BAKERSFIELD, Calif.—No. 3 Stanford defeated No. 23 CSU Bakersfield 12-5 in MPSF women's water polo action Saturday afternoon.
The Roadrunners committed seven turnovers in the first 11 possessions of the game as the Cardinal jumped out to a 4-0 first quarter lead. CSUB went down 5-0 before Kristen Jensen, Nicola Barrett, and Jada Helberg scored in the final 1:58 of the second quarter to cut Stanford's halftime lead to 5-3.
Dani Jackovich scored on Stanford's first possession of the third quarter as the Cardinal turned away the 'Runners on each of their first three second half offensive chances. Gurpeet Sohi converted a penalty shot with 4:12 to play in the third before Ashley Paz scored the first of her second half with 1:15 to play. Madison Berggren charted a goal with eight seconds remaining in the third to increase the Stanford lead to four.
The Cardinal (17-2, 3-0 MPSF) would outscore the Roadrunners 4-1 in the final eight minutes for the final seven-goal margin of victory. CSUB would force a total of 18 Stanford turnovers, but committed 19 turnovers of their own. Roadrunner goalie Courtney Wahlstrom made 12 saves as Stanford outshot the Roadrunners 30-22.
“We had some good opportunities in the first half, but we made a couple of mistakes that led to a couple of 5-on-4 goals,” said CSUB head coach Jason Gall. “I thought the end of second quarter was fantastic and it gave us the momentum heading into the second half. We hesitated a bit on offense in the third quarter and if we convert on those chances it probably wouldn't have led to a couple of counter attack goals for them. I think we are making progress and played four solid quarters.”
The Roadrunners (13-16, 0-3 MPSF) head to No. 1 USC on Sunday for a 1 p.m. match.
~www.GoRunners.com~
Stanford 4 1 3 4 12
CSUB 0 3 1 1 5
Stanford Goals-Neushul 3, Dudley 2, Sohi 2, Jackovich 1, Klass 1, Yelizarova 1, Cleary 1, Berggren 1
CSUB Goals-Paz 2, Jensen 1, Barrett 1, Helberg 1
Stanford Saves-Hermann 4
CSUB Saves-Wahlstrom 12, Jensen 1
