Dos Pueblos alum Tiera Schroeder and the Cal Bears finished fifth at the MPSF Championships.
Tiera Schroeder?s (SBAC/DPHS) Cal Bears defeated the San Jose State Spartan?s on Sunday in a decisive 10-5 victory to take 5th place at the 2013 MPSF Championships in Berkeley.
Schroeder had four assists in the contest and weathered a storm of physical defense by the Spartans. Cal also finished fifth in regular conference competition and will not compete at the 2013 NCAA tournament to be held at Harvard University on 10-12 May.
Sami and Kodi Hill?s (SBAC/DPHS) UCLA Bruins saved their season in the third place game by defeating third ranked Arizona State University and Makenzy Fowler (SBAC/SBHS). Fowler was a driving machine in the contest, drawing four ejections against UCLA. Unfortunately, for the Sun Devils, their extra player formation was an abysmal 4 for 16 due in part to outstanding goal keeping by Sami Hill. The Sun Devil?s fourth place finish was the best in school history.
Kodi Hill scored a goal and played excellent defense, including stealing the ball on top from two-time Chinese Olympian Ao Gao. Gao led the Sun Devils with 3 goals until she received her third ejection early in the fourth quarter. UCLA went on to win 10-7, advancing to the NCAA Championship in Boston with an at-large tournament berth.
Alexis Lee and Kiley Neushul?s (SBAC/VHS and SBAC/DPHS) top ranked Stanford Cardinal faced second ranked USC in the championship game. USC struck quickly, winning the sprint and scoring a goal from outside in the first offensive sequence. The Trojans then dominated the first quarter leading 5-0 at the break. Stanford fought back when Neushul drew a five meter but Maggie Steffen?s shot was blocked and the Cardinal did not score until the second quarter. Stanford made a run in the third quarter but never got closer than four goals losing 11-7.
Stanford won the regular season and hence received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament. In Boston, Alexis Lee will have a chance to be among the first Stanford Women?s Water Polo players ever to win three consecutive NCAA Division I championships.
