Nov. 5, 2009

Box Score

STANFORD, Calif. - Natalie Nurnberg's 84th-minute strike gave California a 2-1 sudden victory over Davidson in overtime in the first round of the NorPac Tournament on Thursday night at Stanford's Varsity Field Hockey Turf. The Golden Bears, who improved their record to 7-10, move on to a quarterfinal game against Radford (10-9) at 4 p.m. on Friday. Cal is the conference tournament's No. 2 seed in the West; Radford is the No. 1 seed in the East.

Nurnberg, the NorPac West Offensive Player of the Year, now has a team-high eight goals on the season. The junior forward leads the Bears in points with 23.

"We had a breakaway, maybe a two on one or three on one, and got into the right side of the circle," Cal head coach Shellie Onstead said. "The defense got back enough that Nat didn't have a good pass, so she just took a shot at net, and it went in. It was a good goal."

The Wildcats, the East's No. 3 seed, fell to 6-12 and will play UC Davis in a consolation game at 6:30 p.m. on Friday.

Cal outshot Davidson, 15-6, but Christa Goeke made 10 saves to keep the Wildcats in the game. Cal's Maddie Hand made five saves.

"She did great," Onstead said of Goeke. "Given we've had a little trouble putting it in this year, it was tough."

After a scoreless first half, Davidson's Annie Evans, with an assist by Claire Perry, struck in the 52nd minute to put her team up 1-0.

Cal forward Claire Dougherty, a redshirt freshman, scored her second goal of the year when she redirected a shot off a penalty corner, scoring at the far post in the 59th minute and tying the game at 1-1.

The Bears outshot Davidson, 4-2, in overtime, with Nurnberg ending the match with her second game-winning goal of the season.

"What was good, I thought, was that it was a real team effort," Onstead said. "My starting left half was out. We had to scramble, shift people around, and it took us to the second half to light a fire. We went down a goal, but we really responded well to that."

Radford, Cal's quarterfinal opponent, beat UC Davis, 2-0, earlier today to reach the next round. The last time Cal played the Highlanders, the Bears won, 4-0, during the 2008 regular season in Farmville, Va.

"That will be a battle," Onstead said of Friday's matchup. "It'll be a good game."

The winner of the NorPac Tournament final earns a spot in a Nov. 10 NCAA play-in game hosted by the champion of the America East Conference.

Game Summary

Scoring Summary

Davidson - Annie Evans (Claire Perry) 51:47
California - Claire Dougherty 58:45
California - Natalie Nurnberg (Erin Magill) 83:59

Goals by Period

1 2 OT F Davidson 0 1 0 1 California 0 1 1 2

Shots by Period

1 2 OT F Davidson 2 2 2 6 California 3 8 4 15

Att.: 352.