The Cardinal sealed an incredible 17-1 regular season this past Friday with a 2-1 victory over the visiting UC Davis Aggies (4-13). On a cool, drizzly afternoon, the Cardinal took the field inspired, with Senior Day and the approaching NorPac tournament fueling the fire.
“Senior Night was very emotional, knowing that would be their last game on home turf,” said sophomore midfielder Fran Tew.
Tew had the opening score for the Cardinal who were met by a scrappy Davis team that did not go down without a fight.
The Cardinal held the offensive advantage, outshooting the Aggies 16-2 and earning six penalty corners without allowing any. The middle of the field, however, proved a more even playing field. Both teams moved the ball effectively through the middle third, connecting small passes and threading longer balls down the line. Neither team was able to gain much momentum in the first half; the back-and-forth nature of the game prevented either team from establishing a commanding rhythm.
Stanford goalkeeper Dulcie Davies didn’t register any saves in the match, as opposed to the six tallied by freshman Davis keeper Briana Sooy, perhaps surprisingly as Sooy is actually not a goalkeeper. She’s a field player manning the cage due to injuries to the Davis goalies earlier in the season. The Aggies defense tacked on four saves of its own, keeping the Cardinal largely scoreless.
The first half ended with a frustrated No. 3 Stanford tied 0-0 with a Davis team playing their best game of the season.
After a halftime regroup the Cardinal came out firing, but the Aggies held off the initial onslaught. They could not hold off forever. Nineteen minutes into the second half, senior attacker Elise Ogle chased a long ball down the left side of the field. Controlling it, she whipped a cross across the face of the goal. Poised to strike on the other end was Tew. She received the pass cleanly and rifled it into the back of the net to give Stanford a 1-0 lead.
“Scoring was rewarding after all of the goal scoring work we’ve been doing in practice. It felt good, putting it in at the right moment when we needed a goal,” said Tew. She commented that the team has worked hard to be “clinical” and that the goal reflected that focus.
The Cardinal has held opponents to one or fewer goals in 17 of 18 games & is 17-0 when scoring a goal. #gostanford | http://t.co/OS9yKsMU8m
— Stanford FieldHockey (@StanfordFH) November 1, 2014
The Cardinal held their lead for the next 10 minutes, but in the 64th minute, the Aggies pulled even. Intercepting a Stanford pass, Davis charged to the net. Sophomore Kayla Wigney took on a one-on-one challenge with Davies and managed to pop a shot past the Stanford keeper’s diving effort. The goal rendered the game a 1-1 tie.
Not satisfied with this score, the Cardinal began a relentless offensive push. Earning a penalty corner in the 68th minute, the Cardinal capitalized. Junior defender Jessica Chisholm netted her fourth goal of the year, rocketing a shot in off the assists from Ogle and defender Hannah Thiemann. Stanford took a 2-1 advantage that held for the rest of the match. Davis, who upset the Cardinal once last year, fell after putting up a hearty fight.
“It’s never easy playing conference because the stakes are so high,” Tew added.
Ending the regular season 4-0 in NorPac play, Stanford has the top seed in the upcoming tournament. The Cardinal will have a bye in the first round by coming in as the No.1 team in the West.
“We’re ready for NorPacs,” Tew commented. “We’re excited to prove ourselves after last year, but we’re taking it one game at a time.”
Contact Carlie Tenenbaum at carliet ‘at’ stanford.edu.