STANFORD, Calif. — Stanford field hockey continues its four-game homestand this weekend, welcoming Ohio University and No. 7 Michigan to The Farm for a pair of matchups this weekend as part of field hockey Alumni Weekend. The Cardinal host the Bobcats on Friday, September 12 for its Cancer Awareness Match at 3 p.m. while Sunday’s Alumni Day contest against the Wolverines is slated for noon.
FIRST PASS-BACK
Stanford opened the first leg of its two-week homestand last weekend, earning a definitive 6-0 win over Ball State to open the home slate at Varsity Turf on Thursday before battling the No. 6 Harvard Crimson to the brink, ultimately falling 3-2 (3-2 SO) to conclude the week on Sunday.
In Thursday’s affair, Stanford overcame a sluggish first quarter and turned on the jets to take a 2-0 lead into the halftime break following Kate Nemec and Nadine Brenninkmeyer’s first goals of the season. Having come out as the aggressor in the second half, Stanford blitzed the Cardinals twice with Brenninkmeyer and Liv Martin combining for two goals in 17 seconds in the third while Martin’s second of the game was followed up by Maroussia Walckiers’ first of the season just 30 seconds apart in the fourth quarter as the Cardinal nabbed the 6-0 win. Between the posts, Daisy Ford (win) and Kendall Dowd earned the combined shutout with the latter accruing her first two saves of the season.
On Sunday, the Cardinal faced tough opposition in No. 6 Harvard but earned the game’s opening goal near the end of the first quarter with Nemec slotting home her second goal of the weekend. However, the Crimson came out blazing in the third quarter, slotting home one from the run of play before tallying a penalty stroke with 12 seconds left in the quarter to take the lead into the final frame. Stanford, though, battled back, earning the game-tying goal off of a penalty corner as Ella Ganocy tipped home a feed from Mia Clark for what was the last goal of regulation. Following two scoreless overtime periods, Harvard eventually took home the win in the penalty shootout as the Crimson earned a 3-2 aggregate through five rounds to earn the 3-2 win.
The Cardinal is led in scoring by Kate Nemec, Liv Martin and Nadine Brenninkmeyer who all sit atop the leaderboard in goals (2) and points (4) following the weekend. Both Martin and Brenninkmeyer recorded their first career, multi-goal games in the win over Ball State while all three have set new single-season highs in goals with two so far through four games. Mia Clark has lended a helping hand twice this season to lead the Cardinal in that department following her assist on Ella Ganocy’s second career goal on Sunday.
Between the pipes, all three Stanford goalkeepers have made an appearance this season following the weekend. Daisy Ford leads the Cardinal with her conference-leading 22 saves and 5.50 saves per game. Ford currently holds a .815 save percentage and a 1.28 goals-against average in four starts this season. Kendall Dowd made her season debut in the win over Ball State earning a combined shutout while making two saves in the win over the Cardinals. Anya Jackson also made her season debut last weekend, seeing action in the penalty shootout against Harvard on Sunday.
Stanford has outscored its opponents 9-2 over the last three games and has only given up one goal from the run of play in those contests. Overall, Stanford owns a +5 scoring margin through five games and has limited the opposition to three goals during game action with the other two goals coming from penalty strokes.
Before Harvard’s tally in the third quarter on Sunday, Stanford owned a shutout streak of 185:15 during the run of play (excluding penalty strokes). Stanford last earned consecutive shutouts in the 2024 season with wins on the road over UC Davis (1-0) and Bellarmine (4-0) in mid-September. Stanford has earned consecutive shutouts during a season in three of the last four seasons.
Stanford has outshot its opponents in shots on goal this season 334-29 and has out-earned the opposition in penalty corners 28-21 through four games this season. Stanford’s most shots on goal and penalty corners earned this season came in the 1-0 win over James Madison with 12 shots on goal and 14 penalty corners, respectively.