STANFORD, Calif. — The second collegiate brace from Star Horlock highlighted a three-goal second half as the Stanford field hockey team shut down UC Davis on Tuesday night, 4-1. With the win, Stanford matches its best eight-game start since the 2020 spring season.
Horlock’s second collegiate brace bookended the final three goals on the evening with the senior recording her first of the night off a nifty assist from Liv Martin, tipping a cross inside the circle past the Aggies’ goalkeeper to push the Stanford lead to three.
Nothing like a 2️⃣ for 8️⃣ special!
— Stanford Field Hockey (@StanfordFH) September 23, 2026
📺: ACCNX#GoStanford x #Together pic.twitter.com/y8ZGaGxRJ8
Though the Cardinal amassed a three-goal lead heading into the fourth quarter, the game was anything but cut-and-dry for Stanford. Stanford (7-1, 0-0 ACC) outshot the visitors 4-1 in the opening frame but could not secure the game-opening tally as the Aggies defense stymied the Cardinal at every turn.
Looking to break open the match, the Cardinal relied on its poised youth with Jula Proschel and Opal Sparling connecting to open the scoring. Quick in transition off a UC Davis (2-6, 0-0 MPSF) turnover, Sparling jumpstarted the attack and found a cutting Proschel who coralled the ball before sending a shot against the grain and into the back of the cage five minutes into the second quarter, giving Stanford a 1-0 lead that it saw into the halftime break.
“Opal and Jula have been playing really well the last two weeks and that is why they both got the start tonight,” said Susan Ewing York Director of Women’s Field Hockey Roz Ellis. “I was really happy to see both of them apply what we have been working on and see Jula capitalize like that.”
With neither side able to find the cage for the remainder of the first half, the Cardinal jumped on the Aggies to begin the second half, capitalizing early on a free hit to double the lead. On the quick restart, Natalie Hoppe found Jenny O’Grady in space as the unsuspecting Aggie backline was caught in transition. Noticing the time and space, O’Grady knifed her way into an opening and rifled a shot into the netting to push Stanford ahead by two.
“The first half was not up to our standards and we acknowledged that at halftime,” said Ellis. “For us to come out hot in the second half and push through, I was proud of our team to be able to find those final three goals.”
With Stanford continuing to threaten, Horlock’s fifth of the campaign put the Cardinal ahead with some breathing room. That was until an early fourth-quarter penalty corner tally brought the visitors back into the game.
Unwavering, however, Stanford continued to pester and press the Aggies including while a player-down as a Stanford yellow card saw the Cardinal play shorthanded for half of the remaining time in regulation. Horlock, who had given the Cardinal the three-goal lead, served as the main catalyst that stymied the UC Davis attack, providing leadership and poise in both halves before grabbing her second of the match.
“I liked that when we went a man-down that she took over on both sides of the ball,” said Ellis about Horlock. “She injected her energy, passion and aggressiveness into the game and that fed us as a team.”
With both sides back to even-strength with under a minute to go, Horlock put the finishing touches on a four-goal day for the Cardinal, converting on a second-chance opportunity off of Stanford’s sixth - and final - penalty corner of the evening. With the match out of reach, Stanford’s pressure remained until the final whistle as the Cardinal began its two-game week on a high note with the 4-1 win.
Stanford is back in action on Friday, September 25 with its first Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) bout of the season against North Carolina. First strike for Stanford’s Most Valuable Professor night celebration against the Tar Heels is slated for 6 p.m. PT.