In a rematch against rival Pacific (11-4, 2-1 America East), the No. 15 Stanford field hockey team (7-5, 3-1 America East) fell 1-0 on Sunday in Stockton, California, snapping its six-game win streak and undefeated conference record. This was also Stanford’s first shutout loss of the season.
The close match started with a first half of strong defensive play by the Cardinal. Ranked first in the NCAA in goals per game, the Tigers put that offensive ability on display, outshooting Stanford and dominating possession throughout the half. But stout defense kept the game scoreless, with freshman goalkeeper Kelsey Bing making key saves to thwart Pacific rushes. On the other side of the ball, Stanford couldn’t get much offense going, tallying just one shot on goal.
The second half was much the same, with Stanford defense battling hard to hold off the Tigers offense as they did last week, a 3-0 shutout win at home. This time, however, the ball slipped through. 20 minutes into the second half, the game’s only goal came off a Pacific corner, a low shot to the left side by junior midfielder Savannah Burns that snuck past a diving Bing. That goal was all the Tigers would need to pick up the win.
Despite the deficit, the Cardinal refused to go down without a fight. A green card against Pacific in the last 15 minutes of the game and a series of corners sparked Stanford’s offense at the end of the second half.
With less than 20 seconds remaining, a Tiger foul resulted in a penalty corner for the Cardinal. Sophomore defender Emma Christus managed two shots on goal, one of which was answered by Pacific senior goal keeper Laura Pujade and the other of which resulted in another penalty corner. With a final chance to tie the game on an untimed corner, Stanford came just short with another shot by Christus and save by Pujade.
This loss marked the first in over a month, snapping a six-game win streak that featured four shutouts. Playing by the motto “Rise as One,” Stanford did just that, rising in NCAA standings over its winning stretch, now sitting at 15th in the nation. The Cardinal still hold the most wins in the America East conference, and they have an opportunity to rebound next week against two conference rivals in UC Davis (4-10, 0-3 America East) and UC Berkeley (4-8, 1-1 America East). Although Stanford has beaten both teams already this season, both matches were hard fought and went into extra time.
Stanford will play UC Davis on Friday at 6 p.m. and Cal on Sunday at 1 p.m. at the Varsity Turf. Live stats will be available on gostanford.com for Friday’s game and Sunday’s game will be televised on Pac-12 Network.
Contact Laura Anderson at lauraand ‘at’ stanford.edu.