NCAA MEN'S WATER POLO: BAY WATCH: STANFORD, CAL TO MEET RIVALS WIN IN SEMIS TO SET UP NCAA TITLE GAME.Byline: Heather Gripp Staff Writer Tony Azevedo Anthony Lawrence Azevedo (born November 21, 1981 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) is an American water polo player and a graduate of Stanford University. Nicknamed "The Savior" at one point, he is considered to be one of the best American water polo players in recent memory. was limited to one goal, but the Stanford men's water polo water polo, swimming game encompassing features of soccer, football, basketball, and hockey. The object of the game is to maneuver, by head, feet, or hand, a leather-covered ball 27 to 28 in. team hardly seemed fazed faze tr.v. fazed, faz·ing, faz·es To disrupt the composure of; disconcert. See Synonyms at embarrass. [Middle English fesen, to drive away, frighten . Shutting down Azevedo generally is considered the elusive key to beating the Cardinal, but Stanford showed its depth can be just as dangerous as having one of the sport's premier players. Cardinal junior Mike Derse scored a game-high four goals, and six others scored one apiece a·piece adv. To or for each one; each: There is enough bread for everyone to have two slices apiece. [Middle English a pece : a, a; see a for Stanford in a 10-5 victory over UC San Diego San Diego (săn dēā`gō), city (1990 pop. 1,110,549), seat of San Diego co., S Calif., on San Diego Bay; inc. 1850. San Diego includes the unincorporated communities of La Jolla and Spring Valley. Coronado is across the bay. in the semifinals of the NCAA NCAA abbr. National Collegiate Athletic Association Men's Water Polo National Championship on Saturday in front of 2,167 at Loyola Marymount. Top-ranked Stanford will go for its second consecutive title when the Cardinal faces No. 2 California in today's final at 1:30 p.m. The Golden Bears advanced with a 14-6 victory over Queens (N.Y.) College. Cal (20-6) is one of the few teams this season to figure out how to beat Stanford (23-5). The Golden Bears and Cardinal split their four previous meetings this season, with Cal winning the most recent 8-7 at last weekend's Mountain Pacific Sports Federation The Mountain Pacific Sports Federation is a college athletic conference whose member teams are located in the western United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I. tournament. ``When you think about Stanford in regards to water polo, the first thing you come up with is Tony,'' Cal coach Kirk Everist said of the U.S. Senior National Team member who was the NCAA Player of the Year last season as a freshman. ``Tony Azevedo could arguably ar·gu·a·ble adj. 1. Open to argument: an arguable question, still unresolved. 2. That can be argued plausibly; defensible in argument: three arguable points of law. be the best player in the country. He's someone you've got to handle, but you're never going to stop him. We need to look at taking their other players out of the game.'' Azevedo, who has a school-record 91 goals this season, appeared to be in for a typical game when he scored the first goal a little more than a minute in. However, he did not score again. ``If you told me that before the game, I would have told you, gee, we have a good chance to win the game,'' UC San Diego coach Denny Harper said. ``Obviously, it didn't turn out that way.'' Derse scored two first-quarter goals and another in the second to put Stanford up 5-2 at halftime. ``He played well,'' Stanford coach John Vargas said of Azevedo. ``Just all of the sudden, Mike had some opportunities and had some wonderful goals. ``It's not just Tony. That's what so wonderful about this team.'' Derse has 50 goals this season. ``The game we just played is a perfect example of why Derse is their second-leading scorer,'' said Harper, whose Tritons Tritons are a race of sea gods and goddesses born from Poseidon's son Triton. Like their father, their bodies ended with fish tails instead of legs. They are often compared to other Merman/Mermaid like beings, such as Merrows, Selkies, and Sirens. dropped to 19-12. ``It's because he picks up the opportunities. You try to contain Azevedo, you try to contain (Peter) Hudnut and (Jeff) Nesmith. ... You can only drop back so much.'' Cal also benefited from depth in its victory over a Queens team that has only 11 players. The Golden Bears had 11 different players score goals, including three goals by Attila Banhidy. Queens' Michel Vieira scored two of his game-high four goals in the first period to keep the Knights (24-4) within one at 3-2. But Cal pulled away with six goals in the second quarter. Each of the Golden Bears' games against Stanford have been decided by one goal. CAPTION(S): box Box: TODAY'S CHAMPIONSHIP |
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