April 26, 2011
MPSF Tournament CentralMoraga, Calif. - The Cardinal are set to get the postseason underway this weekend with the MPSF tournament. Stanford (14-2, 6-0 MPSF) holds the top seed and will be looking to secure the automatic berth to the NCAA tournament by winning a pair of games.
Stanford faces California (9-7, 3-3 MPSF) in the semifinals on Friday, April 29, at 1 p.m. If it advances, Stanford would take on the winner of Denver (7-10, 5-1 MPSF) and Oregon (7-8, 4-2 MPSF) in the final that will take place on Sunday, May 1, also at 1 p.m.
The Cardinal is coming off a strong effort, but a tough loss at No. 5 Northwestern on Sunday. The Cardinal fought back to tie the game at 11-11 with under two minutes to play, only to allow the winning goal by the Wildcats with 23 seconds remaining. Despite the loss, the Cardinal actually rose in the national toll to a program-best No. 6 ranking.
Stanford is looking for its seventh consecutive MPSF tournament title and this time an automatic berth to the NCAA tournament is on the line. Last season, Stanford defeated Denver in overtime, 11-10, in the final to advance to an NCAA play-in game where it topped Massachusetts. This year the conference RPI has improved enough where the play-in game will not include the MPSF and the conference champion will receive an automatic berth to the NCAA tournament.
Stanford will face Cal in the first semifinal after defeating the Golden Bears 19-11 during the regular season. The Cardinal knocked Cal out of the MPSF tournament last season in the semifinals, winning 9-7. Overall, Stanford has beat Cal six consecutive times and has ended the Bears season in each of the last three conference tournaments.
If Stanford is to reach the final, it will take on either second-seeded Denver or third-seeded Oregon. The Cardinal has defeated both teams this year, knocking off Denver, 16-6, at Cagan and beating Oregon, 18-13, in Eugene.
The Cardinal has some potential milestones achievable at the MPSF tournament, most notably Sarah Flynn sitting just three goals short of the Stanford record. Flynn has 140 career goals, while the record is 143 by Megan Burker. Lauren Schmidt also is ascending the career points list where she is currently tied for second with 189. The Stanford record is 207 also by Burker.
Individual season records on the line are draw controls where Leslie Foard already has 48 with the record being 51 by Burker in 2006 and Flynn just nine goals shy of the 53 Hedy Born and Katharine Barnes in 1998 and 1999, respectively.