FH11/7/2008 12:00 PM | By: Cal Athletics

No. 16 Cal Beats Longwood, 5-1, Advances to Play Stanford in Final

Nov. 7, 2008

FARMVILLE, Va. - Behind Ashley Glosz's hat trick, 16th-ranked and top-seeded California defeated fifth-seeded Longwood, 5-1 in the first semifinal of the NorPac Tournament on Friday afternoon at Longwood's Athletics Complex. The Golden Bears (13-4) will play No. 2 seed and rival Stanford in the championship game at 11:30 a.m. PT on Saturday, Nov. 8.

The tournament champion earns a berth in an NCAA Play-In game on Nov. 11 at Princeton. The play-in winner claims a spot in the NCAA Tournament, which begins on Nov. 15.

Longwood, which will play in the tournament's third-place game on Saturday, now has a 9-12 record.

Cal has so far won a combined 10 NorPac regular-season and tournament titles under head coach Shellie Onstead, the former Bears All-American player and assistant coach who took over the top job in 1995.

"Ashley had three outstanding goals," Onstead said. "They were just really quality goals. She had a really clean game. Rocky [senior defender Rachel Moffitt] played well, today, too. I was really happy about her getting the NorPac Defensive Player of the Year award. That was well deserved and I'm glad she got the recognition.

"Honestly, though, I thought as a team we were a little bit flat. We played well enough today."

Glosz, a senior midfielder/forward, struck for a pair of early goals four minutes apart to give the Bears a 2-0 lead that they would carry into halftime.

On Cal's first and only first-half penalty corner, senior defender Carolina Bistue ripped a shot that Longwood goalkeeper Erin West saved. Glosz was sitting on the doorstep and flicked the ball over West, putting Cal on the scoreboard at 7:20.

Just over four minutes later, senior defender Christina McGrath dribbled down the left side and sent a hard cross into the circle. Glosz, positioned on the near post, put her stick on the ball and redirected it just inside the far post for a 2-0 lead at 11:31.

The Bears outshot the Lancers, 6-3, in the half, with Longwood earning three corners to Cal's one.

Just 4:08 into the second half, senior forward Katie Knoche made it 3-0. On a long cross from the left by senior forward Kellie York, Knoche ran towards the far post, dove and got her stick on the ball, knocking it into the cage.

In the 51st minute, sophomore forward Natalie Nurnberg tallied the Bears' fourth goal of the game, finishing Knoche's initial shot from the right. Cal closed out its scoring just 2:42 later when Glosz poked home Knoche's rebound.

Longwood spoiled the shutout at 63:31 on a corner. Andrea Bastiannse rifled the ball into the cage after Amanda Babineau stopped a slip from the left and laid it off to Bastiannse.

Cal outshot Longwood, 13-9, for the game, with the Lancers holding a 7-4 advantage in corners. Senior goalkeeper Kelly Knoche stopped three shots in 48:02 of action for the Bears. Maddie Hand played the final 21:58, allowing a goal. West made four saves.

The Bears split two games with Stanford this season, winning the first, 2-1, on Oct. 24 in Berkeley and losing the second, 2-1 in overtime, on Nov. 1 in Stanford, Calif. Cal and Stanford have played in the last two NorPac Tournament championships, with Cal winning, 3-1, in Davidson, N.C., in 2006, and the Cardinal winning, 3-1, at Stanford in 2007.

GAME SUMMARY

Goal Summary
Cal -