April 9, 2011
STANFORD, Calif. - It took a late surge of goals to settle the outcome Saturday night, but in the end the top-ranked Stanford women's water polo team held off No. 5 Hawai'i, 10-8, at Avery Aquatic Center for the program's 21st straight win.
Stanford (21-0, 5-0 MPSF) heads to Berkeley next Saturday night for the Big Splash, set for a 7 p.m. start. The contest between the Cardinal and Golden Bears will also determine the top seed for the MPSF Championship which takes place from April 29-May 1 at San Jose State.
Hawai'i dropped to 13-7 overall and 3-3 in MPSF play with the loss.
Annika Dries scored three times for the Cardinal in Saturday's win, while Kaley Dodson, Jillian Garton and Melissa Seidemann each scored twice. Kim Krueger added a goal as well.
In the cage, sophomore Kate Baldoni got the starting call and made six saves and allowed three goals in the opening half. Senior Amber Oland took over in the cage at the start of the second half, stopping five shots and yielding four goals before fellow senior Kim Hall came on for the final minutes of the game.
Things got off to a slow start on the scoreboard for the Cardinal Saturday night. Despite drawing two five-meter penalty shots in the game's opening minutes, the Cardinal could not convert either. Additional scoring chances were snuffed out by Rainbow Wahine goalie Serena Bredin, who made five of her 10 saves in the opening period.
Hawai'i would get on the board first as Monika Eggens scored the first of her three goals on the night at the 4:01 mark. Stanford would go scoreless in the opening frame and finally managed to equalize 53 seconds into the second period on Dries' goal from the hole.
A missile from Krueger at the right wing pulled the Cardinal ahead just over two minutes later, but Eggens would score twice in a 36-second span to put the Rainbow Wahine back in front with 3:02 to go before halftime.
Dries brought the Cardinal even once more just 14 seconds later, and Garton gave the Cardinal a 4-3 lead with 2:11 to go in the frame. The score would stay there as the teams went into halftime.
Saara Majuri evened things up just 55 seconds into the second half for the Rainbow Wahine with a shot from the point. Stanford would answer with two straight goals, the first from Seidemann at 4:02 and the second from Dodson at 2:56. Hawai'i's Kelly McKee was able to pull one back for the Rainbow Wahine, though, 13 seconds before the horn to make it 6-5 heading into the final period.
For the second straight period Hawai'i would strike first to tie up the game, as Monique Wilson found the near post from a tough angle with 6:50 remaining in the contest. After trading possessions, Stanford would go back in front as Krueger found Seidemann facing an open net and the Walnut Creek native finished superbly, giving the Cardinal a 7-6 lead.
The Cardinal would not relinquish that lead, outscoring the Rainbow Wahine 3-2 the rest of the way, and stretching the lead to 10-7 before Hawai'i netted a consolation score with four seconds left.
Hawai'i - 1 2 2 3 = 8
Stanford - 0 4 2 4 = 10
Stanford Goal Scorers: Dries 3, Dodson 2, Garton 2, Seidemann 2, Krueger
Hawai'i Goal Scorers: M. Eggens 3, Majuri 3, McKee, Wilson
Goalie Saves: Baldoni 6, Oland 5, Hall 0 (S); Bredin 10 (H)