May 12, 2004

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Palo Alto Online

Stanford's polo future starts now

by Rick Eymer

Stanford senior Wendy Watkins has already vowed to be there next year, red wig and all, should her Cardinal teammates again reach the NCAA women's water polo championships scheduled for Michigan.

"It's kind of a tradition for the seniors to come back and get rowdy," said Watkins after Stanford defeated Hartwick College, 12-2, in the third-place game of the NCAA championships at Stanford on Sunday.

Some of last year's seniors couldn't make it, but Watkins - a finalist for the Peter J. Cutino Award given to the country's top collegiate player -- was willing to excuse them since they are playing for the United States National Team and are training for the Olympics.

Hilary Gallogly, an all-MPSF Academic pick in 2001, came out from Boston to carry on the tradition this year.

Watkins, Lauren Faust and Shannon Avrett played their final game for Stanford on Sunday. And even though they came away victorious, there was still a sense of sadness. It wasn't the championship game.

Stanford (21-5) was upset by Loyola Marymount, 5-4, in Saturday's semifinal.

USC (29-0) won the national title with a 10-8 victory over the Lions (25-6).

"The season didn't end the way we wanted but nothing has changed about this team," said Faust, who will be in law school in New Orleans next year. "We still wanted to play our best game of the season on the last day."

Stanford, which joins LMU as the only teams to reach the NCAA Final Four in each of the four years of the event, should have a great chance to reach the finals against next season as the majority of the team were underclassmen. Only Hannah Luber, who joined Faust and Watkins on the all-tournament team, and twin sister Kelty Luber are juniors.

"They have so much talent and accomplished so much," Watkins said of the younger players. "We lost four strong seniors last year and those were a lot of big shoes to fill. They were up to the challenge. My freshman year, I barely played. This team is going to be great. J.T. (Stanford coach John Tanner) is a great cultivator of talent."

Palo Alto grad Laurel Champion, who scored a goal against the Hawks, will be among those seeking another chance at a title.

"It's about finishing the journey," she said. "We're excited for next year. This is the end of some careers and the beginning of others. We have a lot of experience coming back."

Watkins, who also plans to take in the women's water polo tournament at the Olympics in Athens this summer, said she could look back at her career fondly.

"There's a lot of mixed emotions because it was a bittersweet ending," she said. "We would have loved to have been in the championship game but when I look back, it's been a great four years."

The seniors can at least carry the memory of their 2002 national championship with them, and they are the only class at Stanford to play in the NCAA tournament, which began sponsoring the sport in 2001, every year. They leave with a 92-10 record.

Faust and Hannah Luber each scored three goals in the win over Hartwick. Nancy El-Sakkary added two goals, while Watkins, Scotti Shafer and Alison Gregorka also scored.

"We were able to rebound from a disappointment and play at a high level," said Tanner. "The sun did come up after all."

Champion wasn't only the only local connection in the Final Four. Hartwick sophomore Lindsey Bacolini hails from Atherton and had about 20 family members among the crowd.

"I went to the first championship game ever played her between UCLA and Stanford and I never imagined I would ever be playing in the same pool for a championship," said Bacolini, who started playing with the Stanford club team in 1995. "I wanted to go to school on the east coast and it's been the greatest decision I ever made."

Loyola Marymount goalkeeper Katie Murray, who recorded 12 saves in Saturday's win over Stanford, is from Portola Valley. She was also named to the all-tournament team.

The Lions scored twice in the final 1:32 to stun Stanford. Stacia Peterson scored with no time remaining to send LMU into the championship game.

"It wasn't like we overlooked LMU," said Watkins. "It was just a string of little events. I can't explain it. I couldn't believe it when I saw the zeroes on the clock."

After that loss, the team held a meeting to determine how they would respond in the consolation game.

"It would have been easy to blow off," said Watkins. "But I think it was a test of our character that we wanted to play the last game in our home pool and make it the best game we've played. We got pretty excited to play."

Shafer, Faust, Katie Hansen and Christina Hewko scored for Stanford.

USC scored twice in the first three minutes against the Lions and never trailed.

LMU closed to within 9-8 with 4:02 remaining, but a goal by Anna Pardo less than a minute later put the Women of Troy in control.

Tournament MVP Brittany Hayes scored three goals and had four assists.

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