Team handles No. 4 UCLA on trip

The Stanford women’s water polo team was victorious this weekend as it came back to the Farm from Southern California, maintaining a perfect MPSF record. The team had not traveled for three weeks, so the double win was a good sign that the Cardinal is still strong not only in its home pool, but out on the road as well. This past Saturday, the team faced off with UCLA.

The Cardinal started off strong with a 4-2 lead after the first period.

“I think we did really well with our defense, and that lead to a good offense,” said sophomore two-meter Annika Dries.

The Cardinal outscored the Bruins every period except the fourth, when both teams smashed two goals into their respective nets.

Sophomore two-meter Melissa Seidemann scored an outstanding four goals. Senior driver Kelly Eaton, sophomore driver Pallavi Menon and senior driver Kelsey Holshouser each skipped in two goals. Dries tacked on a single goal as well, while junior goalkeeper Amber Oland saved an impressive 10 shots from getting into the net.

Stanford finished the game with an 11-6 victory.

“It was good to go in there and show them that we could play really well,” Dries said. “I think we did really well on our six-on-fives. We did better with that than we did in the past.”

The following day, the Cardinal faced off with Long Beach State. Stanford began very strong once again with a 4-0 lead by the end of the first period. During the second period, not a single point was scored by either team. After halftime, Stanford dominated its opponent as the Card scored five points while Long Beach State only tacked on a single goal to finish the game at 9-1.

Sophomore driver Cassie Churnside, junior driver Kim Krueger and Dries each scored two goals. Sophomore driver Alyssa Lo, Menon and Holshouser each skipped in a single goal of their own. Again, Oland saved 10 shots.

“We were off shooting-wise,” Dries said. “I think that we are just going to have to keep our endurance up to keep shooting well.”

With the MPSF Tournament starting April 30, the Cardinal needs to be able to endure many matches throughout the tournament weekend. With these two victories under its belt, Stanford demonstrated its ability to play well outside of the Avery pool.

The next match will be in Honolulu, Hawaii against the University of Hawaii at 7 p.m. on April 11.