STANFORD, Calif. – USC's Paige Hauschild scored with 43 seconds remaining in the third overtime period and No. 1 Stanford lost the MPSF Championship in sudden death to the No. 2 Trojans, 9-8, on Sunday afternoon.
Stanford (20-2), the only school to appear in all 18 NCAA championships since their inception in 2001, will learn its seed during tomorrow's selection show on NCAA.com at 5 p.m. PT. The 2019 National Collegiate Women's Water Polo Championship will be hosted by the Cardinal from May 10-12 at Avery Aquatic Center. Tickets are on sale now by visiting gostanford.com/tickets.
A runner-up MPSF Tournament finish isn't an indicator of NCAA success, at least for the Cardinal. Despite winning five of the past eight national championships, 2014 was the only season in the past 13 in which Stanford won a conference crown.
In a game that featured five ties, Stanford went up by two, 8-6, midway through the fourth quarter when Aria Fischer drew an exclusion and passed it back to Sarah Klass in front. Klass beat the keeper with a skip to the left post and the Cardinal was up by more than a goal for the first time since the early moments of the second period.
USC (26-1), however, would respond with the game's final three scores. A lead pass from Bayley Weber sprang Hauschild free at 4:13 and she scored to make it 8-7. Their roles were reversed at 3:07 and Hauschild fed it to Weber inside, who brought the teams level yet again.
Stanford goalkeeper Emalia Eichelberger, who made a career-high 16 saves, had a number of huge stops late to send the game into overtime. She turned away Alejandra Aznar 1v1 following a long outlet at 2:45 in the fourth and did it again to Kelsey McIntosh with 10 seconds remaining in regulation.
Neither team scored in the first of two, three-minute overtime periods, but just over two minutes into the first period of sudden victory, Hauschild was forced to let in rip from 10 meters with the shot clock nearing zero and skipped it in for her fourth of the day.
Ryann Neushul nearly won it for the Cardinal in the first overtime period when she faced Amanda Longan 1-on-1, but her lob over the USC goalkeeper was batted back into play before the ball crossed the line.
The last time the NCAA Championship was played at Avery in 2015, Stanford became the first host institution to win a national title in its home pool.
One of either the Cardinal or USC has won each of the last nine NCAA titles.
No. 1 Stanford vs. No. 2 USC
April 28, 2019 • Stanford, Calif.
USC 2 – 3 – 1 – 2 – 0 – 0 – 1 = 9
STAN 3 – 2 – 2 – 1 – 0 – 0 – 0 = 8
USC Goals: Paige Hauschild 4, Alejandra Aznar 1, Mireia Guiral 1, Kelsey McIntosh 1, Elise Stein 1, Bayley Weber 1
USC Saves: Amanda Longan 14
Stanford Goals: Aria Fischer 2, Sarah Klass 2, Madison Berggren 1, Makenzie Fischer 1, Kat Klass 1, Ryann Neushul 1
Stanford Saves: Emalia Eichelberger 16
