Feb. 27, 2011
IRVINE, Calif. - Goalies Kate Baldoni and Amber Oland grabbed the spotlight from the offense of No. 1 Stanford Sunday, as the defensive pair starred in the Cardinal's sweep to the UCI Invitational title with wins of 10-5 and 9-6 over No. 5 Hawai'i and No. 2 USC, respectively, Sunday at Anteater Pool in Irvine.
The tournament title was Stanford's second in three years in Irvine. The Cardinal returns to action next weekend, opening the MPSF schedule with a 1 p.m. contest at San Diego State on Saturday, March 5, then visiting Long Beach State for a 12 p.m. contest Sunday.
Baldoni and Oland split Sunday's contests, with Oland making eight saves in the morning victory over the Rainbow Wahine. Baldoni would get the call in the title game, anchoring the defense by stopping 14 Trojan shots.
On the offensive side of things, Kim Krueger scored five times over the two games, highlighted by a four-goal effort against Hawai'i. Annika Dries scored four of her own in the title game victory against USC. Alyssa Lo and Melissa Seidemann each scored three times on the day.
Stanford took command early on in the championship game against USC, taking a 2-1 lead following the opening frame then stretching it to 5-2 by halftime.
With Baldoni holding things down in the cage, the Cardinal offense continued its assault on the other end. Three more goals in the third period against just a pair for USC gave Stanford an 8-4 advantage. Baldoni and the defense would take care of making sure USC didn't threaten over the final eight minutes while the offense added an insurance goal.
Along with the four goals from Dries, Stanford got individual goals from Krueger, Lo, Seidemann, Cassie Churnside and Pallavi Menon.
In the morning, Stanford actually found itself in the relatively unfamiliar position of having to play from behind after Hawai'i took a 2-0 lead after the opening frame. The Cardinal offense would awaken, though, with three unanswered goals in the second period, with Oland holding the Rainbow Wahine scoreless over the eight minutes to give Stanford a 3-2 lead at the break.
Five third-period goals against just one for Hawai'i gave the Cardinal an 8-3 lead and made things academic. Each team would score twice in the final frame as the Cardinal booked passage to the title game.
Krueger's four goals in the contest were complimented by two apiece from Lo and Seidemann, while Jillian Garton and Victoria Kennedy each added a goal.
Hawai'i - 2 0 1 2 = 5
Stanford - 0 3 5 2 = 10
Stanford Goal Scorers: Krueger 4, A. Lo 2, Seidemann 2, Garton, Kennedy
Hawai'i Goal Scorers: D. Genee, Lewis, Majuri, McKee, Van Der Molen
Goalie Saves: Oland 8 (S); Bredin 6 (H)
USC - 1 1 2 2 = 6
Stanford - 2 3 3 1 = 9
Stanford Goal Scorers: Dries 4, Churnside, Krueger, A. Lo, Menon, Seidemann
USC Goal Scorers: Bekhazi 2, Dronberger 2, Jancso, Van Norman
Goalie Saves: Baldoni 14 (S); Bolonyai 7 (USC)