March 11, 2006
Davis, Calif. - Coming off a tough loss at top-ranked USC just two days earlier, senior Scotti Shafer (Carlsbad, CA) and junior Katie Hansen (Coronado, CA) each put up hat tricks to help the No. 2 Stanford women's water polo team bounce back and defeat No. 14 UC Davis 9-3 on the road at UCD's Schaal Aquatics Center on Saturday afternoon. With the win the Cardinal improved their record to 12-3 overall and 5-1 in MPSF play. The Aggies are now 9-8 on the season.
Freshman Lauren Silver (Newport Beach, CA) put Stanford on the board early with a goal just over a minute into play, while Shafer made it a quick 2-0 lead on a fast break counter attack score. The Aggies notched a goal before freshman Jessica Steffens (Danville, CA) scored on a six-on-five opportunity just seconds before the end of the first frame, giving Stanford a 3-1 lead.
UC Davis's Mary Lowe opened the second quarter with a score that would bring the Aggies back to within one at 3-2, but Silver restored Stanford's two-goal lead with her second goal of the game on a six-on-five. The Aggies would not back down, however, as Katherine O'Rourke scored a skip goal to bring Davis to within one score yet again at 4-3.
From there, the Cardinal took over, effectively holding the Aggies scoreless for the remainder of the game.
In the closing minutes of the first half, Hansen scored the first of her three goals and Shafer put up her second of three goals to help the Cardinal jump out to a 6-3 halftime advantage.
The second half started out in a deadlock as both UC Davis and Stanford stepped it up on the defensive front, but Hansen managed to net a goal with four seconds left in the period to stretch Stanford's lead to 7-3. The final frame saw both Shafer and Hansen post scores to complete their respective hat tricks and close the game with a 9-3 Stanford victory.
Junior goalkeeper Meridith McColl (Mission Viejo, CA) registered 5 saves and has now allowed 3 goals or less in three of Stanford's last six games. Silver's two goals improved her team lead to 28 on the season, while Hansen's three scores brought her second place total to 23.
The Cardinal will take the better part of the next two weeks off for finals, but will be back in the pool at 7:00 PM on Friday, March 24 when it plays host to No. 16 Princeton.
No. 2 Stanford (12-3) 3312=9
No. 14 UC Davis (9-8)1200=3
Stanford Goals: Hansen 3, Shafer 3, Silver 2, Steffens.
Stanford Saves: McColl 5.
UC Davis Goals: Lowe, O'Rourke, Soza.
UC Davis Saves: Moore 10.