Goals by two seniors helped lead the 13th-ranked Stanford field hockey team (12-5, 4-2 America East) to a 2-1 victory over Pacific (10-7, 4-2) on Friday night on the Varsity Turf in the final game of the regular season.
It was also the final home game for Class of 2016, and seniors Lauren Becker, Jessica Chisholm, Clemence Couteau, Dulcie Davies, Catherine Dawson and Maddie Secco were honored.
Fittingly, much of the offensive production throughout the night came from the senior class. Chisholm, a defender, registered the first goal in the 11th minute off a penalty corner, and, after Pacific tied the game in the 22nd minute, Couteau scored an unassisted goal in the 41st minute off a rebound from a penalty corner.
The Cardinal were brilliant offensively, outshooting the Tigers by the wide margin of 25 to 5, and garnered 8 penalty corners to Pacific’s 2. The victory was also extra sweet for the team, as it avenged its 1-0 loss to Pacific in Stockton earlier this season.
The Cardinal finish the regular season on a three-game winning streak (having beaten Cal and UC Davis before beating Pacific) and will now enter postseason play, starting with the America East Tournament this upcoming week.
The eight-team tournament at the University at Albany features four teams from both the Eastern and Western divisions. Stanford, co-champions of the Western division with Pacific, secured the No. 1 seed in the West via tiebreaker rules and will play Vermont in the first round.
The four-day tournament will serve as a warm-up to the main event of the team’s postseason, the NCAA championships, which begin on Nov. 14.
Stanford takes on Vermont at the University at Albany on Thursday, Nov. 5 at 4:30 p.m.
Contact Elliott Lapin at elapin ‘at’ stanford.edu.