April 26, 2009
HONOLULU, Hawai'i - Second-ranked Stanford had to play catch-up once again opposite No. 3 UCLA, and the Cardinal got the same result once more as it battled to an 11-10 overtime victory over the Bruins in the semifinal round of the MPSF Tournament Saturday at Hawai'i's Duke Kahanmoku Aquatic Complex.
Alex Koran came through once more with the clutch goals for Stanford (24-2), netting the equalizer with 2:23 left in the final period of regulation then scoring the lone goal in overtime to lift the Cardinal to the win.
Lauren Silver registered a hat trick to leas the Cardinal in scoring on the day, while Melissa Seidemann also scored twice and individual goals were scored by Koree Blyleven, Kira Hillman, Kelsey Holshouser and Heather West.
Amber Oland made 10 saves in the game to anchor the Cardinal defense.
The teams traded goals in the opening period as Seidemann and West netted the first scores for the Cardinal, but UCLA would jump ahead 3-2 at the end of the period thanks to a score from Megan Burmeister.
Stanford and UCLA would continue the trend of trading goals in the second period, each scoring twice as the Bruins took a 5-4 lead into the break.
UCLA would extend its lead to 6-4 to start the second half before Stanford answered with a goal from Blyleven to cut the deficit to one at 6-5. Stanford would battle back to tie things up at 7-7 thanks to a goal from Silver, but UCLA's Tanya Gandy would then convert her second five-meter penalty shot of the contest to put UCLA back in front by one at 8-7.
At the start of the fourth period, Gandy scored on her third five-meter penalty shot, once more putting UCLA up by a pair, this time at 9-7. Yet Stanford fought back, as Hillman netted a goal followed by Silver converting a five-meter penalty of her own to knot things up at 9-9.
With under four minutes to play in the contest, the Bruins were once again awarded a five-meter penalty shot, and for the fourth time Gandy converted, this time putting the Bruins up 10-9. But Koran would net her first goal soon after, scoring with 2:23 remaining to tie things up at 10-10. The score would hold there through the end of regulation.
In overtime, the teams stalemated for much of the two periods, but Stanford would finally break through with 2:05 to play as Koran put the Cardinal in front with her second of the game, and it would hold, sending the Cardinal into the MPSF Tournament title game.
Stanford will now face top seed USC Sunday in the title game, with the opening sprint set for 8 p.m. PT.
UCLA - 3 2 3 2 0-0 = 10
Stanford - 2 2 3 3 0-1 = 11
Stanford Goal Scorers: Silver 3, Koran 2, Seidemann 2, Blyleven, Hillman, Holshouser, West
UCLA Goal Scorers: Gandy 4, Rulon 3, Belden, Burmeister, Clark
Goalie Saves: Oland 10 (S); Fullen 8 (UCLA)