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Palo Alto Online

Cardinal men are on a streak

by Rick Eymer

T he Stanford men's water polo team heads into its final two games of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation season with a full head of steam after sweeping a pair of matches on the road over the weekend.

The third-ranked Cardinal rallied from a three-goal deficit to beat host California, 10-8, on Sunday. Stanford (5-1, 16-3) beat Pacific, 17-4, on Saturday.

The Cardinal remain on the road for their final MPSF matches at UC Irvine on Saturday at noon and at Long Beach State on Sunday at noon.

Stanford may be the hottest team in the nation at the moment after extending its winning streak to eight matches, and scoring in double figures in seven of those matches. The Cardinal have outscored their opponents, 63-44, during the current winning streak, which should help Stanford obtain one of the top two seeds in the MPSF tournament at the end of the month in Long Beach.

Stanford, two-time defending national champion, hosts the NCAA Final Four on December 6 and 7.

Stanford avenged an earlier loss to Cal with its come-from-behind victory on Sunday.

The Bears held a 6-3 lead at halftime but Stanford responded with four goals in the third quarter, including Matt Moser's go-ahead goal with three seconds left in the period. Peter Varellas, Thomas Hopkins, and Greg Crum also scored.

After Cal tied the game at 7, Mike Derse and Crum scored as Stanford took the lead for good.

Stanford hosts Cal in the Big Splash on Saturday, Nov. 22 at 10 a.m.

Tony Azevedo scored five goals in the win over Pacific, while Crum and Derse each added three goals.
Women's soccer

Stanford earned its sixth straight trip to the NCAA tournament and will travel the few miles south to Buck Shaw Stadium to meet No. 9 national seed Santa Clara on Friday.

The Cardinal completed their regular season with a 2-1 overtime victory against visiting Cal on Friday night.

Senior co-captain Allyson Marquand scored both goals as Stanford (5-3-1, 10-8-2) finished the Pac-10 race in a third-place tie with USC. UCLA won the title, with Arizona State finishing second.

Marquand's first goal, a shot from 35 yards out into the left side of the net, gave the Cardinal a 1-0 lead at intermission.

Cal tied the game on a penalty kick to force the overtime

Cardinal Amy Grady crossed to Marquand in the 99th minute for the game-winner. Marquand's shot deflected off a Cal defender into the net.

Stanford was the national No.1 seed in last year's tournament, and fell -- on penalty kicks after a scoreless tie -- in the quarterfinals to eventual national champion Portland.

Stanford lost to Santa Clara, 2-0, in the Nike Invitational on Oct. 3.

The Cardinal know they can play with the best in the country. Stanford battled both nationally-ranked UCLA (the fourth seed) and Notre Dame (the second seed) to scoreless ties during the season, while beating Washington and USC when both teams were ranked. Those victories, however, are tempered by losses to Oregon State and Washington State, both of which finished the Pac-10 with losing records.

In a related matter, the Stanford Daily reported that senior Natalie Spilger was arrested on Nov. 1 and charged with a misdemeanor stemming from an incident on Sept. 1, the day after Stanford opened its season with a victory over Long Beach State.
Men's soccer

Stanford hopes to close out an otherwise forgettable season on a positive note when California visits The Farm for a 7 p.m. contest on Friday night at Maloney Field.

The Cardinal (3-14-2) took some solace in Thursday's 5-1 victory over San Jose State, which ended a nine-match losing streak and a 10-match winless streak.

Stanford seeks to avoid its first winless conference season ever on Friday when the Bears come visiting. The Cardinal have been outscored 19-4 in their nine conference matches to date.

Stanford scored four goals in the second half against the Spartans.

Freshman Marcus Ryan scored on a breakaway in the 43rd minute to help Stanford to a 1-1 tie at halftime. Ryan was assisted by juniors Matt Janusz and Darren Fernandez on the play. Fernandez gave the Cardinal the lead 57 seconds into the second half, connecting from 10 yards out.

Freshman goalkeeper Andrew Kartunen recorded three saves for the Cardinal.
Women's volleyball

Junior outside hitter Ogonna Nnamani had 26 kills and 11 digs to help Stanford defeat visiting Cal, 30-25, 23-30, 30-26, 30-19, on Friday and avenge an earlier Pac-10 loss.

Nnamani was named Pac-10 Player of the Week for her performance.

