Nov. 7, 2008
Box Score
Farmville, Va. - Despite a spectacular effort and a furious second half, the Pacific field hockey team fell to Stanford 3-2 in the semifinals of the NorPac Championship on Friday, Nov. 7. Pacific will conclude its 2008 season against Longwood on Saturday in the NorPac Championship third place game.
The loss dropped the No. 3 seed Tigers to 6-11 on the season, while the No. 2 seeded Cardinal advanced to the NorPac Championship Final with an 8-10 record.
The Tigers defense held the high powered Stanford offense to just one penalty corner and seven shots during the first half. Unfortunately one of the Cardinal shots found its way past Pacific goalkeeper, senior Kelly Miller (Monterey, Calif.). Just over 17 minutes into the contest, Stanford's Bailey Richardson broke through the Tigers' defense into the circle. Seconds later she found Stephanie Byrne open near the goal. Byrne redirected the pass into the back of the net to give Stanford a 1-0 lead.
The score remained 1-0 throughout the rest of the first half as the Pacific defense clamped down on Stanford completely. The Tigers' offense, however, struggled to find its rhythm, mustering just three shots and two penalty corners in the half.
Period two featured a flurry of activity in the opening ten minutes. The two teams traded blows back and forth, neither conceding an inch. Stanford attacked first as Jennifer Luther found Jaimee Erickson free near the goal to stretch the Cardinal lead to 2-0 just 1:28 into the second half. It took exactly one minute and 55 seconds for Pacific to respond. The Tigers' raised their level of offensive intensity and pushed the ball down into the Stanford circle. The first shot of the Tigers' threat careened off the post right to sophomore Rachel Taylor (Southampton, N.Y.). The Pacific forward fired another shot at Stanford's goal, slipping the shot past goalkeeper Alessandra Moss to bring the deficit back to just one goal at 2-1.
Three minutes later it was Stanford back to work at the offensive end. Byrne converted her second goal of the game, this time fielding a pass from Camille Gandhi and pouring it into the back of the net.
Once more the Tigers rose to the challenge on the offensive end, just over two minutes later at the 43:43 mark of the contest. The Tigers offense pressure forced a penalty corner. Not wanting to miss a golden opportunity, the Tigers put the ball in the hands of their leaders, juniors Brianna Cummns (Fallbrook, Calif.), Katy McDonough (Ventura, Calif.) and Lisa Muhl (Harleysville, Pa.). McDonough inserted the opening pass for the corner directly to Cummins. Brianna stopped the pass and set it up perfectly for Muhl, who blasted the ball into the back of the net and bring the Tigers back within a goal at 3-2.
Following four goals being scored in 10 minutes, both defenses stiffened. The Tigers held Stanford to just one corner and six shots total in the second half to give their offense time to complete the comeback. Unfortunately the Cardinal defense also played admirable, holding the Tigers scoreless and to just two shots and two corners the rest of the way.
Stanford advances to take on the top seeded California Golden Bears in the championship final at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 8. The Tigers, meanwhile, face the NorPac Championship host, No. 5 Longwood Lancers, in the third place game at 12 p.m. (ET).
