With three strong performances in the NorPac Tournament in Davidson, N.C., over the weekend, the Stanford field hockey team (14-5, 5-1 NorPac) took home its fourth consecutive conference title. Sophomore defender Becky Dru won the tournament’s MVP award.
The Cardinal opened the tournament on Thursday against Appalachian State (3-12, 1-5), the fifth time in six years the two teams have faced off in the tournament’s opening round. With four straight wins over the Mountaineers in NorPac Tournament play entering last weekend, the Card continued its success, notching a 10-3 win.
The scoring was evenly distributed for Stanford with four players—Dru, sophomore forward Kelsey Lloyd, sophomore forward Katie Mitchell and senior midfielder Xanthe Travlos—netting two goals apiece. The Cardinal offense simply overpowered the Mountaineers, firing off 41 shots against just nine for Appalachian State.
On Friday, Stanford faced off against Longwood (7-13, 4-2) in the tournament’s semifinals.
This time, the Cardinal offense gave the team an early lead—it scored three goals in the first 25 minutes. Stanford never looked back, with junior goalkeeper Alessandra Moss making two saves in the cage to notch her first shutout of the season in the 3-0 win.
Like its match against Appalachian State, Stanford found balance on offense, without relying on a single scorer alone to generate points. Dru, senior forward Katherine Swank and freshman forward Emily Henriksson each scored a goal, while Travlos pitched in two assists and Dru added one of her own.
With its win over Longwood, the Cardinal advanced to its fourth straight conference final, where it faced a familiar foe in rival California (10-9, 5-1). Stanford has squared off against the Golden Bears in the last four NorPac Tournament finals, and coming into Saturday’s match, it was riding a three-game win streak against Cal in tournament play. The Card extended that streak to four with a 2-0 victory to earn its fourth consecutive conference crown.
Against the Golden Bears, there would be none of the scoring balance that had characterized Stanford’s early tournament wins. Dru took the game into her own hands, scoring two goals in the first 20 minutes to give the Card another early lead. Travlos added an assist on Dru’s second goal.
The performance in the title game sealed the NorPac Tournament MVP award for Dru. She finished the tournament with five goals, three assists and 20 shots to her name.
However, the real story for Stanford in the Cal match was the strength of its defense. The Cardinal held a 16-3 advantage in shot attempts, and Moss made two saves to take her second shutout in two days.
Next up for the Cardinal is a play-in game for the NCAA Tournament. The NorPac Conference doesn’t receive an automatic berth for its championship into the tournament, so Stanford will take on the Atlantic-10 champion University of Massachusetts Minutewomen today to determine who will move on. Stanford has won two of its last three NCAA play-in games, including a 3-2 overtime victory over Boston University last year.
Stanford will take on Massachusetts with an NCAA Tournament berth on the line at 10 a.m. PST on Tuesday in Amherst, Mass.