Publication Date: Wednesday, December 03, 2003
Stanford men advance to NCAA Final Four in water polo
Stanford men advance to NCAA Final Four in water polo
(December 03, 2003) by Rick Eymer
The Stanford men's water polo team likely sealed its spot in the NCAA Championships with its 9-7 victory over UCLA in the semifinals of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation tournament on Saturday at Belmont Plaza Pool in Long Beach.
The second-ranked Cardinal (21-4) lost to top-ranked USC in the championship match, 8-6, on Sunday but will probably get another chance at the Trojans when the Final Four opens at Stanford's Avery Aquatic Center on Saturday.
USC (22-3) and the U.S. Naval Academy (25-6) open the tournament at 6 p.m., followed by Stanford and Loyola Marymount (16-13) at 7:30 p.m.
Sunday's championship match will held at 5 p.m.
Stanford, the two-time defending national champion, received the at-large bid after reaching the MPSF tournament and winning 13 of its final 14 games.
USC, Navy and LMU all reached the Final Four by winning their respective conferences.
Because of the structure of the NCAA playoffs, three of the top five ranked teams in the nation will not be playing this weekend.
The Trojans used strong defense and a steady offense to record the victory over Stanford on Sunday.
USC snapped a 4-4 halftime tie with two third-period goals.
Tony Azevedo scored three goals to lead the Cardinal. He had 10 for the tournament. Greg Crum, Thomas Hopkins and Peter Varellas also scored.
Stanford had to rally from a second-half deficit to beat the Bruins. The Cardinal tied the game late in the third period, then scored twice in the final period while shutting down UCLA to record the win.
Azevedo scored three goals, while Crum and Mike Moser each added two.
Azevedo scored four times in Stanford's 9-5 win over UC Irvine in the first round of the tournament while goalkeeper Chad Taylor had a career high 16 saves.
E-mail a friend a link to this story. | 
