April 11, 2007
What's Ahead:
-Saturday April 14th vs. No. 2 UCLA, 1:00 PM
-Sunday April 15th vs. No. 12 UCSB, 1:00 PM
The Cardinal:
Stanford returned to the road last weekend to face two MPSF opponents ranked in the Top 15. On Friday, the Cardinal started the weekend off with a 10-3 victory over No. 4 ranked UC Irvine at the Anteater Aquatics Complex. No. 14 Long Beach State awaited the Cardinal on Saturday, and Stanford was able to defeat the 49ers by the score of 13-6. The two wins in southern California extended the winning streak to 17 games and helped the Cardinal maintain second place in the MPSF standings at 8-0. They sit a half game behind the No. 2 ranked UCLA Bruins, who are 9-0 in MPSF play.
Their record has now been pushed to 19-1 with the lone loss coming all the way back in early February to No. 3 ranked USC.
Streaking Stanford:
Stanford has now scored in double figures in their last nine games and 11 of their last 12. Katie Hansen has now scored in 10 games in a row and Lauren Silver has scored in all 20 games for Stanford. This week No. 2 UCLA and No. 12 UCSB come to face Stanford at the Avery Aquatics Center. The matchup with UCLA will have big implications on the MPSF standings, as UCLA and Stanford currently represent the two top teams in the MPSF standings.
Past Meetings:
Stanford played the UCSB Gauchos once last year at the Avery Aquatics Center, which resulted in an 8-5 victory for Stanford. Last season UCLA and Stanford had four very close meetings with two coming in postseason play. In the first meeting on February 26th, 2006 in the Gaucho Invitational in Santa Barbara, CA, the Cardinal was able to win a very low scoring affair by the score of 4-2. Stanford later in the year headed down to Los Angeles, CA to play the Bruins and were beaten 9-8 in overtime. The third match came in the MPSF semifinals in Irvine, CA in a game which the Cardinal won by the score of 5-4. The fourth and final match between the Bruins and Cardinal ended Stanford's season last year with an 8-5 defeat in the NCAA Tournament semifinals. UCLA and Stanford also met earlier this season in the Irvine Tournament championship game, in which the Cardinal won by the score of 8-4.
Gregorka competes for Team USA:
Alison Gregorka was in Australia for the FINA Championships and competed with Team USA. She scored two go-ahead goals and handed out six assists in the tournament. Stanford alum Brenda Villa (03') also leading Team USA to the World Championship by scoring 11 goals in the tournament. This was only the second time Team USA has captured the World Championship in competition.
Silver and Hansen a top duo:
Lauren Silver scored seven more goals for the Cardinal in the two victories last weekend. The last of her four goals in the game against UC Irvine also gave her 100 goals in her Stanford career. She also scored three more goals against Long Beach State to push her current total 103. Silver scored 52 goals as a freshman for Stanford and currently has 51 goals in her sophomore year, with four more regular season games remaining.
Katie Hansen had a goal in each game the past weekend to push her goal total up to 43 on the season. Her career high in goals is 47, set during her junior campaign last season. The Silver-Hansen combination accounts for 4.7 goals per game, which is the second-best duo in the nation, only behind the duo of Sarah Harris and Kellie Fletcher of Pacific who account for 5.46 goals per game.
Big Game for Holshouser:
Kelsey Holshouser had a big game last weekend against Long Beach State scoring three goals in the 13-6 victory. Holshouser, who came into the weekend with nine goals, scored four in the two games last weekend and now has 13 on the season. The freshmen from Santa Ana, is now one of 10 Cardinal players with 10 or more goals on the season.
McColl the stopper:
Meridith McColl continued her strong play in net, holding No. 4 UC Irvine to just three goals last Friday. McColl is now third on the MPSF leaderboard as she is only allowing 4.92 goals per game.
As a team:
Stanford is still third in the MPSF in goals scored per game at 12.80, sitting only behind No. 2 UCLA and No. 3 USC who score, 15.10 and 13.28 goals a game respectively. The Cardinal defense has also reached the number two spot in the MPSF rankings. Stanford is only behind UCLA, and has given up just 5.40 goals per game. UCLA has allowed just 5.24 goals per game.
About UCLA:
UCLA comes to the Avery Aquatics Center with the No. 2 national ranking and the top record at 9-0 in the MPSF. They are 20-1 overall and have a 10 game winning streak of their own.The winner of the game Saturday will take over sole possession of first place in the MPSF. UCLA comes into the game as the number one offense in the country and also the top defense in the MPSF. Leading the way for UCLA is driver Kelly Rulon, who has 53 goals as well as 44 assists. She is the second leading scorer in the MPSF, scoring 2.65 goals per game. Sister Katie Rulon also is one of the main threats for the Bruins as she has scored 36 goals on the season. Junior driver Jillian Kraus is also a mainstay for the Bruins as she has found the net 40 times this season and is one of their top defenders. Sophomore Tanya Gandy has also contributed 29 goals for UCLA on the year. In goal for the Bruins is senior Emily Feher who has blocked 108 shots for the year.
About UCSB:
No. 12 UCSB comes into the matchup with a 13-15 record and a 2-6 record in MPSF play. UCSB has lost three in a row and five of their last six, but have been a very competitive team for most of the season. Ten of their 15 losses have been by margins of three goals or less. UCSB last season finished 18-17 overall and was ranked 14th nationally at the end of the season. Head Coach Danielle Altman is in her sixth season leading the Gauchos and has a career record of 131-119. The Gauchos are led by senior Sarah Kovach who has scored 32 goals on the season and Gillian Morgan who has chipped in 31.
Coach John Tanner:
Stanford head coach John Tanner is 23-14 lifetime against UCLA and an undefeated 16-0 in his career against the UCSB Gauchos.
What's Next:
After the two games at the Avery Aquatics Center this weekend, Stanford heads off to Berkeley to take on California on Friday, April 20th in a night game at 7:00 PM. The Cardinal return back to the Avery Aquatics Center on Saturday, April 21st to take on the San Jose State Spartans at 1:00 PM.