LONG BEACH, Calif. –Stanford is the toast of the MPSF. The Cardinal won the program’s fifth league championship, and first since 2004, with a 9-8 victory over tournament hosts and No. 4 seed Long Beach State on Sunday evening.
Stanford’s title can be added to the mantle alongside its MPSF crowns in 1994, 1998, 2001 and 2004. The Cardinal, the nation’s No. 2 team and the conference’s second seed, claimed the league’s automatic berth into the NCAA Championships in San Diego, Calif. Dec. 6-7 and will be making back-to-back postseason appearances for the first time since it went five straight years from 2001 to 2005.
After seven consecutive years of Southern California dominance at the MPSF Tournament, Stanford (25-3) broke USC and UCLA’s run by becoming the first of the conference’s northern brethren to win the title since California in 2006.
In a back-and-forth affair that saw six ties and four lead changes, it was BJ Churnside’s two fourth-quarter goals that put Stanford over the top. Trailing 8-7 with 4:15 to go, Churnside put home an exclusion goal with 3:45 on the clock to bring this level for the final time.
The Cardinal drew an exclusion on Ricardo Guimares with 0:32 left and called timeout. With just 15 ticks to go, Churnside rattled the cage with the game winner and in the process produced his fifth hat trick of the season and first since Oct. 18 against USC.
.@StanfordMWP tops @49erWaterPolo 9-8 in a fantastic finish to win the MPSF title in Long Beach. pic.twitter.com/QVkL6IOEby
— USA Water Polo (@USAWP) November 24, 2014
The junior seems to thrive down the stretch in close games. In that aforementioned victory over USC, Churnside scored three of his four goals in the game’s final five minutes, breaking deadlocks at 8-8, 9-9 and finally 10-10 to propel Stanford to the 11-10 victory.
On Sunday, the 49ers (22-7) leapt out to a 2-0 lead and held that advantage after the first quarter. But the Cardinal responded by scoring the game’s next four to take a 4-2 edge, the largest advantage for either squad on the day.
Nick Hoversten started the spurt with a 6-on-5 goal at 7:05 in the second. Churnside followed with a power play score of his own (4:15) and Alex Bowen put the first of his three home with 0:09 until the horn to give Stanford a 3-2 lead at the break.
Bowen scored again at 5:19 in the third period before the teams would exchange on the next three goals. Zacchary Kappos scored for Long Beach State (4:41), Bret Bonanni followed by Stanford (3:02) and Kappos again answered for the 49ers (1:44).
In the final minute of the third quarter, three goals were scored, two by Long Beach State and one from Bowen (0:22) to even things up, 6-6, heading into the final frame.
Adam Abdulhamid led off the stanza for the Cardinal at 5:50, but the 49ers scored two more at 5:27 and 4:15 to set up Churnside’s heroics.
The hat trick for Alex Bowen was his second of the tournament after scoring four in Saturday’s semifinal win over USC and was his 10th of the season.
@stanfordmwp wins MPSF Championship!
A photo posted by KAP7 (@kap7international) on Nov 11, 2014 at 5:42pm PST
Drew Holland made 16 saves in the cage while facing 32 Long Beach State shots.
Stanford joins fellow conference champions UCSD (WWPA), Whittier (SCIAC) and Brown (CWPA) as the schools to earn automatic berths into the NCAA Championships. The other two at-large selections will be announced tomorrow morning via a press release at 6 a.m. PT.
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Bowen was named the MPSF/Kap7 Tournament MVP for the critical role he played in Stanford's championship. He scored once in the quarterfinals against Pepperdine, a single-game tournament high four times in the semifinal against No. 3 USC, and three more goals in the championship over No. 4 Long Beach State. He has 10 hat tricks on the year and 57 goals (2.04 GPG), ranking ninth in the MPSF heading to the NCAA Tournament.
He was joined on the All-Tournament Team by teammates Bret Bonanni, BJ Churnside and Drew Holland.
No. 2 Stanford vs. No. 4 Long Beach State
Nov. 23, 2014 • Long Beach, Calif.
LBSU 2– 0 – 4 – 2 = 8
STAN 0 – 3 – 3 – 3 = 9
Stanford Goals: Alex Bowen 3, BJ Churnside 3, Adam Abdulhamid, Bret Bonanni, Nick Hoversten
Stanford Saves: Drew Holland 16
Long Beach State Goals: Zacchary Kappos 3, Nolan McConnell 2, Joey Fabian, Ricardo Guimares, Dan Matulis
Long Beach State Saves: Pavo Ljepopio 6