STANFORD, Calif. — Stanford field hockey continued its torrid pace to begin the season with a clinical, 5-0 win over the visiting Bellarmine Knights on Friday. With the win, Stanford earns its best undefeated start to a season since 2021 while starting 4-0 for the first time in the Roz Ellis era.
“It feels really good,” said Susan Ewing York Director of Women’s Field Hockey Roz Ellis. “The girls put a lot of work in during the offseason and we didn’t have to start at ground zero. They’ve been working really hard and have earned each of this wins to start the season.”
Five different Cardinal found the back of the cage on Friday including the first collegiate tally from Jula Proschel. Natalie Hoppe led the way in scoring for Stanford with a goal and an assist while Ella Ganocy, Jenny O’Grady, Kate Nemec and Proschel found twine for the Cardinal. Defensively, Stanford did not allow a single shot from Bellarmine while Anya Jackson and Hannah Cutler earned a combined shutout - the latter of which earned her first collegiate appearance.
In what was a slow-rolling first quarter, Stanford (4-0, 0-0 ACC) nabbed the game-opening goal well into the frame as the Cardinal penalty corner attack unit found its first tally of the season. Off the inject, Stanford’s attack mixed through the Bellarmine defense before Grace Essalih found Hoppe with space near the edge of the circle. The freshman then sent a pass that Hoppe corralled before rifling past the Bellarmine goalkeeper to push Stanford ahead,1-0.
However, neither side was able to punch through in a rather tame second quarter. Bellarmine (0-3, 0-0 MAC) showed glimpses of an attack but the stingy Stanford defense dispelled any chance for the Knights as the Cardinal claimed a 1-0 lead into the halftime break.
The Cardinal jumped out of the gates in the second half, doubling up the Knights with late-frame tallies to push the game well beyond reach. Ella Ganocy snagged her second goal of the season off a flurry in front of the Bellarmine cage that the fifth-year tidied-up to push the lead to two. Just four minutes later, the Cardinal penalty corner unit once again came through as a shot from Hoppe found the “tip-play” in front from O’Grady and ricocheted into the netting to give Stanford a 3-0 lead.
“So much training goes into PCA and it feels really good for that to pay off,” said Ellis. “Each team has thrown different things at us and we have been so versatile in scoring goals which is a huge advantage.”
In the fourth, the Cardinal continued to pester the Knights as Proschel snagged her first collegiate goal off another goalmouth scrum. With under a minute to go, Kate Nemec put the finishing touches on a stellar outing with her second goal of the season on a backhanded shot that rifled past the Bellarmine goalkeeper to give Stanford the eventual 5-0 lead.
The Cardinal then watched the seconds tick off on the 5-0 win, securing the first shutout since the Cardinal dispelled UC Davis 3-0 last season while slotting the most goals in a game since last season’s 6-0 win over Ball State.
“Both of these next two teams are going to pose different challenges,” said Ellis. “But I am excited for us to step up to the challenge and keep rolling with the wins.”
Stanford is back in action for its first road trip of the season as the Cardinal embarks to the East Coast for a pair of bouts. Stanford opens the road schedule on Friday, September 11 with an evening battle against Holy Cross before finishing the road trip on Sunday, September 13 against Northeastern. First strike against the Crusaders is slated for 6 p.m. ET/3 p.m. PT.