Stanford, Cal, Davis Advance to MPSF Semifinals
from press releases
DENVER -- No. 15 Stanford (12-5, 5-1 MPSF)
breezed through the first round of the MPSF tournament with a 16-1
win over Fresno State (0-14, 0-6 MPSF). The Cardinal advance to
tomorrow's semifinals where it will face the winner of California
and Saint Mary's, which will be played later today.
The Cardinal took the lead just 57 seconds into the game when
Lauren Schmidt scored her 28th goal of the season on an assist from
Claire Hubbard. Earlier in the day, Schmidt was named the
conference player of the year for the second consecutive
season.
Stanford took control of the game from the beginning, and scored
12 unanswered goals in the first half. Fresno State finally got on
the board with nine seconds left in the half, but the Cardinal took
a 12-1 lead to the break.
The Cardinal outshot Fresno State 26-8 in the half and won 11 of
13 draw controls. Dana Lindsay scored four of her game-high five
goals in the half. Sarah Flynn and Leslie Foard also each had a
pair of first-half goals.
In the second half, Stanford slowed down the tempo, cruising to a
16-1 victory. Stanford posted 39 shots for the game and controlled
possession throughout. Annie Read made 10 saves in goal for the
Cardinal to earn her 12th victory of the season.
The advance to play a semifinal game on Friday, April 30, at 2:30
p.m., PST. Stanford will face either Cal, which it defeated earlier
in the season. With a semifinal win, Stanford would advance to the
MPSF final that will be played on Sunday at noon. Top-seeded Denver
and UC Davis meet in the other semifinal.
*****
DENVER -- Vail Horn scored a school-record
tying seven goals to power California's 20-11 rout of Saint Mary's
in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Tournament quarterfinal
round on Thursday, earning the Golden Bears a semifinal spot
opposite rival and 15th-ranked Stanford on Friday, April 30.
Second-seeded Cal improved its record to 8-9 after the win at the
University of Denver's Peter Barton Lacrosse Stadium. Cal, which
set a season-high goals total with 20 today, improved to 18-1 in
the all-time series with Saint Mary's.
The Bears last met the Gaels just six days ago, beating Saint
Mary's in a tighter game, 12-4, in Moraga, Calif.
"We knew it would be different," Cal head coach Theresa Sherry.
"But the play was a little bit unexpected on both ends of the ball.
I'm happy with the way the attack played. It played very well, and
we had times when we won a lot of draws in a row. On the defensive
end we played uncharacteristically, allowing that many goals and
having a lot of lapses. Our best defense today was on offense. The
girls down there did a good job making it happen, getting us the
win and giving us a good rhythm going into the game tomorrow."
Cal battles the Cardinal at 2:30 p.m. PT/3:30 p.m. MT on Friday
and is ultimately playing for a berth in the NCAA Tournament, as
the MPSF Tournament champion will host an NCAA play-in game on May
8 against Atlantic-10 Tournament winner Massachusetts. The
Minutewomen clinched their spot by beating Richmond, 12-10, in the
A-10 final.
Horn tied the Cal single-game goals record set by Sarah Wheatley
in 2000 and tied by Molly Brady in 2004, with Denver the opponent
both times. Both of those previous games took place in Berkeley.
The sophomore midfielder's previous single-game personal record
for goals was five.
"She had a lot of personal motivation," Sherry said of Horn. "She
had some shots miss last week against Saint Mary's. This time, she
got possession for us and used her speed to score as well. She did
a much better job seeing the net, and that carried on the whole
game. We've been trying to get her to put 60 minutes together, and
she did that today."
Horn converted seven of eight shots this time, after scoring on
two of seven shots on April 23.
On Thursday, Bears senior attacker Alyse Kennedy scored five
points (4 goals, 1 assist) and junior goalkeeper Allie Shropshire
made four saves. Goalie Whitney Campitiello also made four saves
for the Gaels.
