Top Seeded Stanford Hosts MPSF Tournament
April 23, 2012
MPSF Women's Water Polo Weekly Release - 4/23/12
STANFORD (21-1 Overall/7-0 MPSF) clinched its second straight undefeated MPSF season and the top seed at the conference championship tournament it hosts with an 8-1 win at No. 2 UCLA last Saturday (Apr. 21). Kiley Neushul put away three goals, while Kaley Dodson added two. Goalkeeper Kate Baldoni allowed only one goal, a 6-on-5 in the first quarter, and collected 10 saves. The Cardinal meets No. 8 seed Hawaii in the first quarterfinal game Friday (Apr. 27), taking a 12-4 win on Mar. 10 in Honolulu.
UCLA(18-3 Overall/5-2 MPSF) is the two seed in Palo Alto this weekend, first taking on No. 7 San Diego State at 12:30 pm Friday. The only regular season meeting went to the Bruins, 9-4, on Feb. 18 in an MPSF game in San Diego. The winner then faces the USC-San Jose State victor in the semifinals. KK Clark leads the Bruins with 2.24 goals per game, ranking fourth in the MPSF. Goalkeeper Caitlin Dement owns a second-best 5.25 goals-against average.
USC (19-4 Overall/5-2 MPSF) blasted CSU Bakersfield in its regular season finale this past Saturday, 23-5. Kaleigh Gilchrist led a group of 13 Trojan scorers with five goals, while Morgan Vickers stopped eight shots in the cage. The Trojans are the three seed in the MPSF Tournament, first playing No. 6 seed San Jose State in the quarterfinals Friday at 2:30pm. USC won both meetings this year, 14-6 in Palo Alto and 8-5 in San Jose. Flora Bolonyai owns a 5.46 goals-against average, while Gilchrist has scored 42 goals.
ARIZONA STATE (23-5 Overall/4-3 MPSF) secured the four seed for the MPSF Tournament, by virtue of an 11-6 home win over Hawaii on Apr. 14, as well as a California loss to Stanford. Annabelle Carter had four goals and Ianeta Hutchinson had 13 saves vs. UH. The Sun Devils won the tiebreaker for higher seeding over the Bears, due to the conference win head-to-head on Mar. 10 in Tempe (10-7). Alicia Brightwell is the MPSF scoring leader with 63 goals on the year (2.63 GPG).
CALIFORNIA (17-7 Overall/4-3 MPSF) was defeated 11-5 at No. 1 Stanford to close the regular season on Apr. 14. The outcome, coupled with ASU's season-ending win, translates into the MPSF Tournament five seed for the Bears. Cal and ASU will face off in a quarterfinal game on the 27th at 4pm. The two teams split in the regular season, with Cal winning the non-conference game in Irvine, 8-5 on Feb. 25. The Bears are led by Breda Vosters, tied for fifth in the MPSF with two goals per contest.
SAN JOSE STATE (18-11 Overall/2-5 MPSF) was edged at UC Davis to finish the regular season last Saturday, 10-9. Anna Natalizio (1.97 GPG, 7th) and Dani Curran (1.93 GPG, 9th) each rank among the conference scoring leaders. Katie Buzzetta also owns 33 goals on the year, third on the team. The sixth-seeded Spartans face No. 3 USC in the quarterfinals.
SAN DIEGO STATE (21-9 Overall/1-6 MPSF)claimed its 11th straight Harper Cup victory, defeating rival UC San Diego 10-5 in La Jolla last Friday. Game MVP Amber Pezzolla posted a hat trick, while Kelly Campoli collected 13 saves in goal. The Aztecs take four straight wins into the MPSF Tournament, and are seeded seventh, taking on No. 2 seed UCLA in Friday's quarterfinal. Campoli stops a conference-best 12 shots per contest, while Meaghan Poland is tied for fifth in scoring with two goals per game.
HAWAII (10-12 Overall/0-7 MPSF) won three of four in its trip to the mainland to close the regular season (Apr. 14-15), defeating Cal Baptist (9-7) in Tempe, AZ, as well as Occidental (15-9), and host Claremont (9-3). The Rainbow Wahine will play top seeded Stanford in the 1-8 quarterfinal to start the MPSF Tournament. Amarens Genee is the top UH scorer, ranking third in the MPSF with 2.27 goals per game.
KALEY DODSON KAP 7 MPSF PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Stanford sophomore Kaley Dodson (Seal Beach, CA/Los Alamitos HS) turned in an excellent two-way performance Saturday as No. 1 Stanford claimed the top seed at next week's MPSF Championship with an 8-1 victory at No. 2 UCLA. Dodson scored twice, with those goals coming within the opening 8:46 of the contest as Stanford jumped out to leads of 3-0 and 4-1. On defense, she made a pair of field blocks and was part of a team effort that held the Bruins to just one goal, the lowest total for any Cardinal opponent this season.
Nominated: Constance Hiller (USC)
KILEY NEUSHUL KAP 7 MPSF NEWCOMER OF THE WEEK
Stanford freshman Kiley Neushul (Goleta, CA/Dos Pueblos HS) posted another hat trick, scoring three goals in No. 1 Stanford's 8-1 win at No. 2 UCLA. Neushul netted Stanford's third goal of the game in the opening period, leading to a 3-0 Cardinal lead. Later, she would set the tone for the second half, scoring her second after only 18 seconds had passed, then adding another as the Cardinal scored four times in the third period to put the game on ice.
Nominated: Morgan Vickers (USC)