April 2, 2011
LOS ANGELES, Calif. - For the second time this season on Saturday, top-ranked Stanford's undefeated season was threatened by the third-ranked USC Trojans in an overtime contest, and for the second time, the Cardinal won the test of wills and remained unbeaten in a 9-8 win in Los Angeles.
Stanford (19-0, 4-0 MPSF) put itself in prime position to earn the top seed at the MPSF Championship in four weeks, dealing USC (15-4, 3-2 MPSF) its second loss in conference play.
Annika Dries and Kim Krueger each scored twice for the Cardinal Saturday. Cassie Churnside, Jillian Garton, Pallavi Menon, Melissa Seidemann and Kelsey Suggs each scored for the Cardinal as well.
Goalie Amber Oland bounced back from a rough first period to allow just four goals through the final 30 minutes of game action. She made nine saves in the contest.
USC put Stanford on its heels to start Saturday's contest, as Nadia Dan scored two of her three goals on the day in the opening eight minutes to help put the Trojans ahead, 4-1.
Oland would step up in the cage in the second frame, holding the Trojans scoreless as the Cardinal pulled back a pair of goals to cut the deficit to 4-3 at halftime.
Two straight Cardinal goals put Stanford in front, 5-4, to start the third period, but USC would come back to knot things up at 5-5 before the end of the frame. Two more Cardinal goals, though, would make it 7-5 in the fourth period, but once again USC refused to go away, forcing overtime with two more goals.
The teams traded goals and remained even after the first three-minute overtime period. It would be Garton's skip shot off the bar and in that made the difference in the final three minutes, giving the Cardinal the key win.
Stanford returns to action Sunday at No. 13 UC Irvine at 12 p.m.
Stanford - 1 2 2 2 1-1 = 9
USC - 4 0 1 2 1-0 = 8
Stanford Goal Scorers: Dries 2, Krueger 2, Churnside, Garton, Menon, Seidemann, Suggs
USC Goal Scorers: Dan 3, Dronberger 2, Bekhazi, Jancso, Van Norman
Goalie Saves: Oland 9 (S); Bolonyai 9 (USC)