Battle Against Bellarmine

STANFORD, Calif. — Having secured a 3-0 start for the second time in three seasons, Stanford field hockey is back in action to complete the season-opening four-game homestand on Friday, September 4 against Bellarmine. First strike for Friday’s matinee against the Knights is slated for Noon PT from Stanford’s Varsity Turf. 

FIRST STRIKE

Stanford reports back to its home turf having secured a 3-0 start via back-to-back wins against American and Central Michigan on Sunday and Monday. Sunday’s bout against the Eagles showed Stanford’s early quarter poise as a 2-0 lead into the halftime break secured an eventual 3-1 win for the Cardinal while Monday’s gritty 2-1 win highlighted the Cardinal’s resilience through a grueling stretch of three games in four days. 

Caroline Richard secured her first collegiate goal to open the scoring on Sunday, tallying the game’s opening goal 53 seconds into the contest to give Stanford a 1-0 lead. The Cardinal followed suit in the second quarter with Bea Varley connecting with Kate Nemec for another opening-minute tally that pushed the home side ahead by two into the halftime break. Though American cut the deficit in half from a penalty stroke seven minutes into the second half, Varley’s first collegiate strike just over a minute later kept the Eagles at bay as the Stanford defense fortified the cage to ride out a 3-1 win.

Monday’s back-end of the back-to-back also featured a quick strike from the hosts as Summer Knight-Thompson nabbed her first goal of the season just over two minutes into the contest. However, the counterattacking Chippewas leveled the scoreline in the latter half of the frame as the two sides continued to battle through a 1-1 deadlock into the fourth quarter. Needing a spark, Stanford’s veterans found a way as Star Horlock secured her second game-winning goal of the campaign, slotting a backhanded shot past the CMU goalkeeper to push the Cardinal ahead for good. Much like Sunday’s affair, Stanford penalty corner defense proved formidable and negated the final few opportunities for the visitors as Stanford remained perfect on the season with the 2-1 win. 

Star Horlock leads the Cardinal in scoring through the early going with four points via her two game-winning tallies. Bea Varley ranks second on the squad with a career-high three points through three games via a 1-1-3 line. In total, six different Cardinal have scored through three games this season. Lending a helping hand, four different players have recorded an assist including freshmen Opal Sparling and Grace Essalih who recorded their first collegiate points with helpers. 

Defensively, Puja Nanjappa and Mia Clark have started all three games on defense with the former leading the team in minutes with 153 on the campaign. Spearheading Stanford’s penalty corner defense, Nanjappa and the Cardinal have gone 12-for-12 on Penalty Corner clearances this season. Between the posts, Anya Jackson has earned the start and decision in each of the three games this season, tying her career high for wins (3) while posting a 1.00 goals-against average and a .833 save percentage. Jackson tied her career-high for saves in a game with seven in the win over CMU on Monday and has only allowed two field goals.

Stanford takes on the Knights for the second time in program history and for the second time in three seasons as the two sides last met in 2024 in Louisville, Ky., where Stanford earned a 4-0 win at Louisville’s Trager Stadium. This Friday’s meeting marks the first bout between the two sides at Varsity Turf. 

Stanford, which posted a strong season barring its results in 2025, returns 14 players from a season ago - including nine seniors - for 2026. The Cardinal, which graduated nine seniors in 2025, sees the return of Fifth-Year Ella Ganocy and Senior Star Horlock to the 2026 squad along with seven newcomers.

Stanford returns 65% of its offensive production from the 2025 campaign including Natalie Hoppe (4 goals, 2 assists) and Summer Knight-Thompson (3 goals, 2 assists) who sat atop the team leaderboard as freshmen. The Cardinal also returns five players who recorded two assists from a season ago including Esther Pottebaum, Mia Clark and Liv Martin alongside Hoppe and Knight-Thompson. Defensively, Stanford returns seniors Mia Clark and Puja Nanjappa while bringing in sophomore transfer Caroline Richard (Liberty) and freshman Florien Van Tongeren to provide depth.

Sophomore Natalie Hoppe returns for her second season with the Cardinal having led the team in all three scoring categories including a team-high 10 points. Hoppe scored in four games during the campaign to tie for the team lead while posting two game-winning goals including the overtime winner against Boston College and her first collegiate goal in the 1-0 win against JMU.

Having appeared in a career-high 11 games last season and boasting a 3-4 record, Anya Jackson looks poised to have another strong season between the pipes. Jackson totaled 32 saves in her sophomore season while posting three wins including posting a penalty shootout win over No. 16 Louisville that saw her save three attempts. Jackson owns a 1.93 career goals-against average coupled with a .698 career save percentage in 17 games. 

Stanford welcomes seven players on The Farm including a mix of domestic and international talent. Jackie O’Donnell, Grace Essalih and Opal Sparling debut for the Cardinal as a trio of MAX Field Hockey Top 50 recruits including Sparling who ranked inside the Top 10. Also arriving on The Farm, Stanford welcomes highly-touted international recruits in Florien Van Tongeren (The Netherlands), Hannah Cutler (England), and Jula Proschel (Germany) that all have high-level playing experience overseas. 

Stanford squared off against 10 ranked opponents last season - including six in the top-five - across 14 games last season. THe 10 ranked matchups are the most since the 2019 season when Stanford faced 11 Top 25 teams including four ranked inside the top five. Stanford posted a competitive record in its matches against ranked opponents that included four one-goal losses including to No. 7 Michigan, No. 6 Harvard and No. 4 Virginia.