April 27, 2008
MPSF Tournament Central
SAN DIEGO, Calif. - The No. 2 Stanford women's water polo team bounced back from a tough semifinal loss yesterday to capture third place at the MPSF Tournament with Sunday's 10-8 victory over No. 5 Hawai'i. Lauren Silver led the Cardinal (25-4) with her second straight hat trick in the tournament as the team defeated the Rainbow Wahine (20-10) for the third time this year.
Stanford will now await Monday's 4 p.m. PT announcement of the National Collegiate Women's Water Polo Championship field, to be televised exclusively on CBS College Sports Television.
Along with Silver's hat trick, the Cardinal benefitted from a pair of goals apiece from Koree Blyleven and Jacquelyn Gauthier. Kira Hillman, Kim Krueger, and Megan May each added a goal as well.
In the cage, Amber Oland stopped six Hawai'i shots to anchor the defense.
Things heated up Sunday afternoon after Stanford led 1-0 following the first period. Each team posted three goals in the second frame, with the Cardinal holding on to a 4-3 lead at the break.
The surge continued as the second half got underway, with Hawai'i outscoring Stanford 4-3 in the third period to even things up at 7-7 heading into the final eight minutes of regulation. The Rainbow Wahine actually took a 7-6 lead in the third before the Cardinal knotted things up.
Hawai'i again took the lead, at 8-7, to start the fourth period, but that would end up being all the scoring it could muster this afternoon. After Stanford equalized once more, Silver completed her hat trick with a successful five-meter penalty shot with 4:19 left in the game that put the Cardinal up for good at 9-8. Blyleven added an insurance goal before time ran out to round out the scoring.
Hawai'i - 0 3 4 1 = 8
Stanford - 1 3 3 3 = 10
Stanford Goal Scorers: Silver 3, Blyleven 2, Gauthier 2, Hillman, Krueger, May
Hawai'i Goal Scorers: Mason 2, Turnbull 2, Van der Molen 2, Sieprath, van Raalte
Goalie Saves: Oland 6 (S); Bredin 6 (H)