Nov. 5, 2011
STANFORD, Calif.- Erin Magill's goal following a penalty corner accounted for the only scoring in No. 16 California's 1-0 victory over No. 6 Stanford on Saturday afternoon in the title match of the NorPac Championship.
Stanford's four-year run as the NorPac Tournament champion came to an end, with California (16-3, 4-2 NorPac) capturing its first crown since 2006. The Golden Bears will represent the conference in an NCAA Play-In game on Tuesday morning, hosting Atlantic-10 champion Richmond with the winner securing a spot in the NCAA Tournament.
The Cardinal (17-3, 6-0 NorPac) must now wait until Tuesday night's NCAA Tournament selection show to learn its postseason status. Ranked among the top-10 in the national poll throughout the year and most importantly, No. 5 in the latest edition of the RPI, Stanford is a likely candidate for one of eight at-large berths into the NCAA Tournament. The Cardinal has defeated six top-20 teams this year and swept both regular-season meetings against the Golden Bears to claim the NorPac West Division title.
Stanford's two victories in the regular season over California were identical 3-2 victories, and Saturday's contest represented another hard-fought matchup.
This time around, Stanford controlled tempo with advantages in shots (16-8) and penalty corners (6-3), but Cal was able to hang on for the victory and became the first team to shut out Stanford in almost two years.
"I was proud of our performance today," said head coach Tara Danielson. "We expected this game to be challenge, especially facing a team for the third time. I felt like we played according to the gameplan and created opportunities, but just could not convert. We've had an unbelievable season and hope to continue playing next weekend."
Magill's seventh goal of the season came at the 5:08 mark of the first period, finding the cage after an insertion from Shannon Elmitt and stick-stop by Deanna Kennedy.
The Golden Bears looked sharp through the first 35 minutes, holding a 6-5 edge in shots.
After a slow start, Stanford was able to generate more offense in the second period, as evidenced by an 11-2 shot advantage.
The Cardinal elected to pull goalkeeper Ale Moss during the final 3:36 in an attempt to make a final offensive push.
Becky Dru fired off a game-high six shots while Alex McCawley contributed four.
California was led by Jordan O'Reilly's two shot attempts.
Cal keeper Maddie Hand turned in an impressive performance with nine saves.
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NorPac Championship All-Tournament Team
Becky Dru (Stanford)
Alex McCawley (Stanford)
Stephanie Byrne (Stanford)
Maddie Hand (California) - MVP
Lara Kruggel (California)
Deanna Kennedy (California)
Allie Swartz (California)
Stacey de Grandhomme (Longwood)
Steph Meador (Davidson)
Robin Nelson (Pacific)
Casey Wollbrinck (UC Davis)
Courtney Poole (Radford)
Hannah Martin (Appalachian State)
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NOTES: Stanford was shut out for the first time in 41 games under head coach Tara Danielson. The Cardinal was last held scoreless on Nov. 14, 2009, in a 4-0 loss at Princeton in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament ... Stanford's three losses have come against No. 4 Connecticut, No. 12 New Hampshire and No. 16 California ... Stanford had won 10 in a row at home prior to Saturday's loss ... Five cards were issued in the game, with Stanford receiving one green card and California whistled for two yellows and two greens ... For the first time since 2006, Stanford will not appear in an NCAA Play-In game.