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NewsvineOne game was a blowout from the beginning; the other needed a third period run to put it out of reach. But the only thing the Stanford women’s water polo team will care about is that they were both victories.
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The No. 2 Cardinal took down Pacific and UC-Davis this past weekend, staying true to its goal of sustaining momentum off of its strong showing at the Stanford Invitational Tournament the previous weekend. The team’s record now stands at 6-1, 1-0 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation.
Stanford hosted Pacific on Saturday in its first conference match of the year. The Tigers have had a rough start to the season, and the Cardinal was more than willing to continue that trend. Stanford jumped all over Pacific right from the opening, with freshman Allie Gerrity scoring just over a minute into the game. By the end of the first quarter, the Cardinal had scored eight times and junior Lauren Silver had already completed a hat trick. Pacific’s Kellie Fletcher was able to score a goal in the final minute of the quarter, bringing the score to 8-1.
The Card did not stop then, continuing its relentless counter-attacking play throughout the remainder of the match. The women ended up scoring eight more goals en route to their 16-2 victory. The whole afternoon the Cardinal appeared to just be a class above the hard-working Tigers, and the scoreline reflected it.
Individually, junior Koree Blyleven, sophomore Kelly Eaton and Silver all notched hat tricks on the day, while eight Stanford players scored overall. Freshman Kim Hall made her first start in goal for Stanford, saving four shots. Fellow freshman Chelsea Smith-Carmichael scored her first two collegiate goals in the win.
The Cardinal faced a tougher test the next day when it took the pool against UC-Davis. The Aggies came into the game ranked No. 11 in the country with a record of 6-2. They also came in with a game plan that focused on stopping the Cardinal’s fast-breaking style of play, something that few teams have been able to do this year.
Davis’ Christi Raycraft snatched the game’s first goal 1:30 in, but Stanford quickly answered with two of its own. Davis knotted the game up at 2-2 with two and a half minutes remaining in the quarter, and the period would end that way.
At the start of the second period the teams traded goals again, with senior Jackie Gauthier netting a backhand for the Card before Sofia Patronas of Davis scored with a nice lob shot. With the score at 3-3, the Cardinal’s Silver took over. Silver scored the game’s next four goals, with the goals ranging from a breakaway to a lob to long shot.
After the Silver show, Blyleven and Gauthier both added goals late in the third period to push the score to 9-3, effectively putting the game away. Eaton started the fourth quarter with her second goal of the day, this one from a 6-on-5 situation. And although that was the final goal the Cardinal would score, it would certainly be enough.
Dakotah Mohr, the Aggies’ leading scorer, finally got on the board in the fourth period, but it was a case of too little, too late. Mohr’s two late goals brought the score to 10-5, and that was how the game would end.
The strong defensive effort from the Cardinal was highlighted by freshman Amber Oland’s seven saves. Perhaps more important than the defense was the fact that Stanford proved it could still counter-attack, even against a team that based its game plan on stopping it. The Cardinal looked to break at every opportunity, and it ended up paying off.
Stanford head coach John Tanner saw some room for improvement, but overall, was happy with the team’s two victories this past weekend.
“We gave up a couple of easy goals against Davis early but played well on defense the rest of the way,” Tanner said.
While he also said that his team was “inconsistent” on offense, he was still pleased as a whole.
“[W]e’re creating good scoring chances,” Tanner said.
Twenty-six goals in two games can act as proof of that.