IRVINE, Calif. – In a rematch of last season's national championship, No. 2 USC outlasted No. 1 Stanford in final of the Barbara Kalbus Invitational on Sunday 10-9 in overtime.
The teams, which have combined to win the past seven NCAA titles, were deadlocked 7-7 after 32 minutes. USC inched ahead 9-8 with a pair of goals in the first overtime period before Makenzie Fischer evened the score with less than a minute left in the second extra session.
Stanford's Maggie Steffens was whistled for an exclusion with 29 seconds to go and Ioanna Haralabidis converted in the 6-on-5 with just five ticks left to win it for USC.
Fischer led the Cardinal (11-1) with four goals in the game and had 11 overall in the tournament. Steffens scored 13 times at the event and has hat tricks in each of the last five games. Jordan Raney's pair of third-quarter scores dug the Cardinal out of a two-goal hole.
USC (18-0) went up by two on two occasions and the Trojans first led 3-1 on a Stephania Harlabidis strike 30 seconds into the second quarter. Stanford's two Olympians, Steffens and Fischer, responded with tallies at 7:04 and 2:00 to make the score 3-3. Brigitta Games' goal with 27 seconds on the clock gave USC a 4-3 lead at the break.
The Trojans scored first coming out of intermission to go up 5-3, but Raney answered with goals at 4:21 and 0:33 to bring Stanford back 5-5. Each team rattled the cage twice in the fourth quarter to force overtime, with Stanford's two goals coming courtesy of Steffens. She converted a five-meter penalty at 5:14 and then was successful on the power play following a Brianna Daboub exclusion at 3:17.
Gabby Stone made 10 saves for Stanford, which returns to action in its MPSF opener at Arizona State (9-2) on Saturday, March 11.
No. 1 Stanford vs. No. 2 USC
Feb. 26, 2017 • Irvine, Calif.
USC 2 – 2 – 1 – 2 – 2 – 1 = 10
STAN 1 – 2 – 2 – 2 – 1 – 1 = 9
Stanford Goals: Makenzie Fischer 4, Maggie Steffens 3, Jordan Raney 2
Stanford Saves: Gabby Stone 10
