Nov. 9, 2002
Box Score | All-Tournament Team
Stanford, Calif. - California's Nora Feddersen scored after rebounding her own blocked shot in a first sudden victory overtime at 78:44 to lift California (14-6) to a 2-1 victory over Stanford (10-11) and give the Golden Bears their second consecutive NorPac Championships title. California advances to host an NCAA Play-In Game versus Patriot League winner Lafayette on Tuesday, November 12 (11:00 am) with the winner advancing to the 16-team NCAA Tournament field.
California jumped out to an early 1-0 lead when Pooja Mehta dribbled around Cardinal goalkeeper Emily Zander and put the ball into the back of the net just 5:20 into the game.
Stanford tied the score at 1-1 when a diving shot by Eleanor Morgan at 28:12 got past California goalkeeper Kelly Knapp. Christina Williams was credited with an assist on the score.
"It was very fitting that the championship game came down to California and Stanford," said Stanford senior Amanda Billmyer, who finished with 54 points in her career, the most of any active Stanford player. "I was really proud of the way our team pulled together at the end of the season."
Zander had four saves for the Cardinal, while Knapp stopped three Cardinal shots for the Golden Bears.
Stanford outshot the Golden Bears, 15-10. The Cardinal outshot its opponents 19 times in 21 games this season, including all three games against California.
Stanford fell to 10-3 all-time in NorPac Championships play and lost for only the fifth time in its last 21 NorPac regular season and post-season games, all to California.
California won all three games against Stanford in 2002 by identical 2-1 scores with the final two contests going into overtime. The Golden Bears have won 10 of the last 12 meetings overall between the teams, including a pair of 2-1 regular season victories this year.
California and Stanford have met in all five NorPac Championships title games since the event began in 1998 with the Golden Bears winning three of the five.
The loss marked the end of the season for Stanford and the final collegiate game for Cardinal head coach Sheryl Johnson, who announced her retirement effective at the conclusion of the season last August. Johnson led the Cardinal to nine NorPac titles and seven NCAA Tournaments during her illustrious 18-year coaching career at Stanford.
"Today's game was one of mixed emotions," reflected Johnson. "Coaching my last game at Stanford after an 18-year career seemed surreal. It really didn't hit me until the very end, and as any one would tell you, the outcome of Saturday's game was far different than what we had in mind! I'll miss the team, my coaching staff and the Stanford Family. Most of all, however, I just felt incredible pride in the entire team for the effort they put forth in the championship game. They have great heart and they played that way. It could have gone either way in overtime, it just didn't fall our way. I loved every minute, of every single day here."