Stanford field hockey closed its regular season with a 2-1 win over No. 17 Cal on Senior Night, Thursday, Oct. 29, at Varsity Turf. Now the Cardinal head to the ACC Field Hockey Championship.
How it happened
Two seniors teamed up for the opening goal just over two minutes in. Star Horlock threaded a pass through the Cal defense to Gemma Townsend, who scored one-on-one. Late in the second quarter, Horlock scored off Stanford’s first penalty corner on a feed from Natalie Hoppe to make it 2-0, according to both schools.
Cal answered early in the third quarter. Holly Pears inserted a corner to Flore Uges, and Liz Klompmaker scored on the rebound. It was her 15th goal of the season and 46th of her career, Cal said. The Bears outshot Stanford 7-2 in the third quarter and earned seven penalty corners to Stanford’s one. Stanford goalkeeper Anya Jackson made six saves, and the Cardinal cleared six of Cal’s seven corners.
“It just speaks to the growth of this class and the work that they have put in to transform this program,” Stanford coach Roz Ellis said.
Records and what’s next
Stanford finished the regular season 10-7 (2-6 ACC) and 7-3 at home. Cal finished 9-7 (2-6 ACC).
Horlock leads Stanford with career highs of 10 goals and 23 points. Stanford plays top-seeded North Carolina in the ACC tournament on Tuesday, Nov. 3, at 10 a.m. Eastern, which is 7 a.m. Pacific, at Karen Shelton Stadium in Chapel Hill, N.C.