March 5, 2010
STANFORD, Calif. - Goalies Amber Oland and Kate Baldoni anchored the Stanford defense by combining for 13 saves and held No. 14 San Diego State scoreless for the final 22:17 Friday as the second-ranked Cardinal rolled to an 11-2 MPSF victory at Avery Aquatic Center.
The dominant defensive effort got the Cardinal (13-1, 2-0 MPSF) back into the win column after it suffered its first defeat of the campaign last Sunday. Stanford will continue on with its four-game weekend Saturday afternoon as it hosts No. 13 UC Irvine at Avery Aquatic Center for a 1 p.m. sprint.
While Oland, who played the opening three periods, and Baldoni, who handled goalie duties in the fourth, starred on the defensive end of the tank, freshman Annika Dries led the Cardinal with three goals on the attack. Pallavi Menon put two in the cage while Cassie Churnside, Kelly Eaton, Kelsey Holshouser, Kim Krueger, Melissa Seidemann and Jessica Steffens all found the back of the cage as well.
For the first three and a half minutes of the game, neither team could get a quality scoring opportunity, but that changed when Krueger rifled a shot from the right wing into the far corner of the cage to give Stanford the first goal of the game.
The Aztecs needed just 1:43 to equalize, as goalie Kelly Campoli made a save and quickly sprang Amber Pezzolla for a breakaway. Pezzolla beat Oland from about two meters out to complete the fast break.
Yet 24 seconds later, the Cardinal struck back on Holshouser's goal with 1:13 left in the first, and the Cardinal took a 2-1 lead after one period of play.
The lead got up to 3-1 just 1:09 into the next frame, as Annika Dries scored from inside, but San Diego State's Melissa de Jockheere would answer with a shot that just managed to crawl over the line after Oland got a hand on it. Yet the Aztecs would not have much time to celebrate as for the second time, Stanford responded to an Aztec goal with a goal of its own, as Dries once again found the back of the net.
The Cardinal would catch a break as San Diego State's Kimmy Keach would clang a five-meter penalty shot off the crossbar with 4:52 to go before halftime, then over a minute later, Steffens would rifle a shot home to make it 5-2 Cardinal, which is how the first half would end.
The second half was all Stanford, as Oland continued making saves and the offense poured three more goals into the Aztec cage. Over a span of 1:59 in the third, Menon would score twice and Eaton once to put Stanford fully in control of the game at 8-2.
Baldoni would take over in the cage at the start of the fourth period, and faced a barrage of Aztec shots but was equal to them all. The freshman from Newport Beach made six saves, while Dries, Seidemann and Churnside all added to the Cardinal goal tally.
San Diego State - 1 1 0 0 = 2
Stanford - 2 3 3 3 = 11
Stanford Goal Scorers: Dries 3, Menon 2, Churnside, Eaton, Holshouser, Krueger, Seidemann, Steffens
San Diego State Goal Scorers: de Jonckheere, Pezzolla
Goalie Saves: Oland 7, Baldoni 6 (S); Campoli 7 (SDSU)