March 24, 2009
SAN DIEGO, Calif. - Despite finding itself in an unfamiliar position early in Tuesday's game, specifically, trailing 2-0 after the opening four minutes, the top-ranked Stanford women's water polo team quickly re-established itself and rolled to an 11-5 victory over No. 16 UC San Diego.
Kelly Eaton and Lauren Silver each scored twice for the Cardinal, which won its 14th in a row and improved to 17-1 on the season. The Tritons fell to 6-12 with the loss.
Koree Blyleven, Kira Hillman, Kelsey Holshouser, Alex Koran, Kim Krueger, Pallavi Menon and Melissa Seidemann all scored individual goals in the victory as well.
In the cage, Kim Hall went the distance for the second consecutive game and made five saves.
UC San Diego took early control of the contest, finding the back of the cage twice within the opening 2:27. Stephanie Heinrich and Sydney Gstettenbauer got the Tritons on the board for the quick start.
But Stanford would wake up and bounce back, as Silver got the scoring started with 3:54 remaining in the period to halve the deficit. Blyleven would equalize 49 seconds later for the Cardinal, and with 24 seconds left in the period, Hillman's lone goal of the day put Stanford ahead, 3-2.
Gstettenbauer knotted things up once again at 3-3 with a goal at the 5:38 mark of the second period, but that was the last time Stanford would not possess the lead on the day. The Cardinal got goals from Koran, Krueger and Holshouser over the final 5:09 of the first half to take a 6-3 lead into the break.
The goal-scoring run would continue as the second half got underway, with Eaton notching her first of the day 1:27 into the third period, and Seidemann finding the back of the cage with 4:25 to go to put Stanford up 8-3. UCSD's Rebecca Gearty would break the run with a goal with 3:20 left, but the Cardinal would respond with three consecutive goals over the end of the third period and lasting until the Tritons scored with seven seconds remaining to provide the final margin.
Stanford continues its Spring Break road trip Wednesday afternoon, taking on No. 5 San Diego State at 4 p.m. in San Diego.
Stanford - 3 3 3 2 = 11
UCSD - 2 1 1 1 = 5
Stanford Goal Scorers: Eaton 2, Silver 2, Blyleven, Hillman, Holshouser, Koran, Krueger, Menon, Seidemann
UCSD Goal Scorers: Gstettenbauer 2, Crowell, Gearty, Heinrich
Goalie Saves: Hall 7 (S)