STANFORD -- After bulldozing its way into last season's NorPac Tournament, the Cal field hockey team took a vastly different journey this year.

The roster was younger. The wins were fewer.

But the result is the same: The Bears are back for their 11th consecutive finals appearance.

And for the fourth straight season, the championship match will be against Stanford.

"I'm just loving this situation," Cal coach Shellie Onstead said. "I feel like it's a bit of role reversal, and it's fun. I was hoping it would turn out this way."

With Friday's 3-0 shutout over Radford, the Bears advanced to the NorPac tournament finals.

The Highlanders -- like Pacific -- are a grass team. Radford beat the Tigers 3-1 to advance to the second round of the tournament.

That offered two implications going into Friday's contest: The Highlanders would be scrappy and, like Davidson -- the Bears' opponent the night before -- they couldn't be underestimated.

Despite their five corners, the Bears only managed four shots through the first 35 minutes, and finished the half with a one-goal lead.

"I challenged them at halftime to not be complacent," Onstead said. "I felt like they were settling, then they went out there and got two goals in four minutes and that's huge."

The result was a three-goal shutout -- Cal's first blanking since its second game of the season.

"That's something we can build on and hang on to," Onstead said. "They're setting goals and accomplishing them; they're not just talking about it anymore."

The reason for the Bears' quick turnaround was due, in large part, to freshman Kendra Bills.

Sixty-five seconds into the second half, Bills gathered a pass in front of the cage, pulled left and reverse chipped to the far post for her first career goal.

"Kendra was on fire," Onstead said. "She was playing out of her mind. That's what we need. We needed some of those young guys to click and she did."

And it wasn't just Bills. Onstead credits the entire freshman unit for bolstering Cal's performance in the second round of the tournament.

After the Bears garnered a three-goal lead, Onsted pulled almost all of her veterans and threw in a young lineup in the second half.

It was a decision to help rest parts of the starting line that played an extra overtime period against the Wildcats they day before, but it also showed a growing confidence in her rookie lineup.

"As far as freshman starters, we still had Bills, (Laura) Spellman and Deanna (Kennedy) and they were all playing really well," Onstead said. "It's what I said all season: If the freshmen are doing what they should during the course of the year, then they'll be ready. And if they're ready for the tournament, then we'll be ready."

Substitutions could be critical during Saturday's Western Division duel at 1:30 p.m. at Varsity Turf Field, especially considering Cal's leading goal scorer Erin Magill's injury substitution in Friday's match.

"(Magill) tweaked her ankle a little bit," Onstead said. "I think she's OK, but then she was limping again later."

The sophomore returned to the game shortly after being walked off the field, but was later limping in the backfield late in the contest. And the Cardinal squad was in the stands to watch the entire event.

But Onstead also hopes for the return of redshirt freshman Kristen Goodman, who has been sidelined after spraining her ankle before the start of the tournament.

Tags: SHELLIE ONSTEAD, CAL FIELD HOCKEY, NORPAC TOURNAMENT