Nov. 1, 2003
Stockton, Calif. - Stanford (4-12, 2-4 NorPac) completed regular season action with a 4-1 loss at Pacific (8-6, 3-3 NorPac) on Sunday. The Cardinal fell to a third-place finish in the NorPac West Division with the loss and will be the No. 3 West Division seed in the NorPac Championship to be held in St. Louis next Thursday-Saturday, November 6-8. Stanford will play Appalachian State (11-7, 4-2 NorPac), the No. 2 seed and co-champion from the East Division, in an opening round game on Thursday (3:30 pm, CT). The complete brackets and seedings for the 2003 NorPac Championship will be released on Sunday.
Vianney Campos scored a pair of goals and added an assist to help the Tigers win their fifth straight contest, tying the longest win streak in school history. Pacific also snapped a 20-game losing skid to the Cardinal dating back to 1994. Alexandra Fiorina added a goal and an assist, while Heather Kottmeier picked up a goal and Marissa Atilano contributed an assist.Pacific struck first in a game that would decide second place in the NorPac when Campos scored on an assist from Fiorina just 7:01 into the contest.
Stanford came back to tie the score at 1-1 just 4:27 later when Lyndsay Erickson scored on an assist from Aska Sturdevan at 11:28. Erickson now ranks second on the club in both goals (6) and points (15).
Pacific took the lead for good on Campos' second goal of the game, unassisted at 26:01.Pacific added to its 2-1 halftime lead when Kottmeier finished off a penalty corner at 41:09 as Campos was credited with an assist. Fiorina closed out the game's scoring with an assist from Atilano at 44:31 after another Pacific corner opportunity.
Pacific held a 16-7 shot advantage and attempted 11 penalty corners, compared to seven for the Cardinal.
Campos led all players with four shots, while Sturdevan took three of Stanford's seven attempts.
Tiger goalkeeper Gina Sadler stopped three Stanford shots and earned the victory, while Emily Zander (3-9) recorded a game-high nine saves for the Cardinal but took the loss.
The winner of the NorPac Championships will earn the right to compete in an NCAA Play-In Game on Tuesday, November 11. The winner of the NCAA Play-In Game will advance to the 16-team NCAA Tournament beginning with Regional action Saturday-Sunday, November 15-16. Stanford's last appearance in the NCAA Tournament came in 2000. The Cardinal has won the NorPac Championships twice in its five-year history (1998, 2000), while finishing second on the other three occasions (1999, 2001, '02).