STANFORD, Calif. — Five different Cardinal recorded a hat trick while a stellar defensive corps held firm as No. 7/8 Stanford took a decisive Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) victory over Virginia Tech at Laird Q. Cagan Stadium on Friday evening, 23-4.
With just under seven minutes left in the first quarter - in what was then a tightly contested affair - Jordyn Case cashed in on a free position attempt to cut the first quarter deficit in half for the Cardinal, making the lead 3-2 for the visiting Hokies. Unbeknownst to the visitors, it marked the beginning of an eventual 22-1 run for the Cardinal that stretched across the remaining 51:58 of game action.
Case’s free position tally kickstarted what proved to be a 4-0 run to end the quarter for the Cardinal as Rylee Bouvier and Aliya Polisky added markers alongside another Case goal to give the Cardinal a 5-3 lead through 15 minutes.
Stanford then relied on its prowess of turning defense into offense in the second period, outscoring the Hokies 7-0 in the frame starting with a Lindsey Devir tally five minutes into the frame. Martha Oakey and Elise Murphy tallied goals inside the next minute and change before Devir added a brace with 5:47 remaining in the half. With the 10-3 lead following the surge, Case potted her hat trick goal before Ava Arceri found the final two goals of the frame as Stanford had eight different goal scorers through the first 30 minutes of action to take a 12-3 lead into the halftime break.
Stanford continued the barrage in the second half, exploding for seven goals in the third quarter headlined by Lexi Rodell’s hat trick. Rodell, who got the second-half scoring started just 1:28 into it, finished off the hat trick with a pair inside of two minutes with under five minutes left in the quarter. Elsewhere, Arceri and Polisky also utilized tallies in the frame to collect their hat tricks.
The Cardinal focused on securing a complete game through the remaining 15 minutes of action, grabbing arguably its most meaningful goal of the afternoon with just over two minutes gone in the fourth. Having entered the game in the fourth quarter, freshman Sawyer Billings found herself on the scoresheet, slotting home her first collegiate goal on a free position attempt as part of a four-goal fourth quarter for Stanford. Following the tally, Devir notched two goals to complete the hat trick while Rodell snagged the last goal of the afternoon for her fourth of the day.
Stanford, which had kept Cornell’s offense to just one goal in the second half last weekend, amassed its longest stretch of play without allowing a goal this season, holding the Hokies scoreless through 46:36 of elapsed time between the first and fourth quarters. The Cardinal also generated turnovers on the defensive side, causing nine of VT’s 14 turnovers on the day while winning the battles for draw controls (20-10) and ground balls (18-9) thanks to eight draw controls from Dakota Uy and a combined seven ground balls from Olivia Rose and Sophia Brindisi. In goal, Lucy Pearson recorded her eighth win of the season with two saves while Ella Morton recorded a save in relief in the fourth quarter as Stanford notched a decisive 23-4 win.
Stanford is back in action on Sunday, March 16, hosting the No. 4 Yale Bulldogs at Cagan Stadium as part of its Kids Day and Camper Reunion game. Opening draw is slated for 1 p.m. PT.