Jan. 27, 2013
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - It was five games, five wins for top-ranked Stanford women's water polo this weekend, capped off Sunday with victories over CSU Bakersfield and No. 8 Loyola Marymount at the UCSB Winter Invite in Santa Barbara.
The Cardinal (5-0) defeated CSU Bakersfield 20-3 in the morning before closing the trip with a 14-8 victory over LMU.
Stanford returns home to host the Stanford Invitational next Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 2 and 3. The Cardinal opens the draw Saturday with an exhibition against the Olympic Club at 8:30 a.m., then takes on San Jose State at 4 p.m.
Senior Melissa Seidemann scored six times to lead the Cardinal on the day. Kaley Dodson and Gurpreet Sohi each scored five and Lexie Ross notched four goals as 11 different Cardinal players got on the scoresheet Sunday.
The day opened against MPSF newcomer CSU Bakersfield. The Cardinal stormed right out of the gates with four first-period goals on the way to an 11-2 halftime edge. Once again the Cardinal defense showed its teeth, holding the Roadrunners to just one goal in the second half as the Stanford offense tacked on nine more goals to run away with things.
Freshman Gabby Stone made her collegiate debut in the cage, stopping eight shots to anchor the defense. On the other side of the pool, Ross led all Cardinal players with four goals, Seidemann and Sohi each netted three, Kaley Dodson, Lo and Anna Yelizarova scored twice apiece while Cory Dodson, Rachel Johnson, Kiley Neushul and Maggie Steffens each added a goal.
Another fast start boosted the Cardinal in the afternoon against Loyola Marymount, as five first-period goals put the Lions in an early 5-2 hole. However the Lions scored twice in the second frame and held the Cardinal to just a lone score to close to within 6-4 at the break.
At this point the defense again stepped up, holding the Lions scoreless in the third period while the offense fired home six times to go up 12-4. Four LMU goals in the final frame were not enough and the Cardinal sewed up the perfect opening weekend to the campaign.
Kaley Dodson and Seidemann scored three times apiece to lead the Cardinal. The freshman trio of Sohi, Steffens and Yelizarova each scored twice while Neushul and Kelsey Suggs each scored a goal.
In the cage, Kate Baldoni got the start and made five saves before Emily Dorst came on in relief, stopping three shots.
CSU Bakersfield - 1 1 0 1 = 3
Stanford - 4 7 5 4 = 20
Stanford Goal Scorers: Ross 4, Seidemann 3, Sohi 3, K. Dodson 2, Lo 2, Yelizarova 2, C. Dodson, Johnson, Neushul, Steffens
CSU Bakersfield Goal Scorers: Hill, Shead, Tsuruda
Goalie Saves: Stone 8 (S); Morisaki 0 (CSUB)
Loyola Marymount - 2 2 0 4 = 8
Stanford - 5 1 6 2 = 14
Stanford Goal Scorers: K. Dodson 3, Seidemann 3, Sohi 2, Steffens 2, Yelizarova 2, Neushul, Suggs
Loyola Marymount Goal Scorers: Beck 2, Castro, Cerda, Hill, Lopez, Morelos, Smith
Goalie Saves: Baldoni 5, Dorst 3 (S); White 6 (LMU)