Senior Stephanie Byrne and freshman Alex McCawley each scored twice and added an assist in helping the sixth-ranked Stanford women’s field hockey team reach the championship match of the NorPac tournament with a 7-2 victory over visiting Davidson on Friday.
Becky Dru, Courtney Haldeman and Emily Henricksson also scored for the Cardinal (17-2), which matched the school record for wins in a season with the victory.
McCawley broke a 2-2 tie with a goal at the 28:06 mark of the first half. She picked up a rebound during a scramble in front of the net and worked it through.
Stanford, on a seven-game wining streak, will play California or Longwood in Saturday’s championship match at 1:30 p.m. The Bears are heavily favored to advance.
The Cardinal, four-time defending champions, held a 22-5 advantage in shots and an 8-3 edge in penalty corners over the Wildcats.
Men’s soccer
Stanford played its best offensive game of the season Friday night in beating visiting San Diego State, 4-1, in a Pac-12 contest.
“It was a great win against what I think is a NCAA tournament caliber team,” said head coach Bret Simon. “I was really proud of how this team has stayed focused the last two weeks and came out with a great effort.”
Stanford (2-5-1, 5-9-2) got off to a fast start, scoring off a restart in the 15th minute. JJ Koval bent a low drive from 25 yards out to beat San Diego State goalkeeper Blake Hylen. The goal was the second of the season for Koval who used perfect placement over power with the shot.
San Diego State scored the equalizer just four minutes later when Ata Ozbay hit a high, knuckling shot from 35 yards out to beat Drew Hutchins. It was an outstanding shot by the Aztec junior who was given a little too much space with the ball.
Just a minute later, the Cardinal grabbed the lead right back when Garrett Gunther dribbled into the box, dodging defenders, until he was eventually dragged down. The foul created a penalty kick, which Gunther took himself, beating Hylen. The goal was the team-leading fourth of the season for Gunther.
Stanford would add another goal just before half when Felipe Noguerol scored the first goal of his young career. Adam Jahn was credited with the assist after his shot was defected away from goal by Hylen, before Noguerol corralled it and finished in the top right corner.
Women’s swimming
Stanford sophomore Felicia Lee won the 200 individual medley and the 100 fly and the 200 free relay team bettered a 16-year old pool record at a tri-meet with Michigan and Florida on Friday.
Florida leads both the Wolverines (156-102) and Cardinal (145-111) in dual play, while Stanford has a 139-119 lead over host Michigan. Short course events are scheduled for Saturday’s morning session.
Andi Murez, Maddy Schaefer, Betsy Webb and Sam Woodward opened the third annual tri-meet with a time of 1:45.00 in the 200 free relay, improving on a Michigan record held since 1995. Lee followed two events later with a win in the 200 IM (2:17.79) in front of teammate Maya DiRado (2:20.72). Florida won four of the six morning events.
In the afternoon, Lee posted the fastest time of 1:00.57 in the 100 fly and was also second to Michigan’s Claudia Lau and her time of 1:03.55. Lee finished .07 seconds off the pace (1:03.62) followed by Webb (1:04.59).
Along with its three wins, Stanford had eight second place finishes among its 14 events. Woodward and Webb finished second and third in the 50 free, Murez was second in the 200 free and Stephanie Phipps was second in the one-meter. Stanford was also second in the 800 free relay (8:25.40) and 400 medley relay (4:20.46).
Tennis
Second-seeded Cardinal sophomore Nicole Gibbs rebounded from a first set loss to beat Miami’s Anna Bartenstein, 4-6. 7-5, 6-3 in the quarterfinals of the USTA/ITA National Indoor Championships in Flushing, N.Y. on Friday.
Gibbs squares off with Florida’s Joanna Mather in Saturday’s semifinals. She reached the quarterfinals with a 6-2, 6-3 win over USC’s Danielle Lao.
Stanford senior Mallory Burdette won her second round match, beating Mississippi’s Kristi Boxx, 6-2, 6-2, but then fell to SMU’s Marta Lesniak, 6-3, 6-1, in the quarterfinals.
Gibbs and Burdette reached the semifinals of the doubles tournament, beating Tennessee’s Natalie Pluskota and Kata Szekeley, 8-5. The top-seeded duo will face Notre Dame’s third-seeded Kristy Frilling and Shannon Meadows on Saturday.
On the men’s side, Ryan Thatcher dropped his second round match to Duke’s Henrique Cunha, the fifth seed, 2-6, 6-4, 6-3. Cunha later reached the semifinals.
By Palo Alto Online Sports
By Palo Alto Online Sports
By Palo Alto Online Sports