Women's Water Polo Defeats SDSU

No. 2 Cardinal down No. 4 Aztecs, 13-6

March 27, 1998

STANFORD, Calif. - In the first meeting between the two teams since last year's triple-overtime, third place match at the Collegiate National Championships, the second-ranked Stanford women's water polo team defeated San Diego State 13-6 in a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation match at de Guerre Pool. Sophomores Ellen Estes (Novato, CA/Novato HS) and Suze Gardner (Atherton, CA/Menlo School) paced the Cardinal attack with four goals apiece while junior goalkeeper Heather Crary (Redwood City, CA/Menlo School) recorded seven saves.

It appeared as if Stanford would put the match away early, jumping out to a quick 2-0 lead on goals by Gardner and Estes - both coming within the first 1:15 of the opening quarter. SDSU, which won that last 8-7, responded with two quick goals of its own to knot the score at two apiece before Gardner struck again, beginning a 4-0 Stanford run with her second goal of the match at the 3:59 mark to put the Cardinal ahead for good. The Aztecs suffered a blow late in the first quarter when senior Rachel Scott was forced to leave the match with a deep cut just above the bridge of her nose. Stanford would eventually open up an 11-3 lead en route to the victory. Sophomore Nicole Federspiel led SDSU in scoring with two goals.

With the win, its fourth consecutive, Stanford improved to 14-3 overall and 5-1 in the MPSF. San Diego State fell to 10-5 overall and 4-2 in the Federation.

Result:

                1   2   3   4   T
San Diego State 2   1   0   3   6
Stanford        6   1   2   4   13

Individual Scoring:

San Diego State:  Federspiel 2, Dabbaghian, Philpott, Hanneman, Jensen
Stanford:  Estes 4, Gardner 4, Keenan, Shouey, Bell, Keszler, Welsh

Saves:  Crary (Stanford) 7, Tiegan (SDSU) 5