The victory, combined with Arizona's win over UCLA, puts the eighth-ranked Cardinal (11-3, 18-5) in sole possession of second place in the conference.

Stanford travels to UCLA on Thursday for a 7 p.m. match. The Cardinal takes on top-ranked USC on Friday, also at 7 p.m., in Los Angeles.

Freshman outside hitter Kristin Richards added 13 kills and 12 digs against Cal, while senior middle blocker Sara Dukes added a team-high six blocks.
Field hockey

Stanford finished third in the NorPac tournament after winning two of three games over the weekend in St. Louis.

The Cardinal (6-13) defeated Appalachian State, 2-1 in overtime, in the first round, fell to No. 20 Cal, 3-0, in the semifinals, and then beat Southwest Missouri State, 2-1 in double overtime, in the third-place contest.

Against Appalachian State, the game was scoreless until Missy Halliday gave the Cardinal a 1-0 lead with a reverse shot on an assist from Dani Guernsey midway through the second half.

The Mountaineers tied the game less than 10 minutes later.

Stanford goalkeeper Emily Zander made a diving save on a penalty stroke attempt by NorPac scoring leader Nara Brookes in overtime to preserve the tie. the first time a Stanford opponent has attempted a penalty stroke against the Cardinal this season.

Cara-Lynn Lopresti scored the game winner for the Cardinal.

Stanford outshot California, 14-10, and also held a decisive 9-3 advantage in penalty corners. The Cardinal weren't able to convert any of their scoring chances though.

Noor Dawood scored the game-winning goal on an assist from Halliday at 91:38 against Southwest Missouri State.

Despite the victory, Stanford's third-place showing was its lowest in the event's six-year history. The Cardinal won the title in 1998 and 2000, while finishing second to California in 1999, 2001 and 2002. Stanford also had its streak of consecutive 10-plus-win seasons snapped at three.
Women's tennis

Stanford senior Lauren Barnikow advanced to second-round action of the ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships at the University of Michigan's Varsity Tennis Center, beating Tulane's Jule Smekodub, 6-2, 6-3, in the first round.

She lost to Anda Perianu of Oklahoma, 6-2, 6-4, in the second round.

Sophomore Alice Barnes advanced to the quarterfinals after defeating Kentucky's Aibika Kalsarieva 6-1, 6-1. She then fell to Georgia's second-seeded Agat Cioroch 6-1, 6-4.
Women's diving

Gunn High grad Ashlee Rosenthal, alontg with Brooke Sullivan and Cassidy Krug, finished second, third and fourth, respectively, in the 3-meter competition Friday at the Trojan Diving Invitational.

Rosenthal (465.60) was just edged by USC's Nicci Fusaro (468.85) for the individual title.

"The placement was great," said Stanford diving coach Dr. Rick Schavone. "But it's still too early in the season to be able to judge much from it."

Krug's third-place finish in the 1-meter competition paced the Cardinal, while Rosenthal was fourth and Sullivan fifth.
Men's diving

Stanford's Adam Peterson placed sixth on the one-meter event on the second day of competition at the Trojan Invitational in Los Angeles.

Peterson was third in the three-meter event.
Wrestling

Stanford beat Menlo College 38-3, but fell to Navy 30-6 as the Cardinal opened its season at Burnham Pavilion on Saturday.

Stanford junior Matt Gentry (157) and redshirt freshman Juston Johnson (133) recorded wins against Menlo College and Navy.

Gentry, an NCAA qualifier last year, recorded his first fall of the season against Artem Alvarez of Menlo College in 3:40.

Johnson won by decision over Menlo College's Alfonso Paez, 5-4.
Men's volleyball

Stanford won the Cal Invitational on Saturday with a 10-1 record

Stanford swept through pool competition, defeating Colorado, Chico State, and San Diego State all by 2-0 scores. In the quarterfinals, Stanford dropped their only game, but managed to defeat Cal Poly 2-1.

The Cardinal beat UC Davis 2-0 to capture the tournament title.

"We received good performances from everyone," said Stanford coach Don Shaw. "It was nice to finally get out there and compete. We wanted to get everyone some time on the court. It took 11 guys today to win this tournament. We were able to get everyone some experience and we stayed healthy. It was a really good day for us."
Women's crew

Stanford's varsity eight finished fourth in a hotly-contested race. place finish at the Head of the Lake in Washington.