April 22, 2011
STANFORD, Calif. - Top-ranked Stanford women's water polo sent its seniors off in style Saturday night, rolling past No. 7 San Jose State, 17-5, at Avery Aquatic Center.
The win gives Stanford (23-0, 7-0 MPSF) its second straight undefeated season at home, extending the team's streak to 24 straight wins at Avery Aquatic Center.
The Cardinal, which clinched the top seed at the MPSF Championship last weekend, will begin tournament play next Friday, April 29 at 1:30 p.m. against No. 8 seed Arizona State. The MPSF Championship is set to take place Friday through Sunday, April 29-May 1 at San Jose State.
Stanford got goals from nine different players in Saturday's win. Cassie Churnside, Annika Dries and Melissa Seidemann each scored three times, Kim Krueger and Pallavi Menon each scored a pair, and single goals were added by Monica Coughlan, Victoria Kennedy, Kaitlyn Lo and Amber Oland, who made a cameo in the field late in the game.
Oland also saw a quarter and a half of action in the cage to complete her eventful Senior Night, making six saves and allowing just one goal. Sophomore Kate Baldoni got the starting call Friday night and made eight saves before Oland took over to start the second half, then fellow senior Kim Hall made a pair of saves in the final four minutes.
Just like last week at California, the Cardinal jumped out to a quick lead that put its opponent on its heels. Menon, Dries and Seidemann all scored within the first 5:32 of the contest to give the Cardinal a 3-0 lead. Ally Waasted answered with a goal for the Spartans with 40 seconds to go in the period, but Menon notched her second with seven seconds left to start a 4-0 Cardinal run.
Churnside, Coughlan and Lo continued the run into the second period before Dani Curran pulled one back for the Spartans to make it 7-2 at the half.
Another Cardinal run opened up the second half. Within the first 2:20 of the third period Krueger, Dries and Churnside brought the Stanford advantage to 10-2. Churnside added an additional goal two minutes later to make it 11-2 in Stanford's favor.
The Stanford defense continued to hold the Spartans down as the offense continued its roll, getting the advantage up to 15-3 in the opening minutes of the fourth frame. At this point, Hall came on in relief of Oland, who switched caps to wear No. 16, and thrilled the crowd by scoring her first collegiate goal by converting a five-meter penalty with 1:20 remaining in the contest.
San Jose State - 1 1 1 2 = 5
Stanford - 4 3 6 4 = 17
Stanford Goal Scorers: Churnside 3, Dries 3, Seidemann 3, Krueger 2, Menon 2, Coughlan, Kennedy, K. Lo, Oland
San Jose State Goal Scorers: Methvin 2, Curran, Vogt, Waasted
Goalie Saves: Baldoni 8, Oland 6, Hall 2 (S); Minson 7, Lewis 0 (SJSU)