Nov. 24, 2007
MPSF Tournament Central
BERKELEY, Calif. - Stanford's championship hopes at the MPSF Tournament were dashed Saturday afternoon as the USC Trojans dealt the Cardinal a 10-6 semifinal defeat at the Spieker Aquatics Complex in Berkeley. The loss snaps Stanford's eight-game winning streak and sends them into the tournament's third-place game against California, to be played at 2 p.m. Sunday.
After trailing 5-2 at halftime Saturday, Stanford's comeback chances were put to rest in a pivotal third period which saw the Trojans score five unanswered goals and take a commanding 10-2 lead. Despite a pair of goals from Janson Wigo, and individual goals from Andrew Drake, Ryan Fortune, Will Hindle-Katel, and Chris Jacobsen, the Cardinal (17-7) could not match the output of USC (17-2) in the defeat.
Matt Sagehorn led the Trojans with a hat trick, while Tommy Corcoran scored a pair.
Saturday's loss was also Stanford's fourth of the year to USC.
Sandy Hohener made six saves in the contest, while USC counterpart Adam Shilling made five.
Despite being out of the running for the MPSF's automatic berth into the NCAA Championships, the Cardinal's national-title hopes are still alive, as a win over California in Sunday's third-place game could greatly improve Stanford's chance for the lone at-large berth.
USC moves on to the MPSF title game, meanwhile, facing UC Irvine, which upset California 13-12 in earlier action Saturday.
Stanford 1 1 0 4 = 6
USC 3 2 5 0 = 10
Stanford Goal Scorers: J. Wigo 2, Drake, Fortune, Hindle-Katel, Jacobsen
USC Goal Scorers: Sagehorn 3, Corcoran 2, Buckner, Borisoff, Krumpholz, Sarusi, Vyn
Goalie Saves: Hohener 6 (S); Shilling 5 (USC)