Sept. 17, 2011
STANFORD, Calif. - Fourth-ranked Stanford survived an overtime test from host Pacific Saturday afternoon at Chris Kjeldsen Pool to advance to the championship semifinals of the NorCal Invitational. The Cardinal scored the lone goal in the extra sessions to down the Tigers, 9-8, after first defeating St. Francis (N.Y.), 11-6, in the morning.
The Cardinal will take on top-ranked USC at 10:40 a.m.in Sunday's first semifinal. California and UCLA will meet in the second semifinal.
Live video of the third-place and championship games will be available via links on the Tournament Central page linked above.
Freshman Alex Bowen led the Cardinal with five goals on the day, while senior driver Jacob Smith and sophomore two-meter Forrest Watkins found the net three times. Ryan Brown, Ryan Kent, Travis Noll and Peter Sefton each scored twice and Nick Hoversten added a goal on the day.
Brian Pingree handled goalie duty for both contests, leading the defensive effort that featured nine saves in the opener.
After cruising past St. Francis (N.Y.) in the morning, Stanford found itself in a pitched battle against Pacific in the afternoon. Neither team could pull away as the score was knotted after each of the first three periods. In the fourth frame, each team would net a goal, and the contest would require extra time to get a result.
The Cardinal would strike first, as Watkins found the back of the cage with his third goal of the game. That would end up being the only goal of overtime, as Pingree and the Stanford defense silenced the Pacific offense.
Watkins netted the hat trick on the win, while Bowen and Noll scored twice and Kent and Smith added goals.
In the opener, the Cardinal used a five-goal first period to build an early cushion against the Terriers. Sefton and Brown each scored twice during this span, while Smith added a goal.
Bowen posted a hat trick in his first collegiate action, netting his first two scores in the second period as Stanford built a 7-3 halftime lead.
The Terriers would score first in the second half to cut the Cardinal lead to 7-4, but Stanford would put things away over the next seven minutes as Smith, Hoversten and Kent scored goals to make it 10-4 in the final period.
Along with Bowen's hat trick, Brown, Sefton and Smith each scored twice while Hoversten and Kent added goals.
St. Francis (N.Y.) - 1 2 1 2 = 6
Stanford - 5 2 2 2 = 11
Stanford Goal Scorers: Bowen 3, Brown 2, Sefton 2, Smith 2, Hoversten, Kent
St. Francis (N.Y.) Goal Scorers: Pantic 4, Polgar, Stankovic
Goalie Saves: Pingree 9 (S); Mladenovic 10 (SF)
Stanford - 2 1 4 1 1-0 = 9
Pacific - 2 1 4 1 0-0 = 8
Stanford Goal Scorers: Watkins 3, Bowen 2, Noll 2, Kent, Smith
Pacific Goal Scorers: Koning 3, Tomasevic 2, Erdelyi, Lungu, Morrison
Goalie Saves: Pingree 6 (S); Malkis 1 (P)