November 02, 2005

Back to the table of Contents Page

Classifieds

Palo Alto Online

Big victory over UCLA keeps Cardinal hopes alive

by Rick Eymer

At the midpoint of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation season, the Stanford men's water polo team finds itself at the top of standings heading into Saturday's noon showdown with host, and top-ranked USC, the only other unbeaten team in the conference.

As the second-ranked Cardinal (4-0, 15-3) can attest, anything can happen, and likely will happen when two of the nation's top teams square off.

Stanford got a little lucky in its 9-8 overtime win over fourth-ranked UCLA on Saturday, but it also played well enough defensively to secure the victory.

Stanford beat fifth-ranked Pepperdine, 11-9, on Sunday.

"We have to gear up for every game and play them all like it's our last game," Stanford senior Thomas Hopkins said. "We're still trying to get an at-large bid. USC has a good lead but there's always that possibility we could win out."

With only four teams getting an invitation to the NCAA tournament, and three conference champions getting automatic bids, several deserving teams from the MPSF get left out when it comes to the postseason.

The first goal of any team is to put itself in a position for that final spot. Winning the MPSF tournament is one way to reach the Final Four. The battle for the second spot, which has always gone to an MPSF school, usually comes down to a key match like Saturday.

UCLA, the defending national champion, took a significant hit in its chances to reach the postseason after Saturday's loss.

"Don't count UCLA out," Hopkins said. "I can see us playing another game like this again. There seems to be more of a rivalry between Stanford and the L.A. schools, even more than with Cal. But Cal is a good team with a lot of weapons."

Cal handed Stanford one of its three losses of the year, and the two teams meet in The Big Splash in two weeks in a contest that will likely decide who gets one of the top seeds for the conference tournament.

Stanford earned its win over the Bruins when Hopkins drilled a shot, in a man-up situation, past UCLA goalie Will Didinger with 15 seconds left in the second overtime.

The winning shot was set up when a goal was taken away from the Bruins in the final seconds of the first overtime period due to a rule interpretation, which sent UCLA coach Adam Krikorian, a Mountain View native, into hysterics afterward.

Menlo School grad John Blanchette gave UCLA an 8-7 lead at the 2:08 mark of the first overtime period, but Hopkins tied the game with a four-meter penalty shot 28 seconds later.

Stanford's Peter Varellas was hit with a 20-second ejection on UCLA's next possession and with just under a minute to play, Logan Powell scored an apparent goal in the man-up situation.

The goal was taken away, however, when an official (who traveled up from Southern California for the match) called time and questioned the length of the ejection.

"It's a clear violation when you are not waved in at the proper time," Stanford coach John Vargas said. "They had a longer period with an extra man and the referee can take it away. If I were on their side I'd be upset too. It's part of anything to deal with adversity."

Varellas spent nearly 10 extra seconds out of play, and UCLA scored just as he was being waved back in. The game and shot clocks were reset, and the Bruins were awarded the ball again, but didn't score again.

Krikorian, an energetic coach who normally displays proper sportsmanship, had been given a yellow card earlier in the match. After the game he immediately made his way to the scoring table, slammed his fist on the table and screamed an expletive into the face of the official scorer.

"You cost us the game," Krikorian continued. "You guys can screw me all you want, I guess it doesn't matter."

Perhaps what may have upset Krikorian more was the fact his team carried a 6-3 lead into the fourth quarter, or that the Bruins were 0-of-7 with a man advantage while Stanford converted all five of its man-up situations.

Michael Bury scored twice in the first two minutes of the fourth period to close the gap to 6-5, but Powell responded with a goal to give the Bruins a two-goal edge with 4:44 left in regulation.

A quick reaction to a UCLA kick out brought the Cardinal back within one goal at the 2:50 mark. Will Hindle-Katel found the back of the net after taking a pass from Hopkins even before the UCLA player was out of the pool.

Varellas's goal at 1:24 on a counter attack knotted the match at 7-all.

"It takes team play to make a comeback like that," Hopkins said.

It also took a defensive effort with a man down to even allow Stanford the chance to come from behind.

"Five on 6 defense is a good indicator of a good team," Hopkins said. "Offense wins games, but defense wins championships. You have to kick it up a notch to make up for the missing guy. Everybody is essentially guarding two people. We play defense with passion and heart and it usually comes down to who wants it more."

In its current format, changed for the 2001 season, Stanford has always reached the NCAA championship match. The Cardinal won the national title the first two years and finished second the past two.

Saturday's match had a local flavor. Blanchette and fellow Menlo School grads Thomas Foley and Grant Zider are starters for UCLA, while Palo Alto grad Ryan Fortune starts for Stanford. Fortune and Zider spent most of the contest matched on each other at the two-meter spot.

Sacred Heart Prep grads Carter Brutschy and Dylan Mobley are also on the UCLA roster, while Menlo School grads Steven Wright and James Sandman play for the Cardinal.

Fortune's goal at 2:56 of the fourth quarter gave Stanford the lead for good in the win over Pepperdine. Varellas scored five goals in the game.

E-mail a friend a link to this story.