May 13, 2006
Davis, Calif. - After a smooth outing against Marist in the opening round of the NCAA Championships, the No. 2 seed Cardinal took on No. 3 seed UCLA in Saturday's Semifinal. In the fourth match between the teams this season and a rematch of last year's Championship Game, the Bruins ended Stanford's title run for the second consecutive year by handing the Cardinal a heartbreaking loss. Senior Scotti Shafer (Carlsbad, CA) had a hat trick and helped the Cardinal rally with a couple of goals in the fourth period, but the team's effort was not enough as Stanford ultimately lost 8-5, dropping their record to 23-5 on the season. The Cardinal will face No. 4 seed Hawaii at 3 PM on Sunday in the tournament's 3rd Place Game. UCLA advances to the Championship Final against crosstown rival No. 1 seed USC.
UCLA took advantage of an ejection on Katie Hansen to grab the early lead at the 6:38 mark of the opening period. Stanford's offense was a bit slow out of the gates as the Bruins built a 3-0 lead with a couple more scores in the frame.
It was not until the 5:22 mark of the second period that Stanford finally got on the board with an ejection goal by Hansen, a junior from Coronado, Calif. Following a timeout, however, UCLA quickly regained its 3-goal lead with a goal by Jillian Kraus that made it 4-1. The Cardinal then put up consecutive scores from senior Scotti Shafer (Carlsbad, CA) and freshman Lauren Silver (Long Beach, CA), drawing within one goal of the Bruins with 2:19 to go in the half. This would be as close as Stanford would get, as the Bruins reeled off consecutive goals of their own in the last 2:08 of the half, stretching their lead to 6-3 at the break.
The third frame turned out to be more of a defensive battle, though UCLA did not miss an opportunity to cash in on a 4-meter penalty on Stanford's Alison Gregorka. The Bruins' Kelly Rulon put the subsequent penalty shot into the back of the net to give UCLA a 7-3 lead with just under five minutes to go in the period. The score remained the same heading into the final frame.
In the fourth period, Stanford could not take advantage of their own penalty shot opportunity, as Hansen came up short on a crucial 4-meter miss with 6:35 to go in the game. Shafer scored a goal just over a minute later to make it 7-4 in favor of the Bruins, but UCLA's Molly Cahill answered right back to extend the Bruins' lead to 8-4. Neither team would find the net again until Shafer scored with :42 seconds to go in the match to make it 8-5. In the end, the Cardinal put up a solid effort but could not do enough to overcome UCLA's early lead, falling by the final score of 8-5.
In previous contests this season, Stanford had defeated UCLA twice and lost to them once. This loss evens the season series to 2-2. On Sunday, Stanford will face No. 4 seed Hawaii for 3rd Place. The Cardinal have faced the Rainbow Wahine twice this season and won both times, including a 6-3 victory in the MPSF Tournament Final on April 30.
Post Game Quotes: (courtesy of http://ucdavisaggies.cstv.com)
Head Coach John Tanner
"I was disappointed because I didn't think we stuck to our game plan at all and didn't go with what has worked for us so UCLA didn't really have to stop us. I felt like (UCLA) played extremely well on offense. I'm not sure that UCLA played well on defense. Their executions on offense took us out of getting the upper hand on the counter attack."
Junior Goalkeeper Meridith McColl
"What it came down to, the bottom line was, that they executed and we didn't."
NCAA Championships Semifinals
No. 3 UCLA (28-4)3311=8
No. 2 Stanford (23-5)0302=5
UCLA Goals: Ke. Rulon 3, Domanic 1, Munro 1, Kr. Kunkel 1, Kraus 1, Cahill 1.
Stanford Goals: Shafer 3, Hansen 1, Silver 1.