Sept. 28, 2007

Box Score

STANFORD, Calif. - Junior defender Christina McGrath converted a penalty stroke for the game-winning goal to give California a 4-1 non-conference victory over No. 20 Stanford on Friday. The win marks the Golden Bears' 18th straight over the Cardinal and improved Cal's record to 7-1. Stanford fell to 6-2, with Cal handing its rival both losses.

Cal hasn't lost to Stanford since Oct. 6, 2001.

"I'm really proud of doing that down on their field," Cal head coach Shellie Onstead said. "We played a solid first half, outshooting them, 11-4. In the second half they came out with a lot of passion. The game got a little bit wild for us, with some hard fouls; it was emotional.

"Knowing we have to come down there for the NorPac conference tournament, it was good to have this result down there tonight."

Despite the three-goal disparity, the match between the traditional rivals was a close one. Cal outshot Stanford, 16-14, and had a 5-4 edge in penalty corners.

"It was tight," Onstead said. "It was emotional. They had a good crowd. Their band came and played."

The Bears got on the board first, as the referee awarded them a penalty stroke after a Stanford field player stopped a clear scoring chance for Cal with her foot in the 33rd minute. McGrath put it away for Cal's 1-0 lead.

Cal earned another penalty stroke early in the second half, as a Stanford player fouled redshirt freshman forward Natalie Nurnberg in the 37th minute. Bistue scored to put Cal ahead 2-0.

Later, the momentum began to swing in the favor of the Cardinal, which began pressuring the Bears. In the 52nd minute, Jess Zutz collected a rebound off the post to score past Cal junior goalkeeper Kelly Knoche and cut the Cal lead to 2-1.

Onstead called a timeout to calm her troops.

"We came out of the timeout better off," Onstead said, "and we put it away."

In the 63rd minute, Cal junior midfielder/forward Ashley Glosz found senior forward Jennifer Crane in the midst of a scrum in the Stanford circle, and Crane scored her fifth goal of the season to give the Bears a 3-1 lead. Crane is now tied with Glosz for the Cal goalscoring lead.

Cal dodged a bullet when Stanford was awarded its own penalty stroke in the 64th minute. The Cardinal's Xanthe Travlos missed the ensuing shot.

Twenty seconds later, Nurnberg beat goalkeeper Madison Bell to cap the scoring and give Cal its 4-1 victory.

"Ashley played quite well and Rocky [junior defender Rachel Moffitt] played a good game," Onstead added. "Everybody did pretty well."

Knoche, playing the second half, made seven saves, while senior goalie Liz Braasch made one save in the first half for the Bears. Bell made 10 saves for Stanford.

Cal next travels to Virginia to play three non-conference games. The Bears take on 19th-ranked Virginia at 6 p.m. ET on Thursday, Oct. 4, in Charlottesville, battle VCU at 2 p.m. ET on Saturday, Oct. 6, on James Madison's neutral field in Harrisonburg, and play seventh-ranked James Madison at 12 p.m. ET on Sunday, Oct. 7, also in Harrisonburg.

GAME SUMMARY

Goal Summary

Cal - Christina McGrath (penalty stroke) 32:45
Cal - Carolina Bistue (penalty stroke) 36:16
Stanford - Jess Zutz 51:56
Cal - Jennifer Crane (Ashley Glosz) 62:02
Cal - Natalie Nurnberg 63:25

Goals by Period
	         1	2	F

California 1 3 4 Stanford 0 1 1 Shots by Period 1 2 F California 11 5 16 Stanford 4 10 14 Penalty Corners by Period 1 2 F California 5 0 5 Stanford 0 4 4