Field hockey follows loss with redemption win
Field hockey (5-7, 2-4 ACC) took on Syracuse (10-3, 2-3 ACC) and Boston College over the weekend (4-8, 0-5 ACC). Coming into the weekend off of a tough loss against No. 3 Virginia, the Stanford team continued to battle through the ninth-hardest remaining schedule in Division l field hockey this season.
The weekend started off with a contest against the Orange, and after Friday night’s loss, the Cardinal turned their focus on Boston College, a “redemption road” according to head coach Roz Ellis, against the team that took Stanford out of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) tournament last season. The Cardinal split the two games, but their win on Sunday rinsed away any leftover disappointment from their Friday night loss at Varsity Turf.
In the first game of the weekend, Syracuse took an early lead, securing a goal in the fifth minute of the first quarter. Led by seniors Cara Sambeth and Scout Butler, the defensive line held strong, blocking every shot for the rest of the first half. The Cardinal team dug deep, laying out to protect vulnerable passes and controlling the middle of the field.
Starting off the second half, both teams pushed for a goal, racking up five short corners in the third quarter alone. Assisted by sophomore Jenny O’Grady and freshman Natalie Hoppe, junior Mia Clark took home the only goal of the night in a well-executed penalty corner.
Going into the fourth quarter, Stanford pressured Syracuse, spending most of their remaining time on offense and earning two more penalty corners. With five minutes left, the Cardinal pulled sophomore goalie Anya Jackson, bringing in junior Gemma Townsend in an attempt to push for a goal in the final few minutes. After fifth-year Maroussia Walckier’s shot was blocked with two minutes left to spare, Stanford was unable to make up the deficit and ultimately finished with a 2-1 loss Friday night.
Although the team may not have secured the victory they hoped for, head coach Roz Ellis said she was “really pleased with [the team’s] problem solving in the game.”
After the loss against Virginia, Ellis had instructed the team to focus more on anticipating support and working on front-foot mentality, explaining that the players “sharpened that really well” in their latest game.
Looking to the future, Ellis hoped to “go further” than last season’s team. She specifically aimed to beat Boston College, the team that took Stanford out in their “down to the wire” first round match in the ACC tournament last year.
On Sunday, the Cardinal delivered that redemption at home, edging Boston College 2-1 in overtime. Hoppe capped the result with the winner a little more than two minutes into the extra period, which marked her third collegiate goal.
Stanford struck first within the first two minutes of the game when Townsend scored the first goal of the game, a shot that was confirmed after video review. The Cardinal defense managed to keep the Eagles off the scoreboard, but a late penalty corner resulted in a game-tying score. Hoppe’s goal just a few minutes snapped Stanford’s two-game losing streak and gave the team their second conference victory.
The team will now head to North Carolina for a contest against Wake Forest on Friday at 2 p.m.
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