Oct. 2, 2011
SoCal Tournament Central
LOS ALAMITOS, Calif. - No. 4 Stanford men's water polo captured its first SoCal Tournament title since 2002 with wins over top-ranked USC and No. 3 California Sunday at the Los Alamitos Joint Forces Training Base. The Cardinal capped off the tournament victory with a 10-9 overtime decision over the Golden Bears.
The Cardinal (7-2) earned a measure of revenge on the Trojans and Golden Bears Sunday, as USC and California dealt Stanford its only defeats this season two weeks ago at the NorCal Invitational. In Sunday's semifinal round, the Cardinal defeated USC, 6-4.
Stanford opens up its home schedule next weekend, hosting No. 5 Pepperdine at 7 p.m. Friday night, Oct. 7, then taking on No. 9 UC Santa Barbara at 12 noon Sunday, Oct. 9.
Freshman Alex Bowen scored six goals Sunday, all of them coming in the title game. Among Bowen's six goals was the tournament-winner, scored with 42 seconds to go in the second overtime session. Forrest Watkins continued his productive weekend with four goals, Jacob Smith scored twice and Alex Avery, Andrew LaForge, Paul Rudolph and Peter Sefton all added goals.
Goalie Brian Pingree anchored a fine Cardinal defensive performance by making a combined 17 saves Sunday. Pingree and the rest of the Cardinal defense held California scoreless the entire six minutes of overtime in the title game and held USC to just four goals, its lowest output of the season, in the semifinals.
Two weeks ago the Cardinal and Golden Bears faced off in the third-place game of the NorCal Invitational in Stockton, a matchup that ended with California scoring the final two goals late in the game to capture the 8-7 win. Sunday's contest was yet another tightly-contested meeting between the two schools, one in which the Cardinal never trailed.
Yet while Stanford took the lead on five different occasions, California continued to answer. Smith's five-meter penalty goal with 4:05 remaining in the contest gave Stanford an 8-6 lead, but within 1:50 of game time California's Aleksa Saponjic netted twice to knot things up at 8-8. Bowen's fifth goal of the game, this time on the 6-on-5, put Stanford back ahead 9-8 with 1:53 to go, but California's Cory Nasoff equalized with 1:07 remaining.
The defenses would hold up over the final 1:07, and continued to hold firm into the overtime sessions. Stanford fought off a man-down situation near the end of the first three-minute extra session, and Bowen finally broke the deadlock by scoring with 42 seconds left on the clock. Pingree and the Cardinal defense would make it stand, denying California's final opportunity.
Along with Bowen's six goals, Watkins scored twice, including the game's opener, while Avery and Smith added a goal apiece.
Pingree made 10 saves in the contest to highlight the defensive effort.
Sunday morning's semifinal between Stanford and USC was a rematch of the NorCal Invitational semifinal round from two weeks ago in Stockton. After suffering a 12-5 loss to the Trojans that day, the Cardinal returned the favor in Sunday's meeting, dealing USC its first setback of the 2011 season with a 6-4 decision.
This time, Stanford controlled the flow of the contest, never trailing throughout and forcing USC to play catch-up. Five players scored in the win, led by Watkins' two goals, and on the defensive end, a collective team effort highlighted by Pingree's seven saves limited the potent Trojan offense to a season-low four goals.
Rudolph got the scoring started just 1:34 into the game, but USC's Nikola Vavic would answer just 30 seconds later. Those goals would end up being the only ones of the frame, but a fast start to the second period led to Stanford taking a 2-1 lead thanks to Watkins' first goal 35 seconds into the stanza.
The defenses would take center stage for much of the contest, as the first half featured just five goals with Stanford holding a 3-2 advantage. The Cardinal took the lead five times in the contest, and USC would answer the first four occasions with an equalizer. It wasn't until Watkins found the net again, this time with 2:33 remaining in the contest, that Stanford took the lead for good at 5-4. While Pingree and the Cardinal defense would do its part and keep the Trojans out of the net, on the offensive half Smith iced the game by scoring with 41 seconds left to make it 6-4 Cardinal.
Stanford - 1 1 2 2 = 6
USC - 1 2 0 1 = 4
Stanford Goal Scorers: Watkins 2, LaForge, Rudolph, Sefton, Smith
USC Goal Scorers: Genidounias 2, Kurzeka, Vavic
Goalie Saves: Pingree 7 (S); Dennerley 12 (USC)
Stanford - 3 2 2 2 0-1 = 10
California - 2 1 3 3 0-0 = 9
Stanford Goal Scorers: Bowen 6, Watkins 2, Avery, Smith
California Goal Scorers: A. Saponjic 3, Rackov 2, Balarin, Gettelfinger, Nasoff, Smith
Goalie Saves: Pingree 10 (S); Parsons 9 (C)