Field Hockey – The Stanford Daily https://stanforddaily.com Breaking news from the Farm since 1892 Wed, 09 Nov 2022 23:23:34 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.3 https://stanforddaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/cropped-DailyIcon-CardinalRed.png?w=32 Field Hockey – The Stanford Daily https://stanforddaily.com 32 32 204779320 Field hockey’s unlikely run ends in conference championship stroke-off to UAlbany https://stanforddaily.com/2022/11/06/field-hockeys-unlikely-run-ends-in-conference-championship-stroke-off-to-ualbany/ https://stanforddaily.com/2022/11/06/field-hockeys-unlikely-run-ends-in-conference-championship-stroke-off-to-ualbany/#respond Mon, 07 Nov 2022 06:10:38 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1212969 Junior midfielder Caroline Guden scored her second goal of the season for the Cardinal’s only goal in regular time.

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No. 22 Stanford field hockey (10-9, 4-4 American East) reached the championship match of the American East Conference tournament but fell to No. 16 UAlbany (15-4, 6-2 American East) on Sunday afternoon to end its season. The Cardinal led 1-0 at the half until UAlbany evened the score, and eventually won the stroke off 4-1.

Stanford was conference champion in 2019 and 2020, but lost in the first round in 2021, also to UAlbany. This season, they entered the tournament as the No. 5 seed and reached the final with two match wins. 

In Sunday’s championship, junior midfielder Caroline Guden scored her second goal of the season for the Cardinal’s only goal in regular time. Sophomore midfielder/defender Cara Sambeth and freshman defender Scout Butler recorded the assist. Stanford took six other shots over the course of the match, but did not manage to find the back of the net again. On defense, freshmen goalkeepers Daisy Ford and Kendall Dowd tallied two and six saves, respectively. 

After UAlbany’s goal, the match went into two overtime periods. The Cardinal took four shots in overtime, but none succeeded and the match ultimately required a stroke off to crown the conference champions. Sambeth was up first and scored on her attempt, but the Cardinal followed with two misses against three UAlbany goals to lose the match. 

Goals may have been lacking for the Cardinal in the championship stroke off, but not in the tournament as a whole. In the quarterfinal game, the Cardinal’s first of the tournament, the team defeated Vermont (13-5, 5-3 American East) after a game-winning goal from junior attacker Haley Mossmer, who scored her fourth game-winner of the season with just under two minutes remaining in the match. Freshman midfielder Tottie Taylor added to the score with her first-career goal. 

In the semifinal, Mossmer recorded the team’s first hat trick since 2020 as Stanford upset No. 23 Maine (14-5, 8-0 American East). It was the highest scoring game of Mossmer’s career and left her with 11 goals on the season. Additionally, senior attacker Lynn Vanderstichele tallied a career-high two assists, and goalkeepers Ford and Dowd made two and three saves. 

With its second-place finish in the tournament, Stanford finished its season with 30 goals overall of 197 shots, 98 of which were on goal. Further, the Cardinal tallied 82 saves this season, after playing the majority of last season without a goalkeeper. 

Mossmer led the team with 11 goals, followed by Vanderstichele with five. 10 Cardinal players scored this season, including rookies Taylor and Butler. Graduate student midfielder Fenella Scutt posted a team-high six assists. On defense, goalkeepers Ford and Dowd had 41 and 38 saves, respectively. Ford had a save percentage of 0.707 on the season, while Dowd’s was 0.792. 

Next season, the Cardinal will look to make their eighth American East tournament appearance in the past nine years. With eight freshmen, two of whom are skilled goalkeepers, Stanford’s young team will be one to watch in 2023.

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Women’s field hockey enters postseason with a strong lineup https://stanforddaily.com/2022/11/02/womens-field-hockey-enters-postseason-with-a-strong-lineup/ https://stanforddaily.com/2022/11/02/womens-field-hockey-enters-postseason-with-a-strong-lineup/#respond Thu, 03 Nov 2022 06:23:38 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1212594 Ahead of Stanford field hockey's postseason play, a number of Cardinal players were honored as All-America East team selections.

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Although women’s field hockey has wrapped up their regular season, the Cardinal players aren’t done competing just yet. The team will now begin their postseason in the America East Championship. This Tuesday, four players were awarded All-America East honors, all of whom will play vital roles in the team’s postseason success.

