Nov. 5, 2004
Davidson, N.C. - Stanford (7-12) extended Pacific (9-9) to double overtime before falling 2-1 to the Tigers in the NorPac Championship semifinals on Friday at the Baker Sports Complex on the campus of Davidson University. Pacific's Jen Chaney scored the game-winner with just over a minute remaining in the second overtime at the 88:59 mark of a marathon contest that lasted two hours and 30 minutes. Laura Maurer had come up with the ball in a scramble in front of the Cardinal net before passing to Chaney for the game-winner.
"We felt like this was the best game we played all season, so it's obviously disappointing that we didn't come out with the win," said Stanford head coach Lesley Irvine. "But, I'm still really proud of the way we played. Everyone brought their "A" game."
Stanford took a 1-0 lead a little beyond the midway mark of the first half when NorPac West Rookie of the Year Jessica Zutz scored an unassisted goal at 22:32. The Cardinal held its one-goal advantage until just 5:46 remained in regulation when Maurer scored unassisted at 64:14 to force overtime.
The goal by Zutz moved her into a tie for the team's season lead in both points (14) and goals (7).
Cardinal goalkeeper Ana Kralovec (7-12) took the loss despite posting a career-high-tying 11 saves in the contest to help offset 17 shots by Pacific. Pacific goalkeeper Kim Myers was also busy in the cage, stopping seven of Stanford's 16 shots. The Cardinal posted a 12-8 shot advantage in regulation before the Tigers outshot Stanford by a count of 9-4 in the overtime periods, including 4-0 in the second extra frame. Liz Robinson took all four of Stanford's shots in the first extra stanza, including one that needed a defensive save from the Tigers' Michelle Manson to prevent a Cardinal victory. On the other end, Kralovec stopped six Pacific shots after the score was tied 1-1 before Chaney finally came up with the game-winner. Pacific's Vianney Campos had a game-high six shot attempts, while Aska Sturdevan's five led the Cardinal.
Stanford held an 8-6 advantage in penalty corners.
Eleanor Morgan and Missy Halliday extended their consecutive games started streaks to 59 for the Cardinal, while Julia Drewes and Aska Sturdevan have started 38 straight contests.
Pacific completed a three-game series sweep of the Cardinal with the victory after taking regular season contests between the teams by scores of 5-0 and 2-1. The loss for Stanford marked the first time the Cardinal had been defeated by an opponent other than California in the NorPac Championship, as Stanford had previously been 12-0 versus all other teams at the event. Stanford had knocked off NorPac East regular season champion Radford by a score of 1-0 in overtime in an opening round game on Thursday to reach the semifinal match.
Stanford's one-goal loss marked the ninth time in 12 defeats this season that the Cardinal has lost by a single goal.
The Cardinal will complete its 2004 season in the NorPac Championship third-place contest Saturday (10 am, EST) versus Southwest Missouri State (11-8), a 3-2 loser to three-time defending NorPac champion and No. 15 California (17-4) in Friday's other semifinal. The same two teams faced off in last year's third-place game with the Cardinal prevailing 2-1 in double overtime. Stanford has finished third or higher in each of the previous six years the NorPac Championship has been in existence.
"We want to finish on a high note with a victory in the third-place game," said Irvine. "We've developed a very healthy rivalry with Southwest Missouri State, so this should be a good contest."
Southwest Missouri State edged the Cardinal twice in the 2004 regular season in a pair of games played in Springfield, Missouri.
Pacific and California will play the 2004 NorPac Championship title game on Saturday at 12:30 pm, EST. The winner of the contest 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.