Sept. 27, 2003
Stanford, Calif. - Stanford (3-6, 1-1 NorPac) ended a five-game losing streak with a 4-2 win over Pacific (3-5, 0-2 NorPac) in a key NorPac field hockey match Saturday at the Varsity Field Hockey Turf. The victory moved the Cardinal within one game of NorPac West Division leader California (2-0 NorPac) with four NorPac games remaining for each team, including a Stanford-California showdown on October 11 in Berkeley. Four different players - Aska Sturdevan, Noor Dawood, Lyndsay Erickson and Missy Halliday - scored as Stanford recorded a season-high four goals. Erickson also added an assist, while Cara-Lynn Lopresti picked up a pair of assists.
"It was time for a win and this is great for our morale," said Stanford head coach Lesley Irvine. "It was a case of us taking care of business."
Pacific's Marissa Atilano scored the first of her two goals at 24:24 to give Pacific an early 1-0 lead. Atilano redirected a ball blasted off the stick of Heather Kottmeier just outside the circle. Kottmeier was credited with an assist.
Stanford's Aska Sturdevan tied the score at 1-1 when she picked up a goal on a penalty corner at 31:54 with Lopresti recording her first assist. Noor Dawood gave the Cardinal a 2-1 lead when she stuck a shot just inside the left post on a pass from Erickson at 33:24.
"This was a really big win for us both in terms of the NorPac standings and our confidence as a team," said Dawood, who increased her lead among active Stanford players to career totals of 37 points and 15 goals. "We can still have a great season even after the five-game losing streak. Everyone still feels that way."
The Cardinal added to its halftime lead early in the second period at 37:04 when Lopresti dribbled through the Tiger defense and passed to Erickson for a score that put Stanford ahead, 3-1. Missy Halliday picked up another Cardinal goal on an assist by Eleanor Morgan at 60:53.Atilano made the final score 4-2 when she finished the scoring at 66:58 with her second goal of the game, tipping in a shot taken by Alexandra Fiorina, who picked up an assist on the play.Atilano led all players with four shot attempts.
Stanford held a slim 10-9 advantage in shots, while the Tigers had eight penalty corners to seven for the Cardinal.
Stanford goalkeeper Ana Kralovec (1-1) picked up a win in her first start of the season and recorded a career-high-tying seven saves. Pacific goalkeeper Gina Sadler (2-4) took the loss and did not record a save.
Erickson took over Stanford's lead in both points (13) and goals (5), while Lopresti (4 goals, 12 points) trails Erickson by just one in each category and leads the team in assists (5).
Stanford's victory over Pacific was its 20th in a row over the Tigers dating back to 1992. The Cardinal has also won 17 of its last 25 games against NorPac competition.
Stanford begins a four-game road swing at Michigan State on Saturday, October 4 (2 pm, ET). The Cardinal will also play a pair of neutral games versus Northwestern (Sunday, October 5, 2 pm, ET) and Central Michigan (Tuesday, October 7, 11 am, ET) in East Lansing, Michigan, before ending the road swing with the key showdown at California on October 11. The Cardinal returns home for an exhibition contest against its Alumnae on Sunday, October 19 (1 pm, PT) before hosting Southwest Missouri State in its final two regular season home contests on Sunday, October 26 (1 pm, PT) and Tuesday, October 28 (11 am, PT).