DAVIDSON, N. C. — Four different goal scorers highlighted a full team effort on Sunday as the Stanford field hockey team downed the Davidson Wildcats 4-1 on the road. With the win, Stanford earns its first road win with two games remaining in the regular season.
With a blustery affair ensuing in the southern portion of North Carolina, Stanford did well to hold Davidson off the board early as the Wildcats looked to break open the scoring. The Cardinal defense, led by starting goalkeeper Anya Jackson, negated an early spell of pressure from the hosts before Stanford opened the scoring with just over nine minutes to go in the opening frame.
With a sliver of space along the far side, freshman Natalie Hoppe maneuvered her way into the circle before finding Chantal Eiwanger just in front of the Davidson cage. Eiwanger then rattled off a shot that snuck inside the far post to open the scoring and secure her first goal of the season.
"Before the game we talked about the priviledge it is to wear the Stanford jersey," said Susan Ewing York Director of Women's Field Hockey head coach Roz Ellis. "The team wanted to show that pride from minute one and it showed with the way we played today."
Four minutes later, Stanford once again found the back of the cage with Nadine Brenninkmeyer earning her third goal of the season. Brenninkmeyer found space just inside the circle after receiving a feed from Anna Ghuliani and slotted home a high angle shot into the top corner to give Stanford a 2-0 lead that it saw into the second quarter.
Stanford, which had held Davidson shotless through 15 minutes, held strong defensively in the second quarter to preserve the shutout bid as the Wildcats mustered more opportunities toward Jackson. However, the Cardinal sophomore was equal to both shots on frame as Jackson earned two saves through a first-half shutout. On the offensive end, Cara Sambeth nabbed her first goal of the season, sending a low stinger past the Davidson goalkeeper to push the Stanford lead to three heading into halftime.
In the second half, Stanford continued to negate any of the pressure from the hosts until a late third quarter attack saw the shutout bid end. Having committed a foul inside the circle, Stanford gave up a penalty stroke that Jackson just missed along the right post as the Wildcats cut into the deficit with just seconds left in the third.
Having given up the lone goal in the third quarter, Stanford’s offense descended upon the Davidson half for a majority of the frame to hem the WIldcats in their own half. Though Davidson had its moments in the attacking half - courtesy of three penalty corners in the frame - Stanford held strong and dispelled any attack toward the cage as Jackson ended the afternoon with two saves on three saves faced.
"It was a good game overall defensively," said Ellis. "We definitely still have some things to clean up when our structure lapses but we improved a lot today with our pressure and our midfield."
Looking to bookend the scoring, Stanford earned the final goal of the contest as Mia Clark scored her second collegiate goal, finishing off a set piece attack from a penalty corner to give Stanford back its three goal advantage that the Cardinal saw through to a 4-1 win.
Stanford is back in action next weekend for Senior Day on The Farm on Sunday, October 26 as it takes on UC Davis. First strike from Varsity Turf is slated for 1 p.m. PT.