Oct. 30, 2004
Berkeley, Calif. - Stanford (6-11, 0-6 NorPac) finished its regular season with a 4-0 loss at No. 15 California (15-4, 5-1 NorPac) on Saturday at the Maxwell Family Field as the Golden Bears captured the outright NorPac West Division title with the victory. The Cardinal was able to keep the contest close in the first half, trailing just 1-0 and holding a 4-3 shot advantage over the Golden Bears at the break. California extended the slim 1-0 halftime advantage to its four-goal final margin of victory by scoring three times in the second half as Valentina Godfrid tallied two goals and added an assist in the second stanza, breaking a pair of California's season scoring records in the process by finishing the regular season with 20 goals and 51 points.
Amber Madsen gave California an early 1-0 lead when she scored on the first of three assists on the day from Jenna Long just 6:57 into the game. Godfrid assisted on a goal by Maggie Grimes early in the second half at 36:21 to extend the Golden Bears' advantage to 2-0. Both of Godfrid's goals came on penalty corners at 57:07 and 59:49. Long and Samantha Gallop were credited with assists on both scores.
"The final score today didn't really reflect the type of game this was," said Stanford head coach Lesley Irvine. "We had some very good moments, but we squandered a lot of opportunities and California was clinical with their chances."
"It's time to recollect ourselves and get focused on the NorPac Tournament," continued Irvine. "This is a great opportunity for us, and I have high expectations. Every team begins this event with a shot to win it and move on to the postseason. We get to wipe our slate clean."
The bracket and pairings for the 2004 NorPac Conference Championship to be contested at Davidson from November 4-6 were announced last Wednesday and Stanford will be the fourth seed from the West Division. The Cardinal will face NorPac East regular season champion Radford (8-9, 5-0 NorPac) in a first round game on Thursday, November 4 (4:00 pm, EST). The Highlanders finish their regular season Sunday with a NorPac contest versus Davidson.
"We're excited that the brackets have been released, and we know who we will be playing in the first round of the NorPac Conference Championship," Irvine said shortly after the brackets were announced. "We will approach it like we have every game this year. We have the potential for some big wins in the postseason, and we will do all we can to make it happen."
On Saturday against California, Stanford was outshot by a total margin of 16-6. Godfrid attempted a game-high seven shots, while Katherine Brooks tried half of the Cardinal's six.
California had twice as many penalty corners (10-5) as the Cardinal.Golden Bear goalkeeper Kelly Knapp (15-4) recorded her fifth shutout of the season and had five saves. Cardinal starter Ana Kralovec (6-11) took the loss and finished with six saves. Madison Bell played the final eight minutes in the cage for the Cardinal, entering a game for the third time this season.
Eleanor Morgan played her final regular season game in a Stanford uniform, making her 57th consecutive start.