Methodical is what best describes No. 3 Stanford field hockey’s performance against Cal this past Friday. Stanford (16-1, 3-0 NorPac) continued its streak of dominating play with a 4-0 victory against the Golden Bears (7-8, 2-2 NorPac). The game started on a lighter note, as Cal had designated this game for their Senior Day. Because Cal does not have a home turf this season due to construction, all graduating seniors and their families were honored at Stanford for their many contributions to the team.
But that brief respite from competition did nothing to diminish the initial pace of the game. A quick goal at 1:48 gave Stanford the lead, and they continued to control the offensive pace of the game for the entire 70 minutes. Senior midfielder Alex McCawley continued her streak of excellent offensive play, scoring Stanford’s first two goals off a nice shot from the top of the circle, and later at 32:19 on a tip from a penalty corner shot, which took her to an outstanding — and team-leading — 14 goals on the season.
The Cardinal defensive core continued their exceptional play and chemistry, managing to stop all of Cal’s chances and ensuring that the opposing team remained scoreless.
“We feel like we’ve got some really good combinations going. We are really set on stepping up on their players, winning the 50/50 balls and making sure that their attackers cannot get the ball at all. Our main goal is to shut them out completely,” said junior defender Jessica Chrisholm.
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Feeling in control in the backfield, Stanford continued its offensive success in the second half. Junior midfielder Maddie Secco scored Stanford’s third goal in which sophomore mid Fran Tew took advantage of some lax defensive play and made a heads-up pass to Secco, who redirected it beautifully into the net. With a 3-0 lead, Stanford became comfortable not pushing the pace, allowing the defense to control more of the play. But with this more defensive mindset came more chances for Cal, and junior goalkeeper Dulcie Davies was forced to make an amazing reflex save in order to preserve the Stanford shut out.
But Stanford was not done yet. At 61:42, junior attacker Lauren Becker scored a highlight reel goal, scoring on a remarkable diving redirect from another great pass by Tew. This game marked Stanford’s 10th consecutive victory, and again showed everyone that this is a team ready to compete for a national championship.
When asked what was different about this team from past years, Alex McCawley said, “I think this year we are not afraid to take risks. I think that we’re able to find the open man and everyone is super dangerous, so that we all have a team confidence going into the game knowing that someone is going to put the ball away.”
Jessica Chisholm concurred, saying, “I think the team chemistry is different, we all just 100 percent believe that we can go all the way this year.”
Next up for the Cardinal is another home game against UC Davis on Friday at 3 p.m. This game has special importance as it is Stanford’s last home regular season game and the Senior Game to celebrate all of Stanford’s graduating players.
Contact Amanda McLean at ammclean ‘at’ stanford.edu.