Megan Frost

Senior midfielder Megan Frost was chosen to be on the first team after earning a spot on the second team in 2020 and 2021. She has also been named to the All-Academic team for the second year in a row. These selections mark the third consecutive year Frost has earned anAll-America East honor. Hailing from North Carolina, Frost has started in 15 of 16 games this season. Last weekend, she led the team in scoring with three goals against New Hampshire, securing their 3-0 win. 

Cara Sambeth

Hailing from Germany, sophomore midfielder and fullback Cara Sambeth is making a name for herself on the Cardinal squad. She was selected to be on the All-America East second team for the second time in a row. This season, she was one of only three players to start in all games, racking up three assists and one goal. 

Anna Ghuliani

Despite it being her first year at Stanford, fullback Anna Ghuliani has proven that she’s a force to be reckoned with on the field. The freshman is one of only two Cardinal players on the America East All-Rookie team. Ghuliani started in 15 of 16 season games. With her defense, she helped the Cardinals record a five-game shutout streak.

Isabelle Pilson

Graduate student midfielder Isabelle Pilson has earned an All-Academic Team honor for the third consecutive year in the row. This adds to her impressive accomplishments as a two-time America East champion in 2019 and 2020 and four-time National Field Hockey Coaches Association Scholar of Distinction. This season, she scored two goals, leading the team in their win against Bryant. 

The team is set to play their first game of the American East Tournament against Vermont on Thursday. 

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Field hockey edges out No. 17 James Madison in overtime win https://stanforddaily.com/2022/10/21/field-hockey-edges-out-no-17-james-madison-in-overtime-win/ https://stanforddaily.com/2022/10/21/field-hockey-edges-out-no-17-james-madison-in-overtime-win/#respond Fri, 21 Oct 2022 22:29:07 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1210793 Lynn Vanderstichele scored the deciding goal to give Stanford its second ranked victory of the 2022 season.

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Stanford field hockey (6-7, 3-3 American East) surrendered a two-goal lead to No. 17 James Madison (8-6, 0-0 Sun Belt Conference) before surging back to win 3-2 in its final home game of the season in overtime on Thursday afternoon.

Senior attacker Lynn Vanderstichele came through with the deciding goal after three periods of back-and-forth play, giving the Cardinal the win and their second ranked victory of the season thus far.

After a stalemate in the first quarter, Stanford took the lead in the second when junior attacker Haley Mossmer fired in from close range after the ball was fizzed into the shooting circle. Minutes later, the Cardinal doubled their lead from a penalty corner, with senior defender Molly Redgrove converting after a setup by graduate student Fenella Scutt. 

Stanford allowed the Dukes to get back into the game and accrue chances, particularly by way of the penalty corner. But even though the Cardinal conceded three shot attempts in 90 seconds at the end of the first half, none were converted by JMU. 

In the final minute of the third quarter, the Dukes’ plethora of corners — eight throughout the entire game — finally paid dividends, as midfielder Diede Remijnse scored. Then, attacker Eveline Zwager equalised for a resurgent James Madison squad to set up a tense final nine minutes. 

Both teams sought a game winner but could not find the net, and overtime beckoned. 

In just the first minute of overtime, the Cardinal rediscovered their shooting form from the first half to conclude the season at home with a 3-2 win. The ball was stolen in midfield and played swiftly up to Vanderstichele, who was lurking close to the goalkeeper. Her initial shot was saved but when a goal line scramble ensued, Vanderstichele pounced and scored. Her teammates and Stanford fans erupted in celebration. 

The Cardinal finished the game with seven shots to JMU’s 17. The team will look to build on its win as Stanford travels to Virginia to play Richmond (6-9, 2-3 Atlantic 10) on Oct. 23 at 8 a.m. PT.

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Ella and Bella Ganocy shine right where it all started https://stanforddaily.com/2022/09/25/ella-and-bella-ganocy-shine-right-where-it-all-started/ https://stanforddaily.com/2022/09/25/ella-and-bella-ganocy-shine-right-where-it-all-started/#respond Mon, 26 Sep 2022 03:00:00 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1208284 Highly-touted freshmen Ella and Bella Ganocy have arrived on the Farm and look to make their mark on Stanford's field hockey team.

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Five years ago, when freshmen Ella and Bella Ganocy stepped onto Stanford’s field hockey pitch for the first time, they had never played a single field hockey game, let alone participated in a tournament. 

The twins played soccer from the time they were three years old, but had never tried field hockey. However, given the opportunity to play in a tournament at Stanford, the sisters from Calabasas agreed.

