'Cats Fall to Cal In Overtime Heartbreaker

Thursday, November 5

Stanford, Calif.

6:30 p.m. (PST)

Davidson College

California

Annie Evans

Photo by: Tim Cowie - DavidsonPhotos.com

11/6/2009 12:05:50 AM | Field Hockey

By: Mark Brumbaugh

STANFORD, Calif. – Freshman Annie Evans (Lake Forest, Ill.) gave third-seed Davidson field hockey a 1-0 lead in the 51st minute, but second-seeded California forced overtime and scored in the 13th minute of overtime to steal a 2-1 win on Thursday night at Stanford's Varsity Turf in the first round of the NorPac Championship Tournament.

The NorPac West Offensive Player of the Year, Natalie Nurnberg, tallied the game-winner for Cal (7-10, 4-2 NorPac West) at 83:59, which was assisted by fellow All-NorPac selection Erin Magill. Nurnberg took a pass from Magill, and curled around a defender before firing the ball in for the goal.

"I was really proud of the team effort," said Davidson head coach Ginny Sutton. "It was our best effort of the season. It's unfortunate we could not hold on to our lead, but we did not give up going into overtime. We had chances to put the ball in the cage, but Cal was able to convert first."

No shots were taken in the extra frame until the seventh and eighth minutes. Cal missed wide before getting one on goal, which was saved by senior Christa Goeke (Princeton, N.J.) The 'Cats (6-12, 2-4 NorPac East) had a good chance off a penalty corner in the ninth minute as both All-NorPac junior Clare Perry (Winston-Salem, N.C.) and senior Liz Luckey (Richmond, Va.) had shots on goal, but Cal's Maddie Hand was able to stop both. Evans made a defensive save in the 13th minute to keep Davidson in the game, but Cal struck for the goal 40 seconds afterwards.

Evans' goal was the product of a penalty corner attempt. Perry took the initial shot, which was saved by Hand, but Perry was able to direct the rebound to Evans, who put it home for her fourth-career goal. The game had been scoreless through the first 51:47.

Davidson was unable to hold onto the lead though. Goeke made seven saves for the 'Cats before Claire Dougherty re-directed the ball in at 58:45. Goeke finished with 10 saves, seven of which were in the second half. Hand finished with five as Cal outshot Davidson, 15-6. All of the Wildcats' shots were on net.

"Christa had some big saves which really kept us in the game," said Sutton. "Our defense worked together better than they have all season and our attack generated some excellent opportunities."

The Wildcats will conclude the 2009 season tomorrow night against No. 4W UC Davis. The 'Cats defeated UC Davis, 4-2 at home earlier this season. The match is set to start at 6:30 p.m. PST (9:30 p.m. EST).

Tournament Schedule (All times PST)

Thursday, Nov. 5
Game 1: No. 2E Longwood 3, No. 3W Pacific 1
Game 2: No. 1W Stanford 9, No. 4E Appalachian State 0
Game 3: No. 1E Radford 2, No.4W UC Davis 0
Game 4: No. 2W California 2, vs. No. 3E Davidson 1 OT

Friday, Nov. 6
Game 5: No. 3W Pacific vs. No. 4E Appalachian State (consolation), 11:00 am
Game 6: No. 2E Longwood vs. No. 1W Stanford (semifinals), 1:30 p.m.
Game 7: No. 1E Radford vs. No. 2W California (semifinals), 4:00
Game 8: No. 4W UC Davis vs. No. 3E Davidson (consolation), 6:30

Saturday, Nov. 7
Game 9: Game 6 loser vs. Game 7 loser (Third Place), 11:00 a.m.
Game 10: Game 6 winner vs. Game 7 winner (Championship), 1:30 p.m.