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UCLA
Women's Water Polo Wins 2001 NCAA Championship With 5-4 Win Over
Stanford, LMU Takes Third With 9-5 Win Over Brown
Championship
Game : UCLA 5, Stanford 4: Box
Score | Quotes
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Gallery
Consolation
Game : LMU 9, Brown 5: Box
Score | Quotes
STANFORD,
Calif. -
UCLA's Coralie Simmons scored a goal with 1:28 left in the game
to give the Bruins a 5-4 win over Stanford in the NCAA Championship
game at the Avery Aquatic Center on Sunday.
This is UCLA's
fifth national title in six years, and first NCAA crown as this
year's event was the inaugural championship. The two teams had met
four times this year with the Cardinal winning every game. UCLA
ends the year with a 19-4 record (its only losses coming to the
Cardinal), while Stanford, which hadn't lost a game all year, finishes
the season at 27-1.
The 6-on-5
opportunities were even as both teams were 3-for-6. In the four
games earlier this season between the two, Stanford always held
the advantage in power play situations.
Stanford opened
the scoring in the first quarter with a power play goal from Brenda
Villa. But UCLA came back with two scores to take a 2-1 lead after
the first. UCLA's Robin Beauregard tied the score at 1-1 with a
6-on-5 goal, and Ashley Stachowski gave the Bruins their first lead
with a power play goal at the :32 second mark in the first.
UCLA scored
early in the second to gain its biggest lead of the game at 3-1.
Simmons found the back of the net for her first score of the game
with 4:59 to go in the second quarter. Villa closed the gap to 3-2
with her second goal of the game, and the Bruins took a one-goal
lead into halftime.
In the second
half of the game, the score was tied on two occasions. Stanford's
Anne-Marie Keenan knotted the score at 3-3 with a 6-on-5 goal. But
with :05 seconds left in the third, the Bruins got a goal from Kelly
Heuchan to go up 4-3.
In the fourth
quarter, Stanford tied it up at 4-4 with 3:27 remaining with Margie
Dingeldein's 6-on-5 goal. But Simmons gave the Bruins the lead alone
open in front of the Stanford goal with only goalkeeper Jackie Frank
to beat. After a few fakes, Simmons scored the game-winner.
The Cardinal
had one last scoring opportunity with less than :20 seconds remaining.
After a timeout, Stanford drew up a play to isolate Villa and Ellen
Estes. But the Bruin defense came up with a stop as Villa's shot
was blocked.
Stanford's
Frank was solid in the net, recording eight saves. Jamie Hipp notched
six saves for the Bruins.
Simmons was
named the Most Valuable Player of the tournament. Joining Simmons
on the All-Tournament First Team were teammates Beauregard and Heuchan.
Stanford placed three players on the all-tourney squad with Frank,
Ellen Estes and Villa. Loyola Marymount's Lucy Windes also earned
first team accolades.
UCLA had four
players named to the All-Tournament Second Team. Hipp was the second-team
goalie while Elaine Zivich, Jenny Lamb and Kristin Guerin were also
honored. Dingeldein of Stanford and Jamie Kroeze of LMU were also
second-team selections.
In the consolation
game, Loyola Marymount defeated Brown University 9-5 to take third
place. LMU took a 4-1 lead into halftime. LMU's Lucy Windes opened
the scoring with a power play goal at the 2:13 mark in the first
quarter. Jamie Kroeze tallied a first-quarter goal as well, giving
the Lions a 2-0 lead.
Windes scored
her second goal of the game to open the second quarter. But the
Bears got on the board with the first of three goals from Noel Pacarro.
LMU scored one more goal in the first half as Teresa Guidi found
the back of the net in a 6-on-5 situation, giving the Lions a 4-1
lead at half.
Guidi scored
again early in the third quarter to give LMU a 5-1 lead. Then the
Bears rallied for two consecutive goals, closing the gap to 5-3.
Jeanie Ward-Waller and Tori Barbata scored for Brown. Then Windes
extended the LMU lead to 6-3 with just over one minute left in the
third.
In the fourth,
Brown had two goals from Pacarro while LMU had goals from Windes,
Julia Wald and Kroeze.
Devon Courtney
had seven saves for LMU in the goal while Brown's Keira Heggie tallied
six saves. LMU finishes the year with a 23-7 overall record and
Brown ended at 21-11.
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