May 1, 2011
SAN JOSE, Calif. - A day after suffering its first setback of the 2011 campaign, top-ranked Stanford bounced back to claim third place at the MPSF Championship Sunday with a 15-5 rout of host San Jose State.
Stanford (25-1) will now await word on its seeding at the National Collegiate Championship, set for May 13-15 in Ann Arbor, Mich. The Cardinal is expected to earn an at-large berth into the draw.
Still steaming from Saturday's loss to UCLA, the Cardinal took out its frustrations on the Spartans, scoring seven straight goals to open the contest. San Jose State, which surprised the field with a quarterfinal upset of No. 3 Hawai'i followed by a high-scoring 13-10 loss to California in the semifinals, did not get on the board until the third period and could not recover from the early Stanford onslaught.
Goalies Kate Baldoni and Amber Oland each played a half in the win. Baldoni started the contest and blanked the Spartans while making nine saves over the first two periods. Oland came on and stopped five shots in the second half.
Pallavi Menon scored a game-high six goals to lead all players Sunday. Kaley Dodson and Annika Dries each scored twice, while Vee Dunlevie, Kim Krueger, Alyssa Lo, Melissa Seidemann and Kelsey Suggs each scored a goal.
After the first 2:20 of Sunday's game, Stanford already held a 3-0 lead thanks to goals from Dries, Krueger and Lo. Menon netted her first of the game with 55 seconds left in the opening frame to make it 4-0 Cardinal.
Baldoni was busy on her end as well, making seven saves in the first period to maintain the Stanford advantage.
The defense owned the first five minutes of the second period until Menon broke through for Stanford 2:55 before halftime. Dunlevie tacked on a fifth with 16 seconds left to give Stanford a 5-0 lead at the break.
Menon would score again just 24 seconds into the second half before Timi Molnar finally got the Spartans on the board. But by then it was too late, as Stanford scored five of the next six goals to make it 12-2.
San Jose State - 0 0 2 3 = 5
Stanford - 4 2 5 4 = 15
Stanford Goal Scorers: Menon 6, Dodson 2, Dries 2, Dunlevie, Krueger, A. Lo, Seidemann, Suggs
San Jose State Goal Scorers: Molnar 2, Stewart, Vogt, Waasted
Goalie Saves: Baldoni 9, Oland 5 (S); Minson 12, Lewis 4 (SJSU)