The Bears produced their highest-scoring half of the year with
their 12 goals in the first 30 minutes against the Gaels. Horn
scored a game-high four goals and Kennedy notched a hat trick in
the opening stanza.
*****
DENVER -- Junior attacker Christina Corsa
scored career highs of five goals and seven total points to help
fifth-seeded UC Davis storm back from a late 10-7 deficit to take a
13-11 victory over fourth-seeded Oregon in the quarterfinal round
of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation women's lacrosse
championship tournament at Denver's Peter Barton Stadium Thursday
evening.
The Aggies improve to 11-5 for the season, advancing in the draw
to face top-seeded Denver in Friday's semifinal. The Ducks finish
their season at 7-11.
Corsa shot 5-for-6 in the contest, while posting two ground balls
and two caused turnovers on defense. Junior Gina Hoffmire added
four goals with two draw controls. Senior Molly Lapolla tallied two
scores, and seniors Molly Peterson and Britt Farquharson chipped in
one each. Kjersten Nordmeyer earned the starting nod at goalkeeper,
then gave way to Alyssa Cranska midway in the second half. Cranska
was credited with the goalie win, stopping four shots against just
two goals in her 17 minutes of work.
For Oregon, junior Alex Breiner recorded three goals with two
assists. Sophomore Dominique Christiansen also had a hat trick,
while Jess Drummond tallied four draw controls with three
steals.
The Ducks took the early lead as Breiner assisted attacker Bina
Barrett for the game's first goal in the third minute, then hit an
eight-meter shot in the fifth. Barrett then fed Christiansen for a
goal at the 23:09 mark to push the UO lead to 3-0. Hoffmire put the
Aggies on the board, converting an assist from Rachael Martinez
with 17:29 to go in the first, then Peterson finished her
eight-meter chance a minute later to bring the score to 3-2. Both
teams traded goals for the remainder oft he period, with Drummond's
score with 4:55 left sending the Ducks to the break with a 6-4
lead.
With UO playing shorthanded due to a yellow card at the halftime
buzzer, Corsa assisted Lapolla on a goal off the second-half draw,
then scored a goal of her own less than a minute later to tie the
game at 6-6. Hoffmire competed her hat trick in the 34th minute to
send UC Davis to its first lead, but Oregon countered with four
straight goals to claim a 10-7 advantage. Christiansen scored two
power-play goals and assisted Anna Swicklik in that run.
However, Corsa exploded for three more goals in a span of five
minutes, the last of which tied the game at 11-11. Farquharson sent
her eight-meter shot into the cage with 6:22 left, giving the
Aggies the lead for good. Drummond won the ensuing draw for a
chance to equalize, but Cranska posted key saves against her and
Pasko during the next 90 seconds. Save for a broken clear attempt
at the 4:34 mark, UC Davis was able to protect the ball down the
stretch. Corsa assisted Lapolla on a goal with 15 seconds left to
provide the Aggies their two-goal cushion, then Hoffmire forced a
Duck turnover in the last seconds to seal the win.
Friday's victory marked the first time the Aggies have beaten the
Ducks since 2005, when they took two wins from the first-year
Ducks. It also represents the second straight year UC Davis has
advanced in the MPSF tournament, including last season's 16-14
upset of Denver. Furthermore, the comeback effort was reminiscent
of the Aggies' regular-season finale with No. 15 Stanford, when UC
Davis scored six of the last nine goals to cut into a 14-5 Cardinal
lead.
No. 2 seed Stanford will face No. 3 California in Friday's first
semifinal, then the UC Davis-DU contest will take place at 6 p.m.
MDT. The semi winners will then square off on Sunday for the
conference's new automatic qualifier to the NCAA Championship
bracket.
Stanford defeated seventh-seeded Fresno State, 16-1, in the first
quarterfinal of the MPSF Tournament on Thursday. The Cardinal's
Dana Lindsay scored a game-high six points (5 goals, 1 assists) and
goalie Annie Read made 10 saves.
