April 26, 2010
STANFORD, Calif. - Stanford women's water polo goalie Amber Oland was named MPSF Mikasa Player of the Week for the first time in her career Monday, two days after making 13 saves to anchor the Cardinal defense in it's MPSF regular season title-clinching 7-6 overtime victory over No. 1 USC.
Oland made nine of her 13 saves in the second half and overtime of the game, as she highlighted a defensive effort that limited USC, the conference's highest-scoring team, to just two goals over the final 27:17 minutes of game action. The lockdown play helped the Cardinal offense rebound from a 4-1 deficit and earn its first regular season title and No. 1 seed at the MPSF Tournament since 2007.
Some of Oland's highlights from Saturday's win included a point-blank save of USC two-meter Kami Craig early in the third period that resulted directly into a long Oland pass to Alex Koran in transition. Koran then drew a five-meter penalty shot which Kelly Eaton converted to tie the game at 4-4 and place momentum firmly on the Cardinal side.
Monday's announcement marks Oland's first weekly conference honor as well as the fourth time this season that a Stanford player has been recognized.
Oland and the Cardinal (22-1, 7-0 MPSF) will now head into this weekend's MPSF Tournament at UCLA's Spieker Aquatic Center as the draw's top seed, opening play against No. 8 Arizona State at 1:30 p.m. Friday, April 30.