April 22, 2008

Stanford, CA (UWIRE) -- Before the Stanford women's water polo team played San Jose State last weekend, Cardinal coach John Tanner said that the main thing he was looking for in the game was consistency from his team. After almost throwing away a six-goal lead in the third period on Saturday, it appears that there is still some work to be done in that department. Despite this, the Cardinal was able to hang on for a 9-8 victory and close out the regular season on a winning note.

Koree Blyleven and the Cardinal kept the Spartan offense at bay in the closing minute of play to halt San Jose State's momentum and hold onto its one goal lead for a win. Stanford already has the No. 2 seed locked up for the MPSF conference tournament opening this weekend.

In truth, a one-goal victory is not terrible for the team, even though they handily beat San Jose State by seven goals back in February. Coming into the game, the No. 9 Spartans had much more to play for than the No. 2 Cardinal.

Stanford had already locked up the No. 2 seed for the upcoming Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) conference tournament and had just come off rivalry and Senior Day victories the previous weekend. San Jose State's position in the conference tournament, on the other hand, was still up in the air - the Spartans could have finished eighth, ninth or tenth - and the match against Stanford was their Senior Day. They clearly had the greater incentive of the two squads.

Yet it was the Cardinal, not the Spartans, who came out of the gates with more motivation. Stanford dominated the first period, staking out a 4-1 lead and expelling any thoughts that they would not be mentally ready for the game. The second quarter would be more of the same as the women outscored San Jose State 3-1 to take a 7-2 lead into halftime.

San Jose State opened the scoring in the fourth period, and suddenly the margin was just two. Stanford's Kelsey Holshouser was able to end the Spartans' 4-0 run with a goal to bump the score up to 9-6, but San Jose State answered with a goal of its own with 4:41 remaining in the game. Then, with just over a minute left, they broke through again to make it 9-8.

With all the momentum going against them, the Cardinal defense needed to buckle down for the final minute, and it was able to do just that. When the Spartans got the ball back with 17 seconds left, Stanford pressured them to the point where they could not even get a potential game-tying shot off.

Holshouser, sophomore driver Kelly Eaton and junior driver Lauren Silver each scored a pair of goals for the Cardinal on the day, while senior driver Jackie Gauthier, junior driver Heather West and freshman Allie Gerrity each chipped in with one. Goalkeeper Amber Oland had eight saves.

"We were really strong on offense the first half, especially on six-on-five, and [that helped us build] a big lead by the early stages of the third quarter," said Tanner after the game. "Then we got casual. We were careless with the ball and committed several offensive fouls, which gave them some quality chances."

He also gave credit to the Spartans, saying that "San Jose played the second half with a lot of determination and energy."

In the end, even though the consistency was not quite there for the Cardinal, a win is a win. Now, Stanford will focus on extending its season-high 11 when it begins competition in the MPSF Tournament this weekend.

(C) 2008 The Stanford Daily via UWIRE