May 1, 2010
MPSF Tournament Central
LOS ANGELES, Calif. - The upset bug snuck up and bit No. 1 Stanford Saturday afternoon as the Cardinal dropped a 7-6 decision to No. 5 seed UCLA in the MPSF Tournament semifinals at UCLA's Spieker Aquatic Center.
With the loss, Stanford (23-2) is relegated to Sunday's third-place game, where it will face California. The game is set to start at 1:30 p.m.
Melissa Seidemann scored twice for the second day in a row, while additional Cardinal goals were scored by Kelsey Holshouser, Alex Koran, Pallavi Menon and Jessica Steffens.
Amber Oland got the start in the cage and made nine saves.
Saturday's game got off to a fast start as the teams combined to score five times in the opening four minutes of action. UCLA's Grace Reynolds got the scoring started just 1:26 into the game, but a pair of goals from Seidemann and Koran in a span of 43 seconds put the Cardinal in front, 2-1, with 5:30 left in the opening frame.
UCLA would equalize just over a minute later as Megan Burmeister found the back of the cage but once again Seidemann responded, putting Stanford back in front at 3-2 with exactly four minutes left in the period.
The teams would go scoreless into the next period, before UCLA tied things up with 5:40 to play in the half. Yet once again, Stanford quickly answered and re-established the lead as Menon scored 33 seconds later to make it 4-3 in the Cardinal's favor.
Things would stay that way as the first half came to a close. Stanford would extend its lead to 5-3 just 27 seconds into the third period thanks to Holshouser's effort, taking the first multi-goal lead of the game.
But this time it was UCLA's turn to respond, and the Bruins replied with three four straight goals while holding the Cardinal scoreless over the next 12:36. Stanford finally got back on the board with 2:57 remaining on the contest as Steffens lobbed a shot past UCLA goalie Caitlin Dement.
That would be how things ended for the Cardinal though, as Stanford was unable to take advantage of a late 6-on-5 and saw a pass inside get tipped away and stolen on its final possession.
UCLA - 2 1 3 1 = 7
Stanford - 3 1 1 1 = 6
Stanford Goal Scorers: Seidemann 2, Holshouser, Koran, Menon, Steffens
UCLA Goal Scorers: Burmeister, Clark, Easterday, Greenwood, P. Orozco, S. Orozco, Reynolds
Goalie Saves: Oland 9 (S); Dement 11 (UCLA)