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No. 2 Stanford Edges Out No. 3 USC In Overtime
April 5, 2008
LOS ANGELES, CALIF. - The No. 3 USC women's water polo team came up short of knocking off No. 2 Stanford on Saturday afternoon, falling in overtime to the Cardinal in an 8-7 decision. The Trojans made a four-goal run to take a lead in the second half and led by one until the Cardinal tied things up in the final minute of regulation to force overtime. Trojan goalie Tumua Anae had 13 saves in the cage, including five blocks in the fourth period of play. Stanford's Kelly Eaton came up with four goals for the Cardinal to lead all scorers. USC moves to 14-6 overall and is 7-2 in MPSF play, while Stanford improves to 19-3, 7-1 to take hold of second place in the MPSF standings. Stanford worked out to a 3-0 lead in the game, as the Trojans were off the mark on their early shooting effort. In the second period, USC got on the board when Michelle Stein rifled in a nearside skip to make it 3-1 Stanford with 2:10 left in the first half. In the final minute of the half, Jordan Anae earned a 6-on-5 opportunity for the Women of Troy, and Stein put her shot bar-in to cut Stanford's lead to 3-2 at the half. Another successful power play for the Trojans saw Veronika Bartunkova hit Jordan Anae for a strike that evened the score early in the second half, tied up 3-3. Tumua Anae got a takeaway on Stanford's first 6-on-5 chance of the game next, and then fed into the USC counterattack. Forel Davies capped off the counter with a solo score that she put away crosscage bar-in to lift USC to its first lead of the game, up 4-3 with 5:37 on the clock. The Cardinal would finish off their next 6-on-5 chance, however, as Eaton tallied her third goal of the day for Stanford to lock the game up 4-4 with 3:15 remaining in the period.
After a quiet opening to the fourth frame, USC broke through when Bartunkova drove in a shot off the foul, tipped slightly by a Stanford defender and in as the Women of Troy took a 5-4 lead at 3:23. Both goalies made big saves during man advantages next. Amber Oland made a stop on a strong 6-on-5 shot by Kally Lucas, and then Anae came up big with two saves during Stanford's next power play. The Cardinal took a timeout with 58 second to go, and were able to get a close-range score from Eaton off the drive to break through, again locking up the score 5-5 with 45 seconds remaining. USC final shot was stopped by Oland to bring up overtime. In the first overtime period, Stanford got an early 6-on-5 and a score from Heather West for a 6-5 lead - Stanford's first lead since early in the third period of play. Miranda Nichols earned the Trojans a 6-on-5 opportunity to answer, but a Stanford field block squelched that chance, and then Stanford's Lauren Silver struck from the perimeter to get the Cardinal up 7-5 with 1:35 to go in the frame. USC freshman Kristen Dronberger pumped in a score out of set for the Trojans to cut into the lead at 1:09, but Stanford's Jacquelyn Gauthier managed a strong backhand score from two meters with just 3 seconds to go in the first overtime to get Stanford up 8-6. USC went up on a 6-on-5 to open the second overtime, and after Stein's shot clanged off the crossbar, USC recovered the ball and Alexandra Kiss fired in a goal for the Trojans to make it 8-7 Stanford with 1:28 remaining. Nichols tore off a powerful backhand on USC's next possession, but it smacked Oland in the face for her 11th save of the game with just 30 seconds left in the game. USC was unable to manage a steal in the final stretch, leaving Stanford with an 8-7 overtime win in MPSF action. USC continues MPSF play tomorrow (April 6) with a match against No. 9 San Jose State at 12 p.m. at McDonald's Swim Stadium. #2 Stanford 8, #3 USC 7 (OT) SCORING: SAVES: Tumua Anae (USC) 13, Amber Oland (STAN) 11. |
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