Sept. 10, 2004
Iowa City, Iowa - Stanford (4-3) won its season-high third consecutive contest with a 5-1 victory over Iowa (1-4) in a non-conference field hockey match on Friday at Grant Field. Liz Robinson tallied the first two-goal game of her career for the Cardinal, while Eleanor Morgan had a goal and two assists. Missy Halliday and Katherine Brooks each added a goal for Stanford.
"Winning three games in a row and beating a team like Iowa, especially on the road, is huge for our program," said Stanford head coach Lesley Irvine, a former Hawkeye player who led Iowa to the Final Four as a collegiate senior in 1999. "Our team has a lot of potential and is starting to believe in itself. We took pride in our game today, didn't let up, and capitalized on our chances for some great goals."
Halliday got the Cardinal started with an assist from Morgan when she tipped in a shot after a broken penalty corner at 3:34.
The score remained 1-0 in favor of Stanford until Robinson picked up back-to-back goals just before halftime at 29:59 and 32:00. Julia Drewes assisted on the first Robinson score, while the second was unassisted.
"The passes up front have really been connecting well lately and that has created many scoring opportunities for our offense," said Robinson, who has scored her first three career goals in the team's last three contests and has taken over the team's scoring lead this season with seven points. "We've been working on taking more shots in the circle, and it seems like that is paying off."
Morgan made it 4-0 for Stanford with an unassisted goal at 47:27 and then assisted on a Brooks goal that capped Stanford's scoring at 53:59.
Stanford's Ana Kralovec (4-3) picked up a pair of saves while recording her third straight win in the cage and just missed picking up her second straight shutout when Iowa's Sarah Dawson scored a late goal at 57:52 to make the final score 5-1.
"These last three wins have been great for the confidence of our defense," said Kralovec. "We have developed together, and I now feel that we are a consistent and strong unit in the backfield."
Iowa goalkeeper Barb Weinberg (1-4) took the loss, recording two saves.
Drewes tied with Dawson and Iowa teammate Margot McMahon for game-high honors with three shots as Stanford held a slim 10-9 advantage in that category.
Stanford had four penalty corners, while Iowa tried two.
Stanford will conclude its current three-game road trip on Saturday, September 11 (12 pm, CT), by playing Central Michigan in a neutral site contest in Iowa City, Iowa.