Nov. 27, 2004
Stanford, Ca - Tony Azevedo scored four goals to help power second-ranked Stanford to a 10-5 victory over third-ranked USC in the semifinals of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Men's Water Polo Tournament on Saturday night at the Avery Aquatic Center.
Azevedo, a two-time member of the U.S. Olympic team, scored Stanford's first two goals at 5:29 and 4:42 of the first period. The Cardinal extended the lead to 5-2 at halftime thanks to second period goals by Azevedo, Tyler Drake and Peter Varellas. Chad Taylor collected six saves in goal for the Cardinal.
Stanford (21-4) will face top-ranked UCLA (23-2) in the MPSF title game on Sunday (11/28/04) at 4:30 p.m. The game will be televised live on CSTV.
This will be the fourth meeting between the nation's top two teams with the Bruins holding a 2-1 edge. On Sept. 19 at the Southern California Tournament, Greg Crum scored a team-high three goals and Chad Taylor collected nine saves in goal as the Cardinal defeated the Bruins, 8-7. Then on Oct. 3, then third-ranked UCLA stunned then top-ranked Stanford, 8-7, in overtime in the championship game of the NorCal Tournament at Stockton. Thomas Hopkins scored three goals while Peter Varellas added a pair of goals. Brett Ormsby led the Bruins with three goals. A third meeting on Oct. 30 at UCLA resulted in a 7-4 Bruin victory. Tony Azevedo scored all of Stanford's goals. Joe Axelrad collected 14 saves in goal for UCLA.
The winner of the MPSF Tournament will receive an automatic berth to the NCAA Championship slated for Dec. 4-5 at Stanford University. Princeton, winner of the East Coast championship, and Loyola Marymount, winner of the Western Water Polo Association (WWPA) Tournament, have advanced to the NCAA Final Four. An at-large team will be selected Sunday night to fill out the four-team national championship field.
Saturday's Results - Second Round of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) Tournament
Avery Aquatic Center - Stanford University
Stanford 8, USC 5
Pepperdine 4, California 3
UCLA 10, UC Irvine 6
Long Beach State 14, UC Santa Barbara 12 (ot)
Sunday's Schedule - MPSF Tournament
Noon - 7th place: UC Santa Barbara (18-13) vs California (19-10)
1:30 p.m. - 5th place: Long Beach State (16-12) vs Pepperdine (15-13)
3:00 p.m. - 3rd place: UC Irvine (16-13) vs USC (22-5)
4:30 p.m. - 1st place: UCLA (23-2) vs Stanford (21-4) (televised live on CSTV)
Stanford2321=8
USC1121=5
Stanford Scorers: Azevedo 4, Varellas 1, Garton 1, Drake 1, Hopkins 1
USC Scorers: Shin 3, Hale 1, Zatovic 1
Goalie Saves: Taylor (S) 6; Ricci (USC) 10
Recap: Tony Azevedo scored four goals to help power second-ranked Stanford to a 10-5 victory over third-ranked USC in the semifinals of the MPSF Tournament. Azevedo, a two-time member of the U.S. Olympic team, scored Stanford's first two goals at 5:29 and 4:42 of the first period. The Cardinal extended the lead to 5-2 at halftime thanks to second period goals by Azevedo, Tyler Drake and Peter Varellas. Chad Taylor collected six saves in goal for the Cardinal.
Pepperdine1210=4
California1011=3
Pepperdine Scorers: Hewko 1, Mann 1, Digges 1, Corjon 1
California Scorers: Monsees 1, Kurth 1, Sharf 1
Goalie Saves: Miller (P) 18; Bennett (C) 7
Recap: Nick Corjon scored what proved to be the winning goal with 42 seconds remaining in the third period as seventh-seeded Pepperdine upset sixth-seeded California, 4-3. Pepperdine held a 3-1 lead at halftime, and held on as the Golden Bears blanked the Waves in the final period. The Golden Bears cut the Waves margin to only one goal with 3:07 remaining on a score by Michael Sharf, but Pepperdine goalkeeper Robbie Miller collected a tournament-high 18 saves.
UCLA2242=10
UC Irvine0114=6
UCLA Scorers: Ormsby 2, Hewko 2, Peck 1, Pulido 1, Foley 1, Pietsch 1, Zider 1, March 1
UC Irvine Scorers: Noon 2, Barry 2, Hutten 1, Mello 1
Goalie Saves: Axelrad (UCLA) 14; Wynne (UCI) 8
Recap: Brett Orsmby led top-ranked UCLA into the championship game of the MPSF Tournament with a 10-6 victory over fifth-seeded UC Irvine. The Bruins jumped to a 2-0 first period, a 4-1 advantage at halftime, and exploded for four goals in the third period to take a 8-2 lead over the Anteaters. Josh Hewko also added two goals for the Bruins. Goalkeeper Joe Axelrad tallied 14 saves. Dan Noon and Dreason Barry each scored twice for UC Irvine.
Long Beach St22423-1=14
UCSB33221-1=12
Long Beach State Scorers: Tomassi 6, Scoles 3, Sakata 2, McCleave 1, Gerardi 1, Brady 1
UCSB Scorers: Sinclair 3, Gronow 3, Alexander 2, Muenter 2, Bauer 1, Saldain 1
Goalie Saves: Onyshko (LBS) 11; Bonafede (UCSB) 10
Recap: Fourth-seeded Long Beach State rallied back from a 10-8 deficit with 4:35 to play and eventually handed eighth-seeded UC Santa Barbara a 14-12 overtime loss. Reid Tomassi started the 49er comeback with a goal at 4:16 remaining and Brad Scoles tied the game at 10-10 with 1:55 to play in regulation. Long Beach State scored three times in the first overtime on goals by Jay Gerardi, and two by Scoles. Scoles ended the day with three goals while Tomassi led the 49ers with six goals.
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