Aug. 27, 2011
STORRS, CT- Kelsey Harbin's first career goal served as the overtime game-winner during No. 20 Stanford's 4-3 victory over Hofstra on Saturday morning, as the Cardinal kicked off its season on the opening day of the Husky Invitational.
Becky Dru posted her first career hat trick in the victory, scoring all three of her goals in a offensive-minded first half that resulted in a 3-2 Stanford lead at intermission. Dru also fired off a game-high 11 shots, as the Cardinal owned a 24-10 edge in shot attempts.
One of several highly-touted rookies expected to make a difference this year, Harbin put away the game-winning goal at the 3:29 mark of the first overtime. After Hofstra keeper Amanda Heyde stopped an attempt from fellow freshman Alex McCawley seconds earlier, Harbin collected the rebound and converted for the score.
Stanford (1-0) and Hofstra (0-2) were originally scheduled for a 10 a.m. PT start, but the match was moved up one hour due to inclement weather in the forecast with Hurricane Irene wreaking havoc along the East Coast.
Despite playing through heavy rain for the entire match, both teams were still able to generate offense with five first-half goals combined and 34 shots overall.
Stanford held a commanding 13-5 edge in penalty corners, leading to its first two scores of the game. Dru tallied the first of her three goals 36 seconds into the contest, scoring on a textbook penalty corner with assists from Hope Burke and Stephanie Byrne. In the 20th minute, Dru again found the cage following a penalty corner that included assists from Colleen Ryan and Byrne.
Hofstra's Amy-Lee Levey scored off a penalty corner five minutes later before Darrah Rachman's goal tied the game at 2-2 in the 28th minute.
Five minutes before halftime, Dru scored again following a penalty corner, with Shannon Herold and McCawley setting up the play for a 3-2 lead.
Stanford went on to outshoot Hofstra 12-1 in the second half, however the Pride's only shot attempt resulted in a goal when Genna Kovar scored unassisted with 36:58 on the clock.
Harbin's second shot of the game turned out to be the game-winner early in overtime.
Burke chipped in with a career-high five shots for Stanford, while Ale Moss made three saves in goal.
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NOTES: In another scheduling change due to the inclement weather on the East Coast, Stanford will now square off against No. 4 Connecticut on Monday, Aug. 29, at 10 a.m. PT. The game was originally slated for tomorrow at 2 p.m. PT ... Becky Dru's career-high total for shots in a game is 12, which she accomplished on Nov. 4, 2010 against Appalachian State in the NorPac Championship ... The Cardinal was 2-2 in overtime games last year and has now won seven of its last 10 overtime games dating back to 2008 ... Stephanie Byrne chipped in with two assists ... Stanford allowed three goals in a match only three times last year ... Four freshmen (Kelsey Harbin, Alex McCawley, Hannah Thiemann, Shannon Herold) made their debuts in the starting lineup.