, Hewko, Shafer
LMU Scorers: Peterson 2, Guidi, Hamilton, Wright
Goalie Saves:
Stanford: McColl 3 (5 goals against)
LMU: Murray 12 (4 goals against)