Nov. 4, 2004
Davidson, N.C. - Stanford (7-11) knocked off NorPac East Division regular season champion Radford (9-10) in the first round of the 2004 NorPac Championship on Thursday at the Baker Sports Complex on the campus of Davidson University. Liz Robinson scored her team-leading fourth game-winning goal of the season early in the first overtime at 71:24 to break a scoreless tie. The victory moves the Cardinal into a semifinal matchup on Friday (4:00 pm, EST) versus Pacific (8-9), a 2-0 winner over Appalachian State in a first round game on Thursday.
"We came into this postseason tournament knowing that we had a clean slate," said Stanford field hockey head coach Lesley Irvine. "This win was great for our confidence, and now we need to focus on taking care of business tomorrow and in the rest of the tournament."
"It's nice to play a team we are familiar with," continued Irvine about Friday's matchup with Pacific, who finished second in the NorPac West Division in 2004 with a conference record of 4-2. "We've had a chance to see them twice already this year and played much better the second time."
Pacific was a 5-0 winner over the Cardinal in the first game between the teams this year in Stockton on September 21 but had to squeak by Stanford 2-1 the last time teams met October 23 at Stanford.
On Thursday's game-winning goal versus Radford, who was a perfect 6-0 in regular season NorPac East competition this year, Robinson broke away from the field after receiving a pass from Jessica Zutz. Her first shot at the goal was saved by Highlander goalkeeper Amy Dietz but the ball bounced back out towards Robinson, who gathered the rebound and put her second attempt past Dietz to give the Cardinal a victory.
Robinson's goal moved her into the team's lead for the season in both goals (6) and points (14).
Stanford goalkeeper Ana Kralovec recorded the second shutout of her career and stopped seven Davidson shot attempts to improve to 7-11 on the season. Dietz, who finished with four saves, fell to 9-10.
Eleanor Morgan made her 58th consecutive start for the Cardinal.
The game was nearly even in the team statistical categories with the Cardinal holding a slim 13-11 advantage in shot attempts and the Highlanders holding an even slimmer 8-7 lead in penalty corners. Aska Sturdevan attempted a game-high four shots for the Cardinal, while Jenny Bell and Angela Feindt had three each for Radford.
The victory broke a three-game losing streak for the Cardinal, who had lost seven of its final eight regular season contests and was 0-6 in NorPac West Division regular season action. Stanford's seven victories this season moved the Cardinal past its season win total of six a year ago.
No. 15 California (16-4) and Southwest Missouri State (11-7) both won their respective opening games on Thursday to give the West Division a clean sweep of first round contests and will meet in Friday's other semifinal (1:30 pm, EST). The Golden Bears opened the tournament with a 5-1 win over host Davidson, while Southwest Missouri State was a 2-1 winner against Saint Louis.
Consolation games will also be played Friday between Davidson (5-12) and Saint Louis (5-12) at 11:00 am, as well as Appalachian State and Radford at 6:30 pm. Those four teams will not play on the final day of the tournament on Saturday.
The championship game of the event is slated for 12:30 pm on Saturday, while the third-place game will precede the main event at 10:00 am.The winner of the 2004 NorPac Championship advances to an NCAA Play-In Game on Tuesday, November 9, versus the winner of the Mid-Atlantic Conference Tournament. The winner of that game moves on to the NCAA Regionals, which run November 13-14 at sites and times still to be announced.
Stanford has now reached the semifinals in each of the seven years the NorPac Championship has been in existence. The Cardinal has won the event twice (1998, 2000), finished as runners-up on three other occasions (1999, 2001, '02) and took third-place in 2003. Stanford has an all-time record of 13-4 (.765) in the history of the event, ranking second in both victories and winning percentage. The Cardinal is a perfect 12-0 in the NorPac Championship against all teams other than California and has beaten Radford in all three NorPac Championship meetings between the schools after Thursday's victory.