April 25, 2008
MPSF Tournament Central
STANFORD, Calif. - No. 2 Stanford successfully completed the first leg towards the MPSF Tournament title, defeating No. 7 California, 8-6, Friday afternoon in San Diego. Behind a hat trick from Jacquelyn Gauthier and four 6-on-5 goals, the Cardinal (24-3) overcame an early deficit and used a three-goal third period to hold off the Golden Bears (17-10) and advance to Saturday's semifinal round, where it will face No. 3 USC at 4:10 p.m.
Along with Gauthier's hat trick, the Cardinal was boosted by a pair of goals apiece from Kelly Eaton and Lauren Silver, and a tally from Koree Blyleven.
In the cage, Amber Oland made eight saves to anchor the Stanford defense.
Friday's contest was just as close early on as the previous meeting between the two schools on April 11, which Stanford won 6-5. Grace Reynolds, who posted a hat trick of her own for California, opened up the scoring just 59 seconds into the contest. Stanford would answer at the 4:47 mark, getting the equalizer from Silver, but the Golden Bears would reclaim the lead just 18 seconds later on Meghan Corso's goal. That lead had a short life span of its own, as Silver struck again, this time during a Stanford 6-on-5 situation at 3:18.
The teams remained even heading into the break eight minutes later, as the Cardinal took its first lead of the game nearly two and a half minutes into the second period on Eaton's extra-attacker goal. The Golden Bears would respond at the 1:28 mark with Molly Hayes' score.
Stanford and California traded goals once again to start the third period, as the Cardinal got its third extra-attacker goal thanks to Gauthier at 5:24, but the Golden Bears' Darby Anderson scored 55 seconds later to even things up. The Cardinal defense would then dig in and help build the team's first cushion on the scoreboard, as Gauthier added her second goal at 1:45, followed 33 seconds later by Eaton's goal that gave the Cardinal breathing room at 6-4 heading into the final period.
Although Reynolds would halve California's deficit with a goal 51 seconds into the period, Stanford once again strung together a pair of goals, getting strikes from Gauthier and Blyleven to build an 8-5 advantage that would hold the rest of the way.
California - 2 1 1 2 = 6
Stanford - 2 1 3 2 = 8
Stanford Goal Scorers: Gauthier 3, Eaton 2, Silver 2, Blyleven
California Goal Scorers: Reynolds 3, Anderson, Corso, Hayes
Goalie Saves: Oland 8 (S); Stuart 6 (C)