Nov. 26, 2005
Los Angeles, CA - Third-seeded Stanford crushed the second-seed, UC Irvine, in the semifinal round of the MPSF tournament this afternoon at USC's McDonald Swim Stadium, 11-5. The Cardinal will face top-seed and #1 team in the nation, USC, in tomorrow's championship match.
Stanford showed up with its "A" game against UC Irvine, firing off five consecutive goals in the first period and the beginning of the second period. UCI's first goal came with three minutes left in the second period by Dreason Barry. The Cardinal went up 8-1 in the beginning of the third quarter, the largest lead of the game.
UCI fought back with three goals in the third period and one in the fourth period, but it wasn't enough to take on Stanford. Between Stanford's two goalies, Sandy Hohener and James Sandman, they boasted 15 saves to stop the Anteaters. Peter Varellas once again led the Cardinal in scoring, adding four goals today. Thomas Hopkins and Michael Bury each had two goals on the afternoon.
The championship match is set to begin Sunday afternoon at 3:00pm. The Trojans head into the match against Stanford after defeating Cal, 10-8, in the semifinal round. USC is the only team undefeated in the MPSF this season. Last year, Stanford defeated the Trojans in the semifinal match of the MPSF tournament, 8-5.
The winner of the final match tomorrow recieves an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament; only one other MPSF team will be chosen to represent at NCAA's. The first place game will be televised on CSTV Sunday, at 3:05pm.
Game Summary
Nov. 26, 2005
MPSF Semifinals
Stanford Scoring: Varellas 4, Hopkins 2, Bury 2, Hindle-Katel 1, Pantuliano 1, Fortune 1, .
UC Irvine Scorers: Barry 2, Hutten 2, White 1.
Goalie Saves: Hohener (Stan) 12, Wynne (UCI) 7, Sandman (Stan) 3.
Sunday Place Game Schedule
10:00am Game 9: 7th Place Game Long Beach State vs. Pepperdine
11:30am Game 10: 5th Place Game UCLA vs. Pacific
1:00pm Game 11: 3rd Place Game California vs UC Irvine
3:00pm Game 12: 1st Place Game USC vs. Stanford