Nov. 28, 2010
STANFORD, Calif. - Fourth-seeded Stanford's upset run in the MPSF Tournament ended in heartbreak Sunday evening, as a sudden-death goal from USC in the third overtime period ended the Cardinal season in an 8-7 MPSF Championship Game defeat at Avery Aquatic Center.
USC's Nikola Vavic scored with 2:04 left in the second sudden death period to give second-seeded USC (28-2) the automatic berth into next weekend's NCAA Championships.
Stanford ends the season with a 15-8 record and runner-up finish at the MPSF Tournament. The Cardinal finished 5-3 in MPSF play.
Jacob Smith scored twice to lead the Cardinal Sunday, including a key five-meter penalty shot goal that tied things up at 6-6 in overtime. Sage Wright scored the goal that sent the game into sudden death just 14 seconds before the end of the second overtime session.
Ryan Kent, Peter Sefton, Jeffrey Schwimer and Forrest Watkins each added a goal in the contest.
Defensively, Brian Pingree made 11 saves while his USC counterpart, Joel Dennerley, stopped 12 shots.
Stanford fought back from three one-goal deficits over the final period of regulation and the first two overtime sessions. USC had taken leads of 2-0 and 3-1 in the first period, but Stanford had fought back to tie things up at 3-3 until USC found the back of the cage near the end of the third period.
Trailing 4-3 entering the final eight minutes of regulation, the Cardinal tied it up at 4-4 with 6:42 to go on Sefton's score, then took the lead at 5-4 as Schwimer scored with the shot clock winding down at 4:45.
The Cardinal would lead for just over three minutes until USC's Matthew Burton netted the equalizer on a breakaway with 1:18 remaining.
Both teams traded goals in the two three-minute overtime periods, each time Stanford answering a USC goal with just seconds remaining on the clock. USC's Peter Kurzeka netted the first goal of overtime in the first session, but Schwimer would earn a five-meter penalty with seven seconds left in the frame, which Smith buried.
In the second session, USC would score 45 seconds in, before Wright finally netted the Cardinal equalizer with just 14 seconds remaining.
Neither team could crack the other's defense during the first sudden-death period. Stanford had the best chance of the frame when Wright broke free to the left of the cage only to have Dennerley make the save.
After Stanford won the opening sprint of the second sudden death and failed to find the net, Vavic ended the game on USC's first possession to give the Trojans the conference title.
Stanford 1 1 1 2 1-1 0 0 = 7
USC 3 0 1 1 1-1 0 1 = 8
Stanford Goal Scorers - Smith 2, Kent 1, Sefton 1, Schwimer 1, Watkins 1, Wright 1
USC Goal Scorers - Burton 2, Kurzeka 2, Preuss 1, Rosenthal 1, Vavic 1, Virjee 1
Goalie Saves: Pingree 11 (S); Dennerley 12 (USC)