St. Mary's Hosts MPSF Championship Tournament

4/25/2011 12:00:00 AM

April 25, 2011

#7 STANFORD (6-0 MPSF, 14-2 Overall) completed a perfect regular season MPSF schedule with a 19-7 win at UC Davis on Apr. 20. The Cardinal takes the No. 1 seed to Moraga this week, facing No. 4 California Friday (Apr. 29) at 1 pm. The Cardinal took the conference game at home on Apr. 1, 19-11. Sarah Flynn has put away 44 goals, second most in the MPSF, including a conference-high five game-winners. Leslie Foard is fifth with 3.44 points per game. Goalkeeper Annie Read is tops in goals-against average (9.99) and save percentage (.466).

DENVER (5-1 MPSF, 7-10 Overall) received seven points from Kara Secora last Saturday, five goals and two assists, in a 14-9 outcome over Oregon to finish the regular season on a four-game win streak. Tulley Stapp added a hat trick. The Pioneers are thus the No. 2 seed this week, once again meeting the Ducks in the semifinals Friday at 4 pm. Secora owns 41 goals on the year, third most in the MPSF, and leads all players in assists (37) and points (78). Kate Henrich has caused a conference-high 28 turnovers. Alex Befus has scored three game-winners this year.

OREGON (4-2 MPSF, 7-8 Overall) is seeded third, getting a quick re-match with Denver in semifinal action Friday at 4 pm. Jana Drummond and Alex Breiner each recorded two goals and one assist in a visit to Mile High City last Saturday. Breiner ranks fourth in the MPSF in scoring (2.43 GPG) and point average (4.07 PPG), and third in assists per game (1.64 APG). Bina Barrett is fourth in assists per game (1.53 APG) and sixth in points (3.20 PPG). Caroline Federighi (10.38) and Salliebeth Finnegan (10.55) own two of the top three goals-against averages.

CALIFORNIA (3-3 MPSF, 9-7 Overall) is the No. 4 seed in the MPSF Semifinals. The Bears face No. 1 seed Stanford in Moraga Friday at 1 pm. Tara Arolla ranks second in the MPSF in game-winning goals with four, seventh in goals per game (2.25) and 10th in points per game (2.81). Megan Takacs is ninth in points per game (2.88) and leads Cal with 46 total points. Tori Harrison leads the Bears and is third in the MPSF with 33 groundballs, and has also caused a team-high 12 turnovers.

UC DAVIS (2-4 MPSF, 10-5 Overall) dropped a 21-9 MPSF home game to No. 7 Stanford last Wednesday to finish a 10-win season. Gina Hoffmire led the MPSF this year in goals per game (3.53 GPG) and points per game (4.67 PPG). Christina Corsa ranks second in the conference in assists (1.79 APG), and third in points per game (4.50 APG) and goals per game (2.71 GPG). Vanessa Jamison picked up a conference-high 38 groundballs, while Hannah Mirza led in draw controls (58).

ST. MARY'S (1-5 MPSF, 2-13 Overall) concluded the season at Brown last Tuesday and Marist Wednesday. Mariah Walk finished the year with 25 caused turnovers, second-highest in the MPSF. Katie Worsdale led conference goalkeeping in saves (10.33 SPG). Jillian Chong led St. Mary's in scoring with 35 points on 26 goals and nine assists. SMC is the site of the 2011 MPSF Tournament, the first year of the new four-team format.

FRESNO STATE (0-6 MPSF, 0-14 Overall) wrapped up the season last Wednesday at Howard and Saturday at Duquesne, coming up short 19-18 in four overtimes and 17-6, respectively. The Bulldogs came back from six down in the second half against the Bison to force the extra sessions. Kara Concheck and Lauren Natale each tallied hat tricks in Washington D.C. Amanda Cross led Fresno State with 21 goals and 25 points this year.

KARA SECORA MPSF PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Denver sophomore Kara Secora (Denver, CO/Kent Denver HS) had seven points off five goals and two assists against Oregon in the regular season finale victory, clinching the No. 2 seed in the MPSF Tournament. Secora's five goals were off only six shots in the game, raising her shots on goal percentage to .759 this season. In the past seven games, She has averaged 7.1 points and has scored at least one goal in 16 of 17 games this season. Secora is now fourth all-time at Denver in both single-season assists (37) and points (78). Also Nominated: Lauren Schmidt (STAN)