Nov. 4, 2008
Soza's OT Goal Beats Cal... | ...Talks About It | ...Earns Muscle-Milk | ...And NorPac POW
A Look Back At 2007... | ...Resulted In A Stanford Title
Stanford Cardinal (6-10, 4-2 NorPac)
vs.
Davidson Wildcats (6-13, 1-5 NorPac)
Thursday, Nov. 6
12:30 p.m. PT
Farmville, VA
STANFORD, Calif.- Is it possible to fear a team that sports a 6-10 overall record and has won back-to-back games only once all season?
The answer to that question is yes, and it turns out conference opponents might have considerable reason to worry.
That's because another late-season surge has Stanford back in position to defend its NorPac Tournament championship when this year's event kicks off Thursday in Farmville, Va.
Determined to duplicate last season's memorable postseason run that ended with the program's first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2000, the Cardinal heads into this week's conference tournament playing arguably its best field hockey of the year. Stanford has won two straight and three of its last four overall.
Last weekend, Stanford handed NorPac regular season champion and No. 16 California its only conference loss, upsetting the Golden Bears 2-1 in overtime to avenge a loss by the same score in Berkeley one week earlier.
Now a season that has included a number of tough, one-goal defeats (eight to be exact) can be extended if the Cardinal can once again catch fire for three straight days.
www.gostanford.com breaks down Stanford's chances to repeat as NorPac Tournament champions:
That 6-10 mark.
Coming off one of the best seasons in school history at 13-8, there's no denying that this year's 6-10 mark has come as a surprise. But it's also a little deceiving. The Cardinal was tested with a grueling non-conference slate, facing four top-20 squads over the first six games of the year. Stanford went 0-4 in those contests, but lost three of those games by one goal and held a second-half lead against two of those teams. Almost half of Stanford's games (6) have extended into overtime, so the Cardinal will be comfortable if extra time is necessary. And Stanford's recent hot stretch is also a byproduct of finally having its best lineup on the field, as key contributors such as Xanthe Travlos, Camille Gandhi and Bailey Richardson have missed time at some point this year with absences ranging from freak injury to international competition. 2 is better than 5.
A head-to-head tiebreaker victory over Pacific coupled with a 2-1 overtime upset over No. 16 California in the regular season finale has earned Stanford the tournament's No. 2 seed. If that Cardinal had dropped that game to the Golden Bears, the result would have been a No. 5 seed in the draw. Instead Stanford snagged the No. 2 seed, matches up with last-place Davidson in the opening round and avoids a possible third match against No. 1 seed California until the championship game. In fact, Stanford is 4-0 this year against the teams on its side of the bracket (No. 3 Pacific, No. 6 Appalachian State, No. 7 Davidson) and has outscored those opponents by a combined 16-2 count. Not to mention the Cardinal is familiar with the No. 2 seed- that was the club's position during last year's NorPac Tournament championship run. Fearless in the cage.
One of the biggest reasons Stanford captured last year's tournament crown was senior goalkeeper Madison Bell's performance in the cage. The Cardinal defense allowed only two goals during tournament play and Bell was effective in goal. And while redshirt freshman Alessandra Moss is still a rookie, she has played like a veteran down the stretch after losing her starting spot early in the year. A flashy and athletic 5-5 keeper, Moss has made 80 saves (including a career-high 13 against No. 4 Iowa back on Sept. 13) and posted a 1.38 GAA while establishing herself as one of the premier goalkeepers in the conference. Need evidence: she has earned NorPac Player of the Week honors three different times in her first season. Got a scorer? Check.
Junior Midori Uehara has emerged as one of the most dangerous offensive players in the NorPac. As if an outstanding four-shot, four-goal effort against Pacific back on Sept. 27 wasn't enough to convince, Uehara is Stanford's team leader in goals (9), points (18) and game-winning goals (2). Not bad for a player who totaled just three goals combined during her first two seasons. Freshman Stephanie Byrne has chipped in as well, scoring six goals while chipping with 24 shots. And then there are the wildcards, with a 2007 First Team West Region All-American and 2007 NorPac Rookie of the Year also in the mix. If sophomores Xanthe Travlos (four goals, four assists, 33 shots) and Camille Gandhi (eight assists, team-best 41 shots) can regain last year's form, the Cardinal will boast one of the league's most potent attacks. They've been there before.
In addition to last year's NorPac Tournament championship, Stanford has advanced to the conference tournament title match each of the last two seasons. The Cardinal can look back at last year's three-game tourney run, when the club outscored its opponents 11-2. Stanford and California have traditionally been the class of the conference, but it's the Berkeley bunch that has held a commanding edge by winning 19 of the last 21 meetings. The other Cardinal victory during that stretch? It came in last year's NorPac Tournament championship game, when Stanford snapped an 18-match losing streak with a solid 3-1 victory. Similar to last year's surge when Stanford won five of its final six games, the Cardinal is playing with confidence and momentum.