“I played soccer my whole life and then I was introduced to field hockey by one of my mom’s friends, and I just went out and tried it for the first time,” said Ella, a midfielder. “I fell in love with field hockey because of the community, how kind and welcoming and positive all the people were towards me even when I was just starting and didn’t know what I was doing at all.”

Ella and Bella Ganocy shine right where it all started
Ella Ganocy during a game between Stanford and North Carolina on September 11, 2022 in Stanford, California. She and her sister played their first field hockey matches on Stanford’s turf five years ago. (Photo: JOHN LOZANO/ISI Photos)

In their first game, Bella scored three goals off of assists from Ella. In the second, Ella contributed three goals off of Bella’s assists. By the end of the tournament, they led the field in both goals and assists.

Years later, Ella and Bella have returned to Stanford, this time as two of eight freshmen on the field hockey team. 

For the Ganocy twins, going to the same college was “a given from the start,” as they said, and they even created a joint email account for recruiting. Despite originally committing to Princeton, they ended up decommitting and choosing Stanford, weighing factors like academics and distance from their home in Los Angeles. Ella says Stanford was “the perfect choice” for both of them.

“That was the first time they ever played field hockey, on Stanford campus. They literally planted little seeds on that pitch,” said their mother, Heeshik Lee-Ganocy, who is an identical twin herself. “I was so happy for them because I think they got a great school and better weather. Stanford is going places. I hope they grow there and I hope they do great things there.”

Bella and Ella say their connection as twins extends beyond daily life to the pitch. Playing sports together their entire lives — first soccer and now field hockey — has generated a deep understanding between the pair. 

“I can’t read her mind, we just think very similarly,” Bella said about her twin. “I know how she plays and what she’s thinking, so whenever I play with her, I feel way more comfortable because I know how she’s going to run, where she’s going to run. It’s very helpful for both of us.” 

Stanford head coach Roz Ellis says that despite being new members of the team, both Bella and Ella bring a strong presence on the field and have a lot to contribute to the program as players and individuals.

“They’re both impactful for our program,” Ellis said. “They bring a lot of fun and excitement and lightheartedness to trainings and I appreciate that.” 

Ella and Bella Ganocy shine right where it all started
Bella Ganocy during a game between Stanford and Michigan State on September 4, 2022. Competing alongside her sister is nothing new to Bella, and she says their connection helps them to work together on the field. (Photo: JOHN LOZANO/ISI Photos)

Being identical twins, Ella and Bella say others often mix them up. “I think every single person has, at one point, asked me whether I’m Ella or Bella,” Bella said. According to Ella, being confused as someone else can get frustrating.

“Everyone thinks that we’re the same person,” said Ella, who is older by one minute. “Like, they’ll come up to me and say, ‘Oh hey Ella-Bella’ or assume that Bella and I are the same person. And we’re not, we’re very different people, so it’s just hard.” 

A secret to telling the identical twins apart is to look at their shoes. On the pitch, Bella wears blue shoes, while Ella’s are white. However, what differentiates them lies deeper than their footwear. 

“I really leaned on the shoe thing for a while but now I can see their personalities are the difference,” Ellis said. She describes Bella as “super lighthearted — at all times, she’s ready to crack a joke, she’s ready to laugh, she’s ready to have fun.” Ella, on the other hand, “can get a bit more serious, not that she’s not lighthearted, she definitely is, but she can stay a little bit quieter than Bella.” 

But, according to Ellis, each of their differences complements the other’s. “I would say individually, they have that separation,” she said. “But when they get together, they just blossom off of each other.”

Similarly, the twins have many goals that they hope to accomplish in their four years together on The Farm, some joint and others individual. But they share an excitement for what is to come and an eagerness to prove themselves both on and off the field.

“I really do think we have a chance at winning a national championship in the next four years,” Bella said. “I can already see aspects of the culture just starting to implement and give results. I want to become the best I can at field hockey.”

“I want to try as many things as I can and meet as many people as possible and just learn everything I can,” Ella said. “I just think it’s amazing that I’m here and I’m so lucky to have the opportunity to be here.”

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Field hockey falls to Monmouth https://stanforddaily.com/2021/10/10/field-hockey-falls-to-monmouth/ https://stanforddaily.com/2021/10/10/field-hockey-falls-to-monmouth/#respond Mon, 11 Oct 2021 05:17:04 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1185986 Stanford field hockey fell to Monmouth 3-1 Sunday morning in New Jersey. The Cardinal took eight shots off the sticks of six players, but could not deliver the goals necessary to keep up with the Hawks.

