NCAA Water Polo Championships : Stanford Defeats UC Irvine in Second Overtime, 12-11

Matt Tingler, a sophomore substitute on Stanford’s high-powered water polo team, became a hero Sunday night as the Cardinal won the NCAA tournament.

Tingler’s goal with 47 seconds left in the second overtime gave Stanford a 12-11 victory over UC Irvine at Belmont Plaza Olympic Pool in Long Beach.

On the winning play, Erich Fischer of the Cardinal set a pick on an Irvine player, and Tingler swam toward the turbulent area in front of the goal known as “the hole.”

Craig Klass passed the ball to Tingler, who rose from the foam to bat it in.

Tingler had saved Stanford (25-4) from defeat with seven seconds left in regulation when he scored on a lob shot.

Irvine (23-8) appeared to be on the verge of an upset when goals by J.R. Salvatore and Brett Del Valle gave the Anteaters a 6-2 lead early in the third quarter.

But Stanford came back to win its fifth national title. The Cardinal scored five goals in the third period to tie the game at 7-7.

“At no time did we lose hope that we couldn’t win,” said Stanford’s David Imbernino, who scored three goals and was named co-most valuable player of the tournament with Irvine’s Jeff Campbell.

With 13 seconds to play in regulation, Campbell jammed in a shot to give Irvine a 10-9 lead. But just as the Anteaters were ready to celebrate, Tingler faked goalie Mark Maizel and hit his lob shot from the left side.