Nov. 3, 2003

Stanford, Calif. -- For the second time this season, Pepperdine allowed Stanford to come-from-behind and steal a victory from the Waves in a battle of Top 5 teams. Led by Stanford's Tony Azevedo's game-high five goals, No. 5 Pepperdine fell to No. 3-ranked Stanford in a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation game on Sunday afternoon at the Avery Aquatic Center.

Down 6-4 with 33 seconds left in the second period, the Cardinal scored four straight goals to take a 8-6 lead with 38 seconds left in the third period. Two goals each by Azevedo and Peter Varellas accounted for the Cardinal surge in the second half.

At 6:11 of the final period, Pepperdine's Scott Harvey cut the margin to 8-7. Azevedo then pushed the Cardinal lead to two goals, 9-7, at the 5:05 mark of the final period. John Ashby scored at 3:30 for Pepperdine to make it 9-8, but then again Azevedo, gave Stanford the insurance goal at 2:48, 10-8.

Michael Hausmann scored three goals for Pepperdine.

The Stanford-Pepperdine game was filled with fouls. Six players (4 Pepperdine, 2 Stanford) were ejected because of fouls.

It was the second time this year that the Cardinal has had to battle back from a deficit against the Waves. On Oct. 5, Stanford exploded for seven goals in the fourth period to score a 10-9 victory over the Waves in the semifinals of the NorCal Tournament.

The loss drops Pepperdine to 14-5 overall and 3-3 in MPSF play. Meanwhile, the Cardinal improves to 14-3 overall and 3-1 in conference action.

Next up for the Waves is No. 7 Long Beach State on Saturday at noon in Malibu.

Pepperdine (14-5, 3-3 MPSF) 2 4 0 2 = 8
Stanford (14-3, 3-1 MPSF) 3 1 4 2 = 10
Stanford Scorers: Azevedo 5, Varellas 3, Hopkins 1, Tyre 1
Pepperdine Scorers: Hausmann 3, Harvey 2, Smith 1, Barth 1, Ashby 1
Goalie Saves: Taylor (S) 6; Tait (P) 10