Stanford Clinches MPSF's No. 1 Seed
April 14, 2014
MPSF Women's Water Polo Release 14
STANFORD (19-1 Overall, 5-0 MPSF) Gabby Stone made seven saves, none bigger than the penalty shot with an 8-7 lead in the fourth quarter, as the Cardinal edged UCLA 9-8 on the road last Friday. Jamie Neushul made a key field block at 7-7 when the Bruins were on the power play earlier in the period. Saturday, Stanford officially penciled in the top seed for the MPSF Tournament (Apr. 25-27) with a 19-6 outcome at Bakersfield. The road wins also mean the Cardinal will have the tournament's quarterfinal bye, following the regular season finale Saturday (Apr. 19) against California on Pac-12 Networks.
ARIZONA STATE (14-8 Overall, 2-4 MPSF) earned an MPSF home win over California, 6-5, to wrap up the regular season this past Saturday. Petra Pardi had three goals and EB Keeve collected a regulation career-high 17 saves, six coming in the fourth quarter. The Sun Devils next compete in the MPSF Tournament, beginning April 25 at USC, where they will be seeded either fourth or sixth.
UCLA (22-3 Overall, 4-1 MPSF) got past San Jose State this past Saturday, 8-6, and will play for the MPSF's two seed Wednesday at USC, live on Pac-12 Networks Wednesday (Apr. 16) at 5 pm. Becca Dorst delivered a hat trick against the Spartans. Sami Hill accumulated a 20-save week, 11 vs. Stanford and nine vs. SJSU.
USC (22-1 Overall, 4-1 MPSF) Eike Daube scored a game-high four goals and Stephania Haralabidis added a hat trick in a 14-5 home win over Loyola Marymount last Thursday. UCLA visits in the regular season finale Wednesday (Apr. 16) at 5 pm on Pac-12 Networks, with the MPSF's two seed on the line.
SAN JOSE STATE (19-11 Overall, 1-4 MPSF) Victoria Smith scored three goals at UCLA, while freshman Clara Espar Llaquet extended her scoring streak to 30 games. Her total is 91 goals, leaving her nine away from becoming the fifth MPSF player all-time to reach 100 for a season. The Spartans visit Bakersfield in the regular season finale Friday, where a win and a California loss to Stanford results in the five seed for the MPSF Tournament.
CALIFORNIA (17-6 Overall, 2-3 MPSF) visits Stanford in the final game of the regular season Saturday, where a win or a San Jose State win over Bakersfield results in the four seed for the Bears. Should Cal, ASU, and SJSU all tie at 2-4, the Bears win the three-way tiebreaker due to the best head-to-head goal differential within the group (+1).
BAKERSFIELD (12-19 Overall, 0-5 MPSF) closes the regular season at home Friday against San Jose State, where a win secures the six seed.