No. 1 Seeded Stanford Hosts MPSF Tournament

4/20/2009 12:00:00 AM

April 20, 2009

NO. 15 STANFORD (6-0 MPSF, 10-4 overall) is the MPSF Tournament's No. 1 seed this week (Apr. 23-26), as it serves as the 2009 host in Palo Alto. The Cardinal receives a quarterfinal round bye and awaits the winner of No. 4 Denver-No. 5 UC Davis for Friday (Apr. 24) semi-final action at 6 pm. Stanford's unbeaten conference season was its eighth in the 15-year history of the program, as it vies for a fifth straight MPSF title. On the MPSF charts, the team ranks first in scoring (14.83 GPG). Sarah Flynn is fifth in goals per game (2.27 GPG) and Claire Hubbard is second in assists (1.58 APG). Goalkeeper Annie Read owns a conference-best goals-against average (9.00 GAA).

OREGON (4-2 MPSF, 11-4 overall) secured the No. 2 seed at the conference tournament with a 17-10 regular season finale victory at St. Mary's, as Catherine Davidson knocked in four goals. She owns a conference-high four game-winners on the year. While the Ducks finished in a three-way tie for second, they win the tiebreaker for the higher seed due to having the best goal differential in games played against Cal and Denver. In a 13-12 sudden-victory loss at Cal last Friday, Jana Drummond nailed seven goals. Anna Poponyak has the best save percentage in the MPSF (.488) and has a second-best GAA of 9.48. Ilsa van den Berg records 2.13 goals per game, ranking sixth.

CALIFORNIA (4-2 MPSF, 6-10 overall) is the three seed and meets No. 6 seed St. Mary's Friday at 3:30 pm in the opening round. Cal won the regular season meeting, 22-13 on April 1, in which a single-game team scoring record was set. The Bears are coming off a thrilling sudden-victory overtime home win over Oregon, 13-12, lifting them to the three seed in the final standings. Molly Everett completed her hat trick with 15 seconds remaining in the third OT. Morgan Dyson collected a career-high 16 saves in goal. Sam Price leads the offensive, eighth in the conference in assists (1.00 A/G) and 10th in points (2.53 PPG). Alex Tickner owns a team-high 25 goals on the year.

DENVER (4-2 MPSF, 10-6 overall) finished the regular season in a three-way tie for second, but is seeded fourth in the MPSF Tournament due to goal differential in the tiebreaker procedures. The Pioneers' face No. 5 seed UC Davis Friday at 6 pm, with the winner advancing to the semi-finals against host No. 1 seed Stanford. Denver is a scoring machine, owning an MPSF-high 209 goals on the year (13.06 GPG). Ali Flury is first in the conference in goals (3.23 GPG) and points per game (3.77 PPG). Four of the top six point leaders in the league wear a Pioneer uniform.

UC DAVIS (2-4 MPSF, 5-10 overall) is the No. 5 seed in Palo Alto this week, first meeting No. 4 seed Denver in the quarterfinal round. The Aggies are coming off a regular season ending non-conference win over St. Mary's, 16-13. Britt Farquharson ranks fourth in the MPSF in scoring (2.40 GPG), while Gina Hoffmire (1.87 GPG) and Christina Corsa (1.87 GPG) rank ninth. Corsa (1.53 APG) and Molly Lapolla (1.31 APG) are third and fifth respectively in assists per game. Lauren Boyle leads the conference in groundballs per game (2.53 GB/G)

ST. MARY'S (1-5 MPSF, 3-12 overall) is the six seed in the tournament and takes on No. 3 seed California in the first-round Friday at 3:30 pm. P.J. Hainley is one of the top offensive threats in the MPSF. She ranks second in the conference in scoring average (2.80 GPG) and points per game (3.53 PPG). Abbie Coleman dishes out 1.20 assists per game, which is No. 6 on the conference chart. Goalkeeper Hilary Gardner picks up an MPSF-high 8.43 saves per game, and is the only net-minder to collect 20 in one outing this year (vs. Colgate).

FRESNO STATE (0-6 MPSF, 0-13 overall) is seeded seventh in the MPSF quarterfinals, taking on the No. 2 seed Oregon. The Bulldogs are making their first-ever postseason appearance, and have been led by Heather Jack's 10 goals. Krisdina Gehring has anchored the defense for the first-year program.

DYSON AND DRUMMOND MPSF PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Woodland, Calif. -In her final home game, California senior goalkeeper Morgan Dyson (Chicago, IL/Cate School) tied her career-high 16 saves in the sudden-victory overtime win over No. 18 Oregon this past Friday. The win lifted the Bears to the three seed in the upcoming tournament. Dyson held Duck leading scorer Ilsa van den Berg to a pair of goals on eight shots, saving four.

Woodland, Calif. -Oregon Freshman midfielder Jana Drummond (Nashua, NH/E. Grand Rapids HS) poured in a school record and career-high seven goals in the 13-12 sudden-victory loss at California last Friday. The seven goals marked the most in an MPSF game this year, and the second most in any game amongst all players in the conference. Drummond added two goals in the win at St. Mary's, and totaled nine goals on 11 shots for the week.