March 25, 2012
Stanford Women's Water Polo Appears in "Destination: Denver"
STANFORD, Calif. - A day after "nerding" it up at the Stanford women's basketball regional semifinal in Fresno, Stanford women's water polo took the Nerd City show to Santa Barbara, defeating No. 14 UCSB, 12-2, Sunday afternoon.
The second-ranked Cardinal (15-1) will finish the road trip tomorrow at 11 a.m., taking on Brown in Santa Barbara.
Sunday marked the Cardinal's return to action following a two-week break for final exams. Seven players scored goals in the win, led by four from freshman Kiley Neushul. Ashley Grossman and Pallavi Menon each scored twice, while Cassie Churnside, Monica Coughlan, Kaley Dodson and Kaitlyn Lo each added goals.
Junior goalie Kate Baldoni made 10 saves in three periods of action before giving way to freshman Emily Dorst, who played the final period.
Nueshul and Churnside got the scoring started in the first period as Stanford took a 2-0 lead inside of five minutes. Santa Barbara pulled one back thanks to Kacey Creek, but Grossman netted a pair in the final 2:08 to put the Cardinal back in control at 4-1 at the end of the frame.
Stanford put the game away with a five-goal second period, while Baldoni, Dorst and the Cardinal defense put the Gaucho offense on lockdown. While Nueshul (two goals), Dodson, Lo and Menon were giving the Cardinal comfortable 9-1 lead, Baldoni and the defense put together a span of 23:31 in which it held the Gauchos off the board.
The Gauchos didn't crack the defense again until 2:41 remained in the contest, but by that time Stanfod had put together a 10-0 run and led 12-1. Menon and Neushul provided third-period goals while Coughlan added the Cardinal's tally in the fourth frame.
Stanford - 4 5 2 1 = 12
UCSB - 1 0 0 1 = 2
Stanford Goal Scorers: Neushul 4, Grossman 2, Menon 2, Churnside, Coughlan, Dodson, K. Lo
UCSB Goal Scorers: Creek, Hofferkamp
Goalie Saves: Baldoni 10, Dorst 0 (S); Milne 14 (UCSB)