May 11, 2008
STANFORD, Calif. - The No. 2 Stanford women's water polo team erupted for 15 goals Sunday afternoon en route to claiming third place in the National Collegiate Women's Water Polo Tournament with a 15-8 win over UC Davis at Avery Aquatic Center. With the win, the Cardinal finish the 2008 season with an overall record of 27-5.
Kelsey Holshouser and Heather West posted hat tricks to lead the Cardinal in the contest, while Koree Blyleven, Jacquelyn Gauthier, and Lauren Silver each added a pair of goals. Single goals were also scored by Kelly Eaton, Kira Hillman, and Kim Krueger.
On defense, Amber Oland stopped 10 UC Davis shots to limit the Aggies in a high-scoring affair.
The Cardinal converted on five of its eight power play opportunities Sunday, as well as cashing in its only five-meter penalty attempt. A six-goal first period also played a major role in jump-starting the Stanford offense and putting the Aggies in an early hole.
Stanford needed only 15 seconds to get on the board in the contest, as West found the back of the cage for the quick 1-0 lead. UC Davis equalized just 33 seconds later on Jessica Soza's score, but, in keeping with what was quickly established as a whirlwind of goals, the Cardinal got a goal from Gauthier just 23 seconds after that which gave the team a 2-1 lead that would only increase from there and never be relinquished.
The game's next three goals also lit up the Cardinal side of the scoreboard, as West scored her second in a 6-on-5 situation, followed by goals from Krueger and Blyleven that came just 39 seconds apart and put Stanford up 5-1.
Christi Raycraft broke the streak with an Aggie goal, and another goal, this time from Casie Mota, sandwiched a Silver score that made it 6-3 after eight minutes of play.
UC Davis cut the Stanford lead to two to start the second period, as after the teams traded goals from Gauthier and Lindsay Kiyama, the Aggies' Madeline Stephenson scored to make it a 7-5 game 3:45 before halftime. But the Cardinal were quick to check the Aggie rise, as three straight goals off the hands of Gauthier, Silver, and Holshouser put out the fire and gave Stanford a 10-5 halftime lead.
Stanford would go on to score the only two goals of the third period, getting 6-on-5 scores from Holshouser and Hillman to take a commanding 12-5 lead heading into the final period. Oland, anchoring the Cardinal defense, made three saves in the period to help widen the lead.
There, the Cardinal used another three-goal burst after UC Davis scored the period's opening goal. West, Holshouser, and Blyleven provided the damage for the stretch which punctuated Stanford's victory in the third-place game.
UC Davis - 3 2 0 3 = 8
Stanford - 6 4 2 3 = 15
Stanford Goal Scorers: Holshouser 3, West 3, Blyleven 2, Gauthier 2, Silver 2, Eaton, Hillman, Krueger
UC Davis Goal Scorers: Kiyama 2, Mota 2, Raycraft, Soza, Stephenson, UribeGoalie Saves: Oland 10 (S); Hines 3 (UCD)