NorPac Championship Central
Nov. 7, 2002
Stanford, Calif. - Stanford (9-10) opened the NorPac Championships with a 3-1 win over Davidson (7-13) in a first round game played in heavy rain and periodic lighting at the Varsity Field Hockey Turf on Thursday. The victory earned the Cardinal a spot in a semifinal game on Friday (1 pm) versus Radford (8-10), the top seed in the East. Radford was a 5-0 winner over Saint Louis (2-17) in a first round game on Thursday.
Stanford, the second seed in the West Division, was locked in a scoreless dual with Davidson until Noor Dawood scored on an assist from Christina Williams midway through the second half at 51:36. Just over two minutes later at 53:39, Williams scored on a direct penalty corner with assists from Amanda Billmyer and Eleanor Morgan to put the Cardinal ahead, 2-0.
Davidson cut the Cardinal lead in half to 2-1 when Jessica Barton converted a penalty stroke at 58:52 but a goal by Billmyer on Morgan's second assist at 65:45 made the final score 3-1.
"This was a great win for us," said Stanford head coach Sheryl Johnson, who will retire after 18 years at the conclusion of this season. "We had more people scoring and contributing today and that fit into our game plan."
Billmyer's goal and assist raised her career season-best point total to 22. Billmyer has scored nine goals over the team's last seven games and now has 53 points in her career, the most of any active Stanford player. Morgan's two-assist game was the first multiple-assist game of her career. Williams moved into third-place on the team in scoring this season with 15 points after her goal and assist, while Dawood is now fourth on the team with 14 points.
Radford goalkeeper Sarah Nolan recorded four saves, while Stanford's Emily Zander had one.Stanford outshot the Wildcats, 13-3, marking the 17th time in 19 games this season that the Cardinal has outshot its opponents. Stanford also held a 9-1 advantage in penalty corners.
Stanford improved to 9-2 all-time and 4-0 in tournament openers since the NorPac Championships began in 1998. The Cardinal also won for the 15th time in its last 19 NorPac games, while snapping a season-high-tying three-game overall losing streak. The Cardinal needs just one more win to register its third straight double-digit victory campaign.
NorPac West Division rivals Pacific (4-12) and California (12-6) also won their opening round games on Friday and will square off in Friday's other semifinal at 11 am. The Tigers (seeded third in the West Division) pulled off a mild upset with a 3-0 victory over Southwest Missouri State (the second seed in the East) in the first game of the day. California (the top seed in the West) continued its hot streak with a 6-0 victory over Appalachian State (the fourth seed in the East). The Golden Bears were a perfect 6-0 in regular season NorPac play and have won four straight overall.
Friday's two consolation games will sandwich the winners' bracket contests. Southwest Missouri State (7-11) and Appalachian State (5-14) will begin Friday's action with a consolation game at 9 am. Saint Louis and Davidson will close out the day's action with a consolation game at 3 pm.