April 26, 2009
HONOLULU, Hawai'i - The No. 2 Stanford women's water polo team had the MPSF Tournament title within its grasp in Sunday night's final against top-ranked USC, but saw it slip away as the Women of Troy scored three goals in the final 4:54 to erase a two-goal deficit and defeat the Cardinal 6-5 at Hawai'i's Duke Kahanamoku Aquatic Complex.
The Cardinal (24-3) held leads of 3-0 after the opening period and 5-3 with 4:54 to play in the contest, but could not put away the Women of Troy, which scored six of the game's final seven goals to capture the tournament title and the MPSF's automatic berth to the 2009 National Collegiate Championship, set for May 8-10 in College Park, Md.
Kelly Eaton and Kira Hillman each scored twice in the game for Stanford, while senior Lauren Silver added a goal.Amber Oland made nine saves in the game to highlight the play of the Cardinal defense.
Eaton and Hillman scored within 54 seconds of each other around the halfway mark of the opening period to put Stanford up 2-0. The Cardinal defense would also star in the opening eight minutes, killing off its only penalty of the frame as Oland also stopped four shots. Hillman would cap the period by scoring a 6-on-5 goal with 33 seconds remaining to give the Cardinal a three-goal advantage after the first period.
The defenses would take over much of the second period, as neither team could crack the other over the first six-plus minutes. Stanford would finally break through with 1:43 to go in the half as Eaton converted on the power play.
Things looked to be going Stanford's way as it held a 4-0 lead, but a late ejection called against Alyssa Lo with 30 seconds remaining would allow USC's Kristen Dronberger to convert on the player-advantage 15 seconds later to make it 4-1 going into the break.
USC continued chipping away at the Cardinal lead in the third period, as Michelle Stein scored both USC goals in the frame. Stein netted the first with 3:26 remaining, scoring just two seconds after Eaton came back into play following an ejection, then got the second with 21 seconds left before the end of the frame.
Stanford would break its scoring drought with the first goal of the final period, as Silver scored with 4:54 remaining, and two seconds after Stein's ejection expired. Yet USC would strike once more just as a Stanford ejection had expired, as Heather West had just entered back into the field of play as Dronberger tallied her second score of the game.
With its lead down to one at 5-4, Stanford was unable to re-establish its two-goal advantage. With the teams playing 5-on-5 after a double ejection, the Cardinal was called for a foul that gave USC a five-meter penalty shot with 2:18 to play. Stein would convert the shot to knot things up at 5-5.
Stanford was unable to capitalize on a Forel Davies ejection with just under two minutes to play, and the tie last into the game's final minute. There, with 47 seconds remaining, Davies would fire one in from the right side to give USC its first lead of the game at 6-5.
The Cardinal's final offensive attack would be unsuccessful, and the Women of Troy would take possession and run out the clock.
Stanford, which is in a favorable position to gain an at-large berth to the 2009 National Collegiate Championship, will now await word on its seeding and first opponent at the draw.
Stanford - 3 1 0 1 = 5
USC - 0 1 2 3 = 6
Stanford Goal Scorers: Eaton 2, Hillman 2, Silver
USC Goal Scorers: Stein 3, Dronberger 2, Davies
Goalie Saves: Oland 9 (S); Anae 10 (USC)