May 13, 2011
2011 National Collegiate Championship Central
ANN ARBOR, Mich. - No. 1 seed Stanford opened the 2011 National Collegiate Championship with a 22-7 victory over eighth-seeded Iona Friday at Michigan's Canham Natatorium in Ann Arbor, Mich.
The victory advances the Cardinal to Saturday's semifinal round, where it will take on fourth-seeded USC at 1:30 p.m. PT. USC defeated Big West Conference champion UC Irvine 14-9 in Friday's nightcap.
Stanford's 22 goals marked a season-high for 2011, eclipsing the previous high of 19 scored against CS Bakersfield in the UCI Invitational opener in Corona del Mar on Feb. 26.
Melissa Seidemann scored five times to pace the Cardinal in Friday's win. Sisters Alyssa and Kaitlyn Lo each tallied three-goal hat tricks, Kim Krueger and Alexis Lee scored twice, while single goals were scored by Cassie Churnside, Monica Coughlan, Annika Dries, Vee Dunlevie, Jillian Garton, Victoria Kennedy and Pallavi Menon.
Goalies Kate Baldoni and Amber Oland each saw action in the cage Friday. Baldoni got the starting call and played the first, third and fourth periods, making eight saves, while Oland handled the second frame and stopped four shots.
The game began fast and loose as the two offenses combined for nine goals in the opening period. Krueger got the Cardinal on the board just over a minute after the opening sprint, but Iona answered on the ensuing possession off the arm of Maggie Wood.
Dries and Alyssa Lo would score on consecutive trips for the Cardinal to make it 3-1, but once again the Gaels found the back of the cage, Amy Olsen doing the deed this time to halve the Stanford advantage.
But that was as close as the contest would get. Stanford's offense would continue its scoring binge as Seidemann and the Los, Alyssa and Kaitlyn, would add three more goals before the end of the opening frame.
It didn't get any better for Iona as the second period got underway. Seidemann, Churnside and Alyssa Lo all netted goals in the opening 1:33 to put Stanford ahead 9-3 and force an Iona timeout. Five more Cardinal goals made it an eight-goal outburst in the period against just two from Iona, as Oland stopped four Gael shots.
Stanford would go on to score seven more times in the second half to account for its final tally. Baldoni paced a fine second-half defensive effort for Stanford, allowing just two goals and making six saves as the Cardinal cruised to the win.
Iona - 3 2 2 0 = 7
Stanford - 6 8 4 3 = 22
Stanford Goal Scorers: Seidemann 5, A. Lo 3, K. Lo 3, Krueger 2, Lee 2, Churnside, Coughlan, Dries, Dunlevie, Garton, Kennedy, Menon
Iona Goal Scorers: Mone 2, Cody, Leonard, Olson, Turza, Wood
Goalie Saves: Baldoni 8, Oland 4 (S); Link 2, Gaynor 5 (I)