April 27, 2009

Courtesy of Hawai'i Athletics

HONOLULU - The University of Southern California Trojans scored the game-winning goal with 47 seconds left to beat the Stanford Cardinal, 6-5, on Sunday night to capture the 2009 MPSF Women's Water Polo Championship at the Duke Kahanamoku Aquatics Complex in Honolulu, HI.

USC went 3-0 in the tournament and won its second MPSF title.

Stanford scored the first goal of the match on a Kelly Eaton goal three minutes into the first quarter. Kira Hillman gave the Cardinal a 2-0 lead a minute later, scoring from just inside the 5-meter line and Hillman extended the lead to 3-0 on her second goal just before the end of the quarter.

In a low scoring second quarter, Eaton for Stanford extended the lead to 4-0 before USC got on the board with 15 seconds left before half. The Trojans' Kristen Dronberger scored the team's only goal in the first half.

USC cut into the lead midway through the third quarter when Michelle Stein scored from outside the 5-meter line to make it 4-2 Stanford. Stein scored her second goal of the quarter with 21 seconds left to make the score 4-3.

Stanford opened back up a two-goal lead in the fourth quarter when Lauren Silver scored a power-play goal with just under five minutes left in the match. USC answered to make it 5-4 on Dronberger's second goal of the match.

USC tied the score 5-5 with 2:17 left in the match on a penalty shot converted by Stein. The Trojans took their first lead of the match with 47 seconds left in the game when Forel Davies scored from the right side, giving USC a 6-5 lead.

No. 1 USC 6, No. 2 Stanford 5

Goals
STANFORD - Kelly Eaton (2), Kira Hillman (2), Lauren Silver
USC - Michelle Stein (3), Kristen Dronberger (2), Forel Davies

Saves
STANFORD - Amber Oland (9)
USC - Tumua Anae (10)