April 17, 2005
The No. 3 Stanford Cardinal (16-5, 8-3) defeated the No. 14 UC Davis Aggies (17-16) in a conference match-up this afternoon at a sunny Avery Aquatic Center. Sophomores Katie Hansen and Christina Hewko led the Cardinal offensively, scoring four and three goals each respectively.
Stanford got off to a quick start in the first quarter with a goal from Scotti Shafer at 6:42 left in the first quarter. Three minutes later, Hewko landed one in the net, bringing the Cardinal up 2-0 at 3:03 in the quarter. Hansen managed her first goal of the game during a 6-on-5 opportunity at 2:02 in the quarter. Junior Nancy El-Sakkary added the fourth goal for the Cardinal with just 16 seconds to go in the quarter, also in a 6-on-5 opportunity.
Hewko, who had a season-defining performance last Friday against UCLA, scored a sweet skip shot on a 6-on-5 opportunity with 3:54 in the second quarter. Hansen contributed another goal a minute later to bring the half-time score to 6-0.
On-fire after a half-time pep-talk from Coach John Tanner, Hansen gained possession of the ball after the sprint, and swam it right in for a quick skip-shot from 4 meters, scoring a goal at 6:47 into the third quarter. It took a couple of minutes, but the Aggies did respond and Katherine O'Rourke scored their first goal with 3:50 to go in the third quarter. Thirty seconds later, senior Hannah Luber pulled a smooth backhand from 2-meters to capture the Cardinal's eighth goal of the game. The Aggies pulled a nice outside shot from Jenny Stephanopoulos at 2:07, but Hewko came in again for the Cardinal and put another goal on the scoreboard for the Cardinal at :41 to bring the score to 9-2 at the end of the quarter.
An action-packed fourth quarter began with another goal from Stanford's Shafer off a fast break pass from goalie Meridith McColl at 5:40, but then a goal for the Aggies a minute later from Christi Raycraft. The Aggies managed another two goals from Raycraft and Stephanopoulos before Stanford got a penalty shot at 1:28 in the fourth quarter. Hansen took the shot for the Cardinal and recorded her fourth goal of the game to bring Stanford up 11-5. Sophomore Alison Gregorka had the final goal for the Cardinal on a beautiful outside shot from an assist from sophomore Julia McKinney, ending the game at 12-5.
Next up Stanford will play their final home game, and celebrate Senior Day, next Friday at 6:00 PM against San Jose State here at Avery Aquatic Center.