April 17, 2011
BERKELEY, Calif. - Five first-period goals set an immediate tone in Saturday night's Big Splash as top-ranked Stanford clinched the MPSF Championship's top seed with an 8-5 victory at No. 2 California.
The Cardinal (22-0, 6-0 MPSF) will go for a perfect regular season next Friday night, as it honors its senior class of Kim Hall, Kim Krueger and Amber Oland prior to the 6 p.m. contest against San Jose State at Avery Aquatic Center.
By clinching the top seed at the MPSF Championship, set to be held at San Jose State, Stanford will face No. 8 seed Arizona State in the quarterfinal round on Friday, April 29 at 1:30 p.m.
Saturday night, the Cardinal were led by a pair of goals from both Alyssa Lo and Melissa Seidemann, while Cassie Churnside, Kaley Dodson and Pallavi Menon each added a goal.
Senior Amber Oland got the starting call in the cage, where she made six saves while anchoring a defensive effort that held the second-ranked team in the country to just five goals.
Stanford wasted little time jumping on California in the contest. Dodson opened up the scoring just 1:26 into the game, and Dries, Seidemann, Lo and Menon all followed with goals of their own over the next five minutes. With Oland and the Cardinal defense shutting own the Golden Bears, Stanford enjoyed a commanding 5-0 lead just six and a half minutes into the contest.
California would pull one back before the end of the frame, and things would slow down a bit in the second. The Golden Bears would gain some traction with two goals against just one for Stanford, cutting the Cardinal lead to three at 6-3 heading into the halftime break.
But the Stanford defense would re-establish itself in the third period, holding California scoreless while picking up a goal of its own as Seidemann buried a five-meter penalty shot to make it 7-3.
Lo would net her second of the game at the start of the fourth period, getting the Cardinal advantage back to five goals at 8-3. The Stanford defense limited California for much of the frame, allowing just a pair of goals in the final 2:50.
Stanford - 5 1 1 1 = 8
California - 1 2 0 2 = 5
Stanford Goal Scorers: Seidemann 2, A. Lo 2, Churnside, Dodson, Dries, Menon
California Goal Scorers: Vosters 3, McLaren, Young
GOalie Saves: Oland 6 (S); Peckham 12