Sept. 28, 2007
STANFORD, Calif.- Natalie Nurnberg scored twice as California posted its second victory in six days over No. 20 Stanford, winning 4-1 on Friday afternoon at the Varsity Field Hockey Turf in front of the biggest crowd in almost five years.
Nurnberg recorded the first and last goals of the game for the Golden Bears (7-1, 4-0 NorPac), who scored three times in the second half to withstand a Cardinal rally.
The Cardinal (6-2, 4-1 NorPac) was hoping to avenge a 2-1 loss suffered last Sunday in Berkeley during a conference match. Instead, California extended its winning streak to 18 in a row in the series.
A vocal crowd of 424, the largest since 518 witnessed the 2002 NorPac Tournament championship game against California, was on hand for Stanford's first home match since Sept. 2.
The first half was controlled by California, which held an 11-4 edge in shot attempts and a 5-0 advantage in penalty corners. The Golden Bears finally capitalized on their offensive pressure when Nurnberg made it 1-0 at the 32:45 mark with a successful penalty stroke- the first against Stanford since Wake Forest's Lauren Crandall accomplished the feat back on Oct. 10, 2005.
Just a little over one minute into the second half, California's Carolina Bistue was awarded another penalty stroke and converted to make it 2-0.
Stanford's offense came alive midway through the second half, as evidenced by a 10-5 shot edge over the final 45 minutes. The Cardinal, which entered the game as one of the nation's leaders in penalty corners, did not register its first attempt until the 47th minute.
In the 52nd minute, senior Jess Zutz cut the lead to 2-1 when she collected a rebound off the post and fired a shot past California back-up keeper Kelly Knoche. Zutz, who attempted three of Stanford's 14 shots, now leads the Cardinal with seven goals on the year.
The Cardinal had chance to tie the game at 2-2 in the 54th minute, but sophomore Rachel Mozenter's shot attempt was blocked by a teammate near the box.
California upped its lead to 3-1 in the 62nd minute thanks to a Jennifer Crane goal that was assisted by Ashley Glosz.
One minute later, the Golden Bears added a fourth goal with Nurnberg scoring unassisted after drawing Cardinal keeper Madison Bell out of the box.
Bell made a season-best 10 saves on the afternoon for the Cardinal while Liz Braasch and Kelly Knoche each played a half in goal for the Golden Bears.
Freshman Xanthe Travlos led all players with six shot attempts- all on goal- despite misfiring on a penalty stroke in the 63rd minute. Mozenter added three shots for the Cardinal, which was outshot 16-14.
Sophomore defender Nora Soza, last year's NorPac Rookie of the Year, made her season debut for the Cardinal after missing the first seven games due to injury.
Stanford returns to action on Sunday, Sept. 30, at Pacific in a 2 p.m. contest.