Stanford Earns Top Seed in MPSF Tournament

4/26/2010 12:00:00 AM

April 26, 2010

STANFORD (22-1 Overall/7-0 MPSF) came back from a 4-1 second quarter deficit to win the battle of MPSF unbeatens, 7-6 in overtime against USC last Saturday. Amber Oland picked up 11 of her 13 saves after Stanford fell behind by three, while Kelly Eaton scored the second of her two goals as the game-winner in the first OT period. The regular season title gives the Cardinal the No. 1 MPSF Tournament seed this week at UCLA, where Stanford takes a 10-game win streak into Friday's 1:30 pm quarterfinal against No. 8 seed Arizona State.

USC (20-2 Overall/6-1 MPSF) is the No. 2 seed, opening up the tournament at 10 am Friday against No. 7 seed San Diego State. On the final weekend of the regular season, the Trojans received a pair of 12-save efforts from goalkeeper Tumua Anae and a pair of hat tricks from Joelle Bekhazi, in a 13-6 win at San Jose State and 7-6 loss at Stanford. Anae leads the MPSF with 10.14 saves per game and Bekhazi ranks second in goals per game (2.09).

CALIFORNIA (23-6 Overall/4-3 MPSF) is the No. 3 seed at the MPSF Tournament, as a result of winning the three-way tiebreaker over UCLA and Hawaii on goal differential against one another. The Bears face No. 6 San Jose State at 11:30 am on day one. Emily Csikos recorded an MPSF-high 59 goals during the regular season (2.03 GPG). Sophomore `keeper Stephanie Peckham collects 9.03 saves per game with a 4.41 goals-against average.

HAWAII (16-7 Overall/4-3 MPSF) is the No. 4 seed, meeting the host No. 5 seed UCLA at 3 pm Friday in quarterfinal action. The Rainbow Wahine last competed Apr. 17, a 6-5 win over San Jose State, thus earning the four seed due to the head-to-head MPSF win over UCLA earlier in the year. Hawaii has three players in the MPSF Top-10 scoring list. Sophomore Monika Eggens leads the conference with 2.30 goals per game, totaling 53 on the year. Leonie Van Der Molen ranks eighth with a 1.71 average and Carmen Eggens ranks 10th with a 1.61.

UCLA (17-7 Overall/4-3 MPSF) is the host of this year's MPSF Championship Tournament and is seeded fifth. The five-time defending national champions open their postseason against No. 4 seed Hawaii in Friday's quarterfinal at 3 pm. Juniors Grace Reynolds (29G, 1.45 GPG) and Priscilla Orozco (32G, 1.39 GPG) rank amongst the conference' top-15 in scoring. Sophomore goalkeeper Caitlin Dement picks up 9.09 saves per game, third most in the MPSF.

SAN JOSE STATE (16-12 Overall/2-5 MPSF) is the No. 6 seed, taking on No. 3 seed California Friday at 11:30 am in the second game of the day. The Spartans are led by junior Adriana Vogt who owns the second most goals in the conference with 56 (2.00 GPG). Sophomore Dani Curran is seventh (42 G, 1.75 GPG) while senior Bridget McKee owns 36 goals (1.29 GPG). Sophomore goalkeeper Meagan Minson collects 8.56 saves per game.

SAN DIEGO STATE (20-13 Overall/1-6 MPSF) won 11-3 at UC San Diego to close the regular season, its ninth straight Harper Cup victory and 15th straight win over UC San Diego. The result also secured the fifth straight 20-win season for the Aztecs. Leanne Ford and Meghan Polland posted hat tricks, while goalkeeper Kelly Campoli picked up a season-high 16 saves. San Diego State opens its MPSF Tournament with No. 2 seed USC.

ARIZONA STATE (15-11 Overall/0-7 MPSF) is the No. 8 seed in the conference tournament, meeting No. 1 Stanford in game three of the tournament. The Sun Devils have a pair of athletes in the MPSF top-10 scoring chart entering the postseason in junior Lynlee Smith (48 G, 1.71 GPG) and freshman Shannon Haas (45 G, 1.61 GPG).

AMBER OLAND MPSF MIKASA PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Stanford junior goalkeeper Amber Oland (Santa Ana, CA/Foothill HS) recorded a season-high 13 saves, 11 of which came after trailing 4-1 in the second quarter, in leading an MPSF regular season title with a 7-6 OT win over top-ranked USC. She held the nation's most prolific offense to just two goals in the final 27 minutes of the contest, and just six goals in the game, about half of the Trojan scoring average.

Also Nominated: Joelle Bekhazi (USC); Kelly Campoli (SDSU)