Oct. 12, 2002
Berkeley, Calif. - Nora Feddersen scored the game winning goal with the less than two minutes remaining (68:03) to lift No. 16 California (8-3, 3-0 NorPac) to a thrilling 2-1 victory over Stanford (8-8, 4-1 NorPac) in a NorPac showdown at Maxwell Family Field on Saturday. Stanford had three penalty corners in the final minute of play but was unable to score. The victory moves the Golden Bears into first place in the NorPac's West Division, percentage points ahead of the second-place Cardinal.
"This is the best game we've played this year," said an encouraged Stanford head coach Sheryl Johnson after the close loss. "It was a great game end-to-end. We're looking forward to the rematch at our place on November 2."
California still has three NorPac games remaining, while Stanford's only remaining conference game is the rematch against the Golden Bears at Stanford in its regular season finale on Saturday, November 2 (1 pm, PT). The rivals split the regular season NorPac West Division title last year before California won the final meeting between the teams to win the 2001 NorPac Tournament. Stanford has still won 14 of its last 17 NorPac regular season and tournament games with all three losses coming to the Golden Bears.
California jumped out to a 1-0 lead early in Saturday's contest when Anita Reyes scored her first goal of the season on a penalty corner at 4:35 with assists credited to Danya Sawyer and Michelle Wald.
Stanford knotted the contest at 1-1 when Christina Williams took a rebounded shot and knocked it into the goal unassisted just after halftime at 37:59.
Stanford outshot California, 13-9, and has now outshot its opponents in 14 of 16 games this season. The Cardinal also held a 10-7 advantage in penalty corners.
Stanford goalkeepers Emily Zander and Ana Kralovec split the game in the net. Zander had one first half save before Kralovec stopped two Golden Bear shots in the second half. California goalkeeper Kelly Knapp recorded four saves.
Stanford will prepare for its rematch versus California with a pair of home non-conference games versus Yale (Sunday, October 20, 1 pm, PT) and UC Santa Barbara (Sunday, October 27, 1 pm, PT).