March 31, 2010
Stanford, Calif. - No. 11 Stanford earned a dramatic overtime win on Wednesday night in the pouring rain at Laird Q. Cagan Stadium. Claire Hubbard scored a Sudden Victory goal midway through the third overtime period and Stanford escaped with a 14-13 win over No. 19 Hofstra. The Cardinal overcame a halftime deficit to rally for a thrilling come-from-behind victory.
"I am really proud of how we battled," said head coach Amy Bokker. "Hofstra is a very good team and we really stuck in there and continued to play."
The goal from Hubbard came at the 1:26 mark of the third overtime period. It was an unusual night for Hubbard who is on the verge of becoming Stanford's all-time assist leader because she did not record an assist. However, despite just two goals on the season, the Cardinal senior rose to the occasion to score the biggest goal of her career.
The Cardinal got off to a sluggish start, falling behind 3-0 and being outshot 12-0 in the early going. Annie Read made four of her nine saves in the first eight minutes to help keep Stanford within striking distance.
11:30 into the first half, Stanford finally got on the board on a free-position goal from Lauren Schmidt. Schmidt would tally four goals and one assist for the game. Leslie Foard also got into the scoring, tallying four of her own goals, all coming in the first half.
The Cardinal trailed 9-7 at the half and were outshot 19-15 by the Pride. Hofstra also collected 17 ground balls in the first period to just nine for Stanford.
The Cardinal came out with renewed energy in the second half and began to control play. Stanford outshot Hofstra 17-7 in the half and collected 17 ground balls to just eight for the Pride.
Stanford chipped away at the lead until Amanda Schwab scored her second goal of the game to tie things up at 10-10 with 19:31 remaining. Moments later Sarah Flynn scored her second goal and the Cardinal had its first lead of the game, 11-10.
Hofstra would not go down without a fight and continued to battle. The Pride regained a 12-11 lead, before Julie Christy scored with 4:13 remaining to tie things back up. Christy made a superb play to collect an errant Hofstra pass and then went straight to the net for the tying goal.
Hofstra regained the lead in overtime, but Schmidt's fourth goal forced a sudden victory period. From there, the Cardinal won the draw control to gain possession, leading to Hubbard's goal.
It was a hard-fought game on both sides with the rain and wet conditions adding to the drama. The Cardinal celebrated with a dog pile after Hubbard's goal, surely happy to avoid defeat in such nasty conditions in such a competitive game.
The Cardinal will now begin MPSF play and head out on the road to do so. Stanford takes on Fresno State on Friday, April 2, at 7:00 p.m. The Cardinal conclude its three-game week on Sunday, April 4, at California at 1:00 p.m.