STANFORD, Calif. — Star Horlock’s career-high seventh goal of the season embodied a strong second-half performance but an early first-half deficit was too much to overcome as the Stanford field hockey team fell to No. 8 Wake Forest on Sunday, 4-1.
“We played three great quarters of hockey today,” said Susan Ewing York Director of Women’s Field Hockey Roz Ellis. “I liked our ability to bounce back after the first quarter but Wake is a good team and they capitalized on our slow start.”
Stanford (8-5, 1-4 ACC) looked to capitalize on the momentum from Friday’s upset win over No. 3 Duke with early pressure, however, it was the visitors who took the momentum early, finding the game-opening goal off a Stanford turnover just over two minutes into the contest.
With both sides feeling their way into the match, Stanford battled hard to negate the Wake Forest (9-4, 4-1 ACC) pressure, earning two shots in the game and forcing Wake Forest’s goalkeeper into one save. However, the penalty corner attack for the visitors tripled the advantage late in the first quarter as the Deacs went 2-for-3 on attacking penalty corners to take a 3-0 lead into the first-quarter break.
The Cardinal, though, pressed forward in the second, retilting the pitch back to level terms as both sides mustered multiple chances. Though Stanford forced Wake Forest into three saves on four shots, the visitors struck once more on a counterattack to take a 4-0 lead into the halftime break.
Facing the four goal deficit, Stanford took control in the second half, holding the Wake Forest offense to just one shot and one penalty corner while the Cardinal offense sent two bids toward the cage that just went awry.
However, the momentum from the start of the second half catapulted the Cardinal in the fourth quarter with Star Horlock breaking the shutout bid. Horlock, who received a give-and-go after an errant pass out of bounds by the Deacs, knifed through the circle and sent a bouncer that went past the Wake Forest keeper and into the backstop, giving the senior her career-high seventh goal of the season just five minutes into the final frame.
“The bounceback in the second half was amazing,” said Ellis. “Star and the rest of the group battled hard, were aggressive until the end and played our style of hockey which we can take going into this week.”
STAR SHINES ON SUNDAY!✨ #GoStanford x #MYM https://t.co/H55yQsWUUr
— Stanford Field Hockey (@StanfordFH) October 11, 2026
With the comeback bid in its sights, the Cardinal continued to pester Wake Forest for the remainder of the match, playing the final five minutes of the match with an extra field player to try and change the tide. Though it was Sstanford with the lion’s share of chances in the final frame, Wake Forest stood strong defensively as Stanford’s comeback bid stalled in the 4-1 defeat.
Stanford is back in action this week, trekking up to Davis, Calif., to face off against in-state foe UC Davis on Friday, October 16. First strike from the Aggie Field Hockey Facility is slated for 1 p.m. PT.