LYNCHBURG, Va. – No. 10 Stanford field hockey converted on four of six penalty corners and earned a convincing 5-1 victory Thursday over Davidson in the first round of the NorPac Tournament.
Stanford controlled a majority of the possession throughout the game and held advantages in shots (15-5) and penalty corners (6-2).
Maddie Secco got Stanford on the board early, scoring at 5:08 of the first half to give Stanford a 1-0 lead. Positioned on the left side of the cage, the ball found Secco’s stick after deflecting off a couple of defenders, which she fired off the left post and into the goal.
Harbin netted Stanford’s second goal of the game in the 24th minute, drilling a shot off a penalty corner that deflected off a Davidson player and into the back of the cage. Positioned on the left side of the goal, Kasey Quon inserted the pass to Harbin, also on the left side, who fired the shot to the right side of the cage. It was Harbin’s seventh goal on the season.
Stanford continued to pressure Davidson in the second half and broke through in the 40th minute when Jessica Chisholm received a pass from Kelsey Harbin off a penalty corner and fired into the back of the cage.
The Cardinal continued its effectiveness on penalty corners with Alex McCawley converting at 44:21 to give Stanford a commanding 4-0 lead. Secco earned her third point of the game, assisting McCawley’s goal.
McCawley scored her second goal of the game in the 50th minute, tapping home a rebound after an initial penalty corner blast by Chisholm was saved by Davidson goalkeeper Carolyn Macek.
Davidson’s Becky Johnson got the Wildcats on the board with a goal in the 67th minute, tapping in a rebound after two initial saves by Dulcie Davies.
Stanford will look to carry its momentum into the second round when it takes on the winner of the Longwood-Pacific game tomorrow at 1 p.m. PT.
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Notes: Stanford has held opponents to one or fewer goals in 14 of 19 games this year … The Cardinal has outshot opponents in 14 of 19 matches … The Cardinal is 12-1 when scoring two or more goals in a game this year … The Cardinal has reached the 15-win plateau in five consecutive seasons … eight Cardinal players combined for Stanford’s 15 shots … Stanford holds advantages over opponents in shots (279-144), penalty corners (138-58) and goals (51-17).