STANFORD, Calif. – No. 3 Stanford extended its program-best winning streak to 11 games and claimed the NorPac West regular season title Friday with a 2-1 victory against UC Davis at the Varsity Turf.
The Cardinal (17-1, 4-0 NorPac West) matched a program record in wins, reaching 17 victories for the third time in its history.
It is the second time Stanford’s senior class has accomplished this feat, also reaching the 17-victory mark in 2011. It was a fitting achievement for the senior class, which was honored pregame as part of the Senior Day ceremony.
The Cardinal controlled much of the game, holding advantages in shots (16-2) and penalty corners (6-0) but had trouble finding the back of the net. The defense played terrific, consistently shutting down UC Davis’ attack by stepping up in plays and eliminating space.
Stanford has held opponents to one or fewer goals in 17 of 18 games this season.
The Cardinal broke through in the 54th minute when Elise Ogle (communication) chased down a ball on the end line to the left of UC Davis’ (4-13, 0-4 NorPac West) goal and sent a pass to the front of the net. Fran Tew was waiting for the pass and hammered it into the back of the cage.
UC Davis did not go away easily, however, and capitalized on a turnover in the 64th minute to level the score at 1-1. The Aggies’ Kayla Wigney had a one-on-one and was able to sneak a shot over a diving effort by Stanford goalkeeper Dulcie Davies.
Jessica Chisholm scored the game-winner exactly four minutes later with a blistering shot off a penalty corner. Elise Ogle and Hannah Thiemann (English) picked up assists on the play. It was Chisholm’s (science, technology and society) fourth goal on the year and Ogle’s team-leading eighth assist.
Stanford will have a week until its next game when it heads to Pacific for the NorPac Tournament.
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Notes: Kelsey Harbin, Shannon Herold, Alex McCawley, Elise Ogle, Kasey Quon and Hannah Thiemann were honored in a pregame Senior Night ceremony. Among the accomplishments for the six-member senior class: a 66-17 record, at least 16 wins all four seasons, 21-1 conference record, 34-5 at home, reached a program-best No. 3 national ranking, has been ranked nationally every week, spanning 42 weeks … Stanford is riding a program-best 11-game winning-streak … The Cardinal has limited opponents to one or fewer goals in 17 of 18 games … Stanford is 17-0 when scoring at least one goal … the Cardinal improved to 11-1 against UC Davis, dating back to 2009 … Stanford improved to 25-2 in NorPac regular-season play under head coach Tara Danielson … The Cardinal holds advantages over opponents in shots (247-111), penalty corners (99-47) and goals (49-12).