LOS ANGELES – Shannon Cleary posted her third career hat trick, four of her teammates had two-score efforts and No. 2 Stanford tallied the game's first seven goals to beat No. 7 UC Santa Barbara in an NCAA quarterfinal on Friday afternoon, 12-5. With the win, the Cardinal advances to tomorrow's semifinals against tournament host and No. 3 UCLA at 5:15 p.m.
"We knew to be successful against this team we would have to be really mobile, especially on defense and I was really excited about how well we came out," Stanford's Dunlevie Family Director of Women's Water Polo John Tanner said. "I felt Shannon (Cleary), as usual, was determined, relentless and attacking and got herself in position and then did a great job finishing when she had those chances. She epitomizes our work ethic and the movement we needed today."
Cleary ignited a run of seven consecutive Stanford (22-5) goals when she scored the game's first, beating UCSB goalkeeper Mackenzie Brokaw to the far post. Kat Klass found the same far post with a lob less than a minute later (4:22) before Gurpreet Sohi scored two straight.
Jamie Neushul beat her defender then kicked it back out to Sohi who took dead aim from the middle of the pool. It was Sohi again on Stanford's first possession of the second quarter when she took a cross pass from Berggren and buried it in the back of the cage.
Dani Jackovich went to her backhand to keep the Cardinal on a roll and the opening spurt was capped with back-to-back scores from Berggren. The lefty used a cross-cage lob at 5:20 in the second quarter and then took a more conventional approach to slip one past Brokaw at the near post at 4:30 to stake Stanford to a 7-0 lead.
UCSB (18-13) got on the board with 2:28 remaining in the first half, but Stanford responded in the form of goals from Cleary (2:22) and Jackovich (1:52) to lead 9-1 at the break. Cleary scored her second of the afternoon by mimicking Jackovich's earlier backhand with one of her own. On the Cardinal's next possession, Neushul took a cross pass and laid it off for Jackovich with one touch.
Klass and Cleary added to Stanford's lead in the third and senior Rachel Johnson scored her eighth of the season in the fourth quarter.
Julia Hermann was stout in the cage, limiting the Gauchos to five goals on 27 shots. She made 12 saves and is averaging more than 11 in her last three games. With 225 stops this season, only Amber Oland (239; 2008) and Meridith McColl (226; 2006) have more for the Cardinal since 2001.
Neushul, Cassidy Papa and Jordan Raney each had three assists while Berggren added three steals to go along with her two goals.
Cleary's offensive output puts her at 21 goals this season and the Cardinal now boasts nine players with 20 or more goals for the second consecutive year. Prior to last season, that hadn't happened at Stanford since 2007.
No. 2 Stanford vs. No. 7 UC Santa Barbara
May 13, 2016 • Los Angeles, Calif.
UCSB 0 – 1 – 1– 3 = 5
STAN 3 – 6 – 2 – 1 = 12
UCSB Goals: Samantha Murphy 2, Miranda Schrader, Jenna Solberg, Brenna Thomas
UCSB Saves: Mackenzie Brokaw 6
Stanford Goals: Shannon Cleary 3, Madison Berggren 2, Dani Jackovich 2, Kat Klass 2, Gurpreet Sohi 2, Rachel Johnson
Stanford Saves: Julia Hermann 12