After cruising to the championship match of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation conference tournament, the Stanford women’s water polo team suffered a demoralizing 9-3 loss yesterday evening to perennial rival UCLA.

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Sophomore Jessica Steffens surveys the San Jose State defense. Stanford’s 23-match win streak ended in yesterday’s MPSF Tournament final loss to No. 2 UCLA, 9-3. #gallery http://daily.stanford.edu/image/full/7394
Jason Chuang

Sophomore Jessica Steffens surveys the San Jose State defense. Stanford’s 23-match win streak ended in yesterday’s MPSF Tournament final loss to No. 2 UCLA, 9-3.

The No. 2 ranked Bruins (25-2) came out firing, scoring the first five goals of the match before senior driver Katie Hansen got No. 1-seeded Stanford (25-2) on the board late in the second period. Hansen and sophomore Kira Hillman both scored for Stanford in the second half, but UCLA’s four-goal lead at the half ultimately proved insurmountable as the Cardinal was defeated for just the second time this season.

The Stanford women likely experienced an unpleasant feeling of deja vu as their contest against UCLA unfolded. The early stages of the match developed similarly to the two teams’ semifinal showdown at the NCAA tournament last year — in that game, the Cardinal also got off to a slow start offensively as the Bruins pounded their way to a 3-0, first-period lead. Additionally, in both games, the UCLA defense managed to keep the Cardinal from mounting any serious threat in the second half of play.

The good news for the Stanford squad is that yesterday’s loss to the Bruins came at MPSFs — not at NCAAs. As the top team in the nation heading into this past weekend’s tournament, the Cardinal’s performance this season virtually assures them of one of the three at-large bids for this year’s NCAA Championships. Stanford was undefeated in conference play and had handed the defending national champion Bruins a pair of losses during the regular season, so the Cardinal’s chances of earning a spot in the eight-team NCAA field are solid.

Nevertheless, yesterday’s loss left a bitter taste in the mouths of the Stanford women, who were unable to put the finishing touches on an otherwise impressive weekend.

Having earned a bye into the quarterfinals, the Cardinal opened on Friday against No. 9-seeded UC-Irvine (18-13). It was all Stanford early on, as four different members of the squad combined to put the Cardinal up 4-0 after the first period of play. Junior driver Jackie Gauthier kept Stanford’s momentum rolling by tallying a hat-trick within a two-minute span, midway through the second period. The Anteaters were able to get past Stanford senior goalie Meridith McColl during the second period, but at the end of the half Stanford held the commanding 8-2 lead.

The second half featured more offensive fireworks as the Stanford women went on to double their goal total from the break. Hansen tacked on another pair of goals in the third period to match Gauthier’s three goals. Sophomore driver Koree Blyleven, recently returned from injury, netted three goals in the fourth quarter, and the game ended with the final score standing at 17-5 in favor of the Cardinal.

On Saturday, the Stanford women advanced to take on No. 4-seeded Hawaii. As the 16-10 final score attested, the game was a high-scoring affair. The Cardinal trailed 4-2 in the final minute of the first period, but Gauthier brought her team back even by stunning the Hawaii defense, finding the back of the net on Stanford’s last two possessions of the period. Her goals came with 17 seconds and two seconds remaining on clock, respectively.

But the second period was as uneven as the first period was even, and Stanford went on a 6-1 scoring run to take control of the contest. Gauthier and Hansen both solved Hawaii goaltender Meike de Nooy twice in the period, and senior Christina Hewko and freshman Kelly Eaton both contributed goals to push the Stanford lead to 10-5.

In addition, McColl posted nine saves on the day, limiting the Hawaii offense to just two goals in the critical second and third periods of the game. Freshman goalie Kate Heddleston got her first taste of postseason action by closing out the victory in cage for the Cardinal. Gauthier finished her huge day with five goals to lead Stanford’s seven scorers on the day.

The Cardinal’s impressive winning streak (dating back to Feb. 3) came to and end at 23 games when the Stanford women lost to UCLA in yesterday’s title match. The team finds out later today how it will be seeded in the upcoming NCAA Championship tournament, set for May 11-13 in Los Alamitos, Calif.