Nov. 6, 2008

Box Score

Farmville, Va. - Junior Katy McDonough (Ventura, Calif.) celebrated earning NorPac All-Conference First Team by scoring two unassisted goals to lift the Pacific field hockey team into the NorPac Championship Semifinals with a 3-0 win over Appalachian State on Thursday, Nov. 6 in the opening round of the NorPac Championships.

The victory moved Pacific to 6-10 on the season, while Appalachian State fell to 2-16 overall.

Facing the Mountaineers for the second time in three weeks, the Tigers met a stiffer test from Appalachian State. A hard fought first period remained scoreless into the waning moments of the first half.

McDonough, however, refused to let Pacific go to the break without the lead. Katy broke into the circle and fired an unassisted goal past Appalachian State goalkeeper, Sabra Holt, at the 29:05 mark.

The score remained 1-0 until midway through the second period, when McDonough added a second unassisted goal. Katy weaved through traffic from the midfield, breaking down the left side. McDonough passed to teammate Erica Nestle (San Jose, Calif.), the senior fired a shot at Holt. The Mountaineer goalie blocked the first Tiger attempt, but McDonough collected the rebound and fired another shot, finding the back of the net to push Pacific's lead to 2-0.

Just over five minutes later, Nestle kept pushing the ball forward on the right side of the circle, finding an opening with 16:45 remaining in the game to lift Pacific's lead to 3-0.

Pacific finished the game with a 14-10 edge in shots, but trailed Appalachian State 4-2 in penalty corners.

Pacific senior Kelly Miller (Monterey, Calif.) earned her fourth victory of the season in goal, with five saves in the victory.

The third seeded Tigers will face the No. 2 seed, Stanford, on Friday, Nov. 7 at 3:30 p.m. ET in the Semifinals of the NorPac Championships. The same two teams met in Stockton, Calif. just under two weeks ago, with the Cardinal nipping the Tigers 2-1 in penalty strokes.