STANFORD, Calif. — Kate Nemec and Ella Ganocy provided the offense while Daisy Ford racked up six saves as the Stanford field hockey team battled Harvard to the brink, falling 3-2 (3-2 SO) to the No. 6 Crimson at Varsity Field Hockey Turf on Sunday.
“I think Harvard is a class team and can punish you, but I like what we displayed today,” said head coach Roz Ellis. “I loved our problem solving throughout each quarter and loved how aggressive we were on the press.”
Stanford, which spent much of Thursday’s match against Ball State on edge in the first quarter, came out as the aggressors on Sunday, nabbing the first goal of the game late in the quarter. Having stuck with the Crimson in the possession battle, Stanford found its break with Kate Nemec’s second goal of the season as she knifed through the Crimson defense and fired Stanford’s first shot of the day home to put the Cardinal ahead, 1-0.
With the Cardinal opening up the scoring, both sides took liberties in the second quarter, putting the goalkeepers to the test. Having been outshot 1-0 in the first quarter, Harvard looked poised to try and find the equalizer. However, Daisy Ford was up to the task, stopping the Crimson on both of its attempts on goal to keep Stanford in front.
“In Daisy we trust,” said Ellis. “We put her in some tough positions today but she is so poised between the pipes and electrifying with her saves and she is a huge asset to what we want to accomplish this year.”
Looking to find its footing, Harvard stormed out in the third quarter, earning its first of the afternoon just under five minutes into the frame as Sage Piekarski slotted home a fast break chance to level the scoreline. Nearing the end of the frame, Harvard grabbed its second chance of the day by earning a penalty stroke with 12 seconds to go. Though Ford was close to it, Harvard’s Tilly Butterworth slotted it past the senior goalkeeper to put the Crimson in front, 2-1.
“I love that the team knew the third quarter was not good and that they can be fatigued and put their hockey intelligence together to get results,” said Ellis. “I was really impressed with our poise to get back in the game. We pumped our outcomes and we got back in the game and kept Harvard from getting risky chances.
Having found its way through the game against Ball State, the Cardinal were steadfast into the fourth quarter, looking to nab the equalizing goal. With just one penalty corner given in the game to that point, Stanford found its break on the set piece halfway through the frame. On the ensuing injection, Stanford’s penalty corner attack maneuvered through the Harvard defense with Mia Clark sending a shot to the far post that Ella Ganocy tipped home to push the Cardinal level, 2-2.
Holding steady along the backline, Ford provided the defensive prowess to keep the Crimson at bay, earning two second half saves while facing 11 shots from the visitors including multiple on breakaway chances to push the game to overtime.
In the extra frame, Stanford battled hard to negate Harvard’s attack, stymying the Crimson with three saves from four shots faced to force the game into a second overtime. In the second, sudden-death period, Stanford came out aggressive and earned the lone two shots to take the win. However, the Crimson defense stood its ground as the teams headed to a shootout tied 2-2.
In the shootout frame, Stanford received scoring from Cara Sambeth to put the Crimson on edge. Following a leveling tally from the Crimson, Stanford believed it had negated the second chance from Lara Beekhuis. However, it was retaken as a penalty stroke that Anya Jackson got a hand to but could not negate it from crossing the line as the Crimson took the advantage. Natalie Hoppe - who took her first collegiate shootout attempt - put the Cardinal level with her tally before Jackson stood tall on her end to give Stanford a chance to take the lead in the shootout. However, Stanford was unable to capitalize on its final two chances while Harvard secured the decisive shootout goal to take the 3-2 shootout win.