March 19, 2009

Weekly Notes in PDF Format

STANFORD, Calif. - The Stanford women's water polo team (15-1, 3-0 MPSF) gets back into the pool after a two-week break for final exams, hosting the Harvard Crimson Saturday, March 21 at 6 p.m. The contest is Stanford's penultimate home game of the season, and kicks off a stretch of five games over the next eight days over Spring Break.

About The Opposition
Harvard (4-6) begins a seven-day, six-game trip through California with Saturday's contest at Stanford. After battling the Cardinal at Avery Aquatic Center Saturday evening, the Crimson will go on to meet Sonoma State (March 22), Pacific (March 24), UC Santa Cruz (March 26), UC Davis (March 26 and CSU Monterey Bay (March 27) over the rest of its West Coast road trip.

The Crimson enters Saturday's game on a two-game slide, having dropped decisions to Princeton and Hartwick over the last two weeks. Senior two-meter Devon MacLaughlin scored four times in the Crimson's last outing against Hartwick, and goalie Nicola Perlman made nine saves.

In The National Rankings
The Cardinal kept the top spot in the national rankings for yet another week in March 18 CWPA Division I Poll despite being idle following three victories two weekends ago.

Last Time Out
Melissa Seidemann scored eight goals, Alex Koran scored six and Kelly Eaton and Alyssa Lo added five to highlight Stanford's three victories over the weekend of March 7-8. Stanford opened up the weekend Saturday, March 7 with a 13-6 victory over No. 5 Arizona State in Tempe, Ariz. that ran its MPSF record to 3-0, then followed up with a doubleheader sweep at the Aggie Shootout in Davis, defeating host UC Davis, 12-5, then beating CS Bakersfield 18-3.

In Saturday's contest, Seidemann paced the Cardinal with five goals while Koran also added three. Stanford scored five goals in the opening period to take a 5-2 lead, and three more goals in the second helped increase the advantage to four at 8-4 by halftime. From there, the defense stepped up, holding ASU scoreless in the third period while the offense scored four more times to push the lead to an insurmountable 12-4.

Sunday, at Davis, the Cardinal got goals from eight different players to help down the Aggies, 12-5. Eaton, Koran and Lo each scored twice in the win, while goalie Amber Oland made seven saves. Once again, the third period was the key, as Stanford, with a 6-4 lead heading into the period, held the Aggies scoreless while putting up four goals, making it a 10-4 game going into the final period.

In the nightcap, the Cardinal got a hat trick from Emily Clopp that led the team's 12 goal scorers in the 18-3 win over CS Bakersfield. The Stanford offense wasted no time getting untracked, scoring 12 first-half goals to take a 12-1 halftime lead.

Seidemann Keeps Scoring
Freshman Melissa Seidemann continued to bolster her case for MPSF Newcomer of the Year honors, and even for Player of the Year honors, one could argue, with eight goals over Stanford's three wins two weekends ago. On March 7 against Arizona State, Seidemann netted five goals, tallying her team-leading eighth hat trick of the season. Her weekend effort also upped her scoring totals to 39 goals and 2.44 goals per game.

Silver Strikes It Rich
Since her return to the lineup at the Irvine Invitational, senior driver Lauren Silver has been her usual scoring self, tallying 12 goals in her eight games this year. The team's leading scorer in each of the past three seasons, Silver has already recorded a hat trick this season, and scored three goals on one of the Cardinal's most crucial days this season, Feb. 22 at the Irvine Invitational when the team defeated Hawai'i and No. 1 USC to capture the tournament title.

Only Two More Chances To See Stanford At Home
Saturday's contest against Harvard at Avery Aquatic Center is one of only two remaining home games for the Cardinal this season. The only home date the Cardinal still has on the ledger after Saturday is Senior Night, Friday, April 3 against UCLA at 6 p.m.

Staying The Course
Junior driver Kelly Eaton continues to build off of her 2008 All-America season, currently boasting 29 goals to her name after scoring 49 a year ago. In 2009, Eaton's 29 goals and five hat tricks are both second on the team, and two weekends ago she netted five goals, included two in each victory over UC Davis and CS Bakersfield.

Dynamic Duo
Stanford's goalkeeping tandem of Amber Oland and Kim Hall, both sophomores, has found its groove in the cage as of late, allowing just 14 goals over the team's three victories two weekends ago. Oland made 19 saves in a pair of games, while Hall also saw action in two games, making nine saves of her own.

Among The MPSF Leaders
Melissa Seidemann's 2.44 goals per game average is sixth in the conference, while Kelly Eaton is 12th among all MPSF players with a 1.81 goals per game. In the cage, Amber Oland is fifth in the conference with 6.60 saves per game, and Kim Hall's 3.82 goals-against average is second-best in the MPSF.

As a team, Stanford's 13.75 goals per game is tops in the conference and its 6.81 goals-against average is fourth in the MPSF.