Oct. 23, 2001
Stanford, Calif. - No. 20 Stanford (9-6, 5-0 NorPac) clinched a co-title in the NorPac West Division with a 2-0 victory over Saint Louis (5-11, 0-6 NorPac) in a NorPac contest at the Varsity Field Hockey Turf on Tuesday. The victory keeps Stanford unbeaten in conference action and leaves the Cardinal one win away from an outright NorPac West Division title. Stanford completes its regular season at California this Saturday, October 27 (1:00 p.m.). The Cardinal, which last won the NorPac regular season title outright in 1998, enters Saturday's contest at California with a season-long six-game win streak. Stanford defeated California, 1-0, in its NorPac opener earlier this season.
"We always have close games with Cal, and we expect the same thing on Saturday," said head coach Sheryl Johnson. "As for getting a share of the NorPac West Division title today, it is a culmination of a lot of hard work throughout the season and taking it one game at a time."
The last time the Cardinal has won seven straight games was during the 1998 season. Stanford has also now won eight straight contests against NorPac opponents dating back to last season.
Erica Swesey scored a goal with 5:13 remaining in Tuesday's 2-0 win over Saint Louis to extend her scoring streak to six games. The team's leading scorer with 21 points, Swesey has tallied nine goals during the team's current six-game win streak. Goalkeeper Rebecca Shapiro also continued her excellent play, recording her fifth shutout during the winning streak to lower her NorPac leading GAA to 0.94. Shapiro's shutout was also her NorPac-leading sixth of the season and the 21st of her career.
Sara Herman scored her first goal of the season on an assist by Amrit Chima and following a scramble in front of the Billikens' goal to put the Cardinal on the board with only 0:29 remaining before halftime.
Saint Louis goalkeeper Erin Linchan recorded a game-high 14 saves as Stanford outshot the Billikens, 32-3.