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Stanford field hockey (3-5, 2-3 American East) fell to Monmouth (7-5, 2-2 American East) 3-1 Sunday morning in New Jersey. The Cardinal took eight shots off the sticks of six players, but could not deliver the goals necessary to keep up with the Hawks. 

Redshirt junior Lily Croddick scored the Cardinal’s single goal while freshman defender Cara Sambeth continued to show her defensive skills with two defensive saves — holding her position at second nationally in total defensive saves. Junior defender Molly Redgrove also tallied a save. 

After Monmouth scored just before the ninth minute, Croddick retaliated with a wrap-around in front of the net to tie the score at 1-1 just 10 minutes later during the second quarter. A penalty stroke goal and another off a corner put the Hawks up 3-1 by the beginning of the third quarter. 

The Cardinal’s three defensive saves, including one by Sambeth in the last two minutes of the game, prevented the Hawks from adding to their lead. Stanford players took four more shots, but, with three wide and one saved, could not add to their score before the 60 minutes of play had elapsed. With the loss, the Cardinal dropped to 3-5 this season and 2-3 in their conference, the American East.   

Field hockey looks to bounce back in more American East play across the Bay against rival Cal. The match is scheduled for Oct. 22 at 5 p.m. PT.

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Despite quick start, field hockey falls to Maine https://stanforddaily.com/2021/09/26/field-hockey-falls-to-maine/ https://stanforddaily.com/2021/09/26/field-hockey-falls-to-maine/#respond Mon, 27 Sep 2021 03:49:37 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1185399 Stanford Field Hockey (2-3, 1-1 American East) fell to Maine (5-5, 2-0 American East) 2-3 on Sunday morning in Orono, Maine. Sophomore attacker Haley Mossmer scored both goals, but the Cardinal defense ultimately could not fend off three successful attacks from the Black Bears.

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Stanford field hockey (2-3, 1-1 American East) fell to Maine (5-5, 2-0 American East) 2-3 on Sunday morning in Orono, Maine. Sophomore attacker Haley Mossmer scored both goals, but the Cardinal defense ultimately could not fend off three successful attacks from the Black Bears. 

Despite taking more shots than its opponent, the Cardinal did not share Maine’s shooting percentage in Sunday’s game. Stanford took six shots on goal with two scores while Maine shot at 100 percent, scoring from each of its three shots on goal. 

Mossmer shot at 0.500 while senior midfielder Isabelle Pilson and junior defender Rose Winter had one shot apiece. Sophomore midfielder Caroline Guden came off the bench for one shot on goal in the third quarter. 

After facing near cancellation of its program as one of the 11 sports slated to be cut this past year, the Cardinal has entered a new era under head coach Roz Ellis. Ellis served as the assistant coach at Iowa since 2018 and led the team to 3 NCAA appearances including a trip to the national semifinals in the 2018 season. She faces an interesting challenge with her new team: 11 players on the field with no goalkeeper. 

The lack of a goalkeeper proved overly detrimental to Stanford against the Black Bears as the Cardinal defense faced three shots to allow three goals.

The Cardinal have used their unconventional formation to hone their defensive skills this season, but Maine managed to make a number of critical scoring opportunities. Though Stanford ranks second nationally in defensive saves per game, none of the Cardinal players were able to shut down Maine’s attacks.

In her fourth consecutive game with points on the board, Mossmer initiated the Stanford offense with a score in the last minute of the first quarter – putting the Cardinal up 1-0. She took another shot just four minutes into the second quarter, but it was saved by Maine goalkeeper Mia Borley. 

Pilson took the next shot in the second quarter, then attempted to add to the lead in two consecutive penalty corners. The Cardinal could not find the net before Maine scored in the last minute of the quarter, tying the score at 1-1. 

The third quarter belonged to the Black Bears. While Mossmer and Guden each took a shot on goal, Maine scored twice in the last five minutes of the quarter – the second being off of a penalty corner. 

The Cardinal entered the fourth quarter down 1-3. Ultimately, a wide shot by Winter and a 58th minute goal by Mossmer could not bridge the divide. Stanford fell to Maine 2-3 in its second American East contest of the season. 

Field hockey looks to bounce back on Friday at home hosting UC Davis at 6 p.m. PT.

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Stories from Save Stanford Field