STANFORD, Calif. — Stanford field hockey returns to action this week, beginning the home slate of contests with a battle against Ball State on Thursday, September 4 before battling No. 6 Harvard to conclude the weekend on Sunday, September 7. First pass-back from Varsity Field Hockey Turf on Thursday is slated for noon while Sunday’s contest is scheduled for 11 a.m. PT.
FIRST PASS-BACK
Stanford enters Thursday’s contest following a split at the 2025 Conference Cup, falling in a tight match against No. 4 Maryland, 3-1, before securing a clinical 1-0 win over James Madison in Stanford’s weekend finale.
Against the Terps, Stanford fought hard after giving up the game-opening goal inside the first two minutes, leveling the scoreline with Summer Knight-Thompson’s first collegiate goal in the 20th minute. However, Maryland secured the final two tallies of the afternoon - including one on the stroke of halftime - to earn the 3-1 win.
Looking to grab its first win of the season, Stanford did so in tidy fashion on Sunday, notching a 1-0 win over the Dukes in the tournament’s penultimate contest. With neither side having been able to break the deadlock through the first half, it was Stanford freshman Natalie Hoppe who opened her collegiate scoring career, earning the lone tally of the afternoon four minutes into the second half to secure the 1-0 win.
Stanford is led in scoring by both Knight-Thompson and Hoppe who both earned their first collegiate goals last weekend. Scout Butler earned Stanford’s lone helper but was featured in the buildup in both goals, firing a pass into the circle that eventually led to Knight-Thompson’s tally while also having her shot-pass deflected in on Hoppe’s strike. Elsewhere offensively, Butler leads the team in shot attempts with seven so far this season while Maroussia Walckiers leads Stanford with four shots on goal.
Defensively, Daisy Ford backstops the Cardinal having gone 1-1 last weekend. Ford currently owns a 1.50 goals-against average and .833 save percentage to start the year while totaling 15 saves including a career-high 12 saves in the game against Maryland. With her play on Friday, Ford became the first Stanford goalkeeper to record at least 12 saves in a game since the 2019-20 season when Kelsey Bing stopped 12 shots against Louisville on October 15, 2019.
Summer Knight-Thompson, who was named to the NFHCA Collegiate Watchlist, became the first freshman to score in a season-opener since Rose Winter did so in the 2019 season-opener in what was a 4-3 shootout loss to #15 Northwestern (8/30/2019).
Stanford’s 25 shot attempts on Sunday were the most in a single game since March 29, 2021 when the Cardinal amassed 26 shot attempts in a 3-0 win on the road over UC Davis. The 12 shots on goal were the most since firing 14 on frame against Ball State a season ago in what was a 5-0 win for the Cardinal.
Stanford boasts one of the toughest schedules in 2025 with nine future opponents having been ranked inside the National Field Hockey Coaches Association Preseason Poll including last Friday’s opponent, Maryland, who is slotted at No. 4. Stanford’s future opposition includes six teams currently ranked inside the top-10 including Sunday’s opponent Harvard along with North Carolina, Virginia, Duke, Michigan and Boston College. Fellow ACC foes Syracuse and Wake Forest rank outside the top-10 at No. 11 and No. 20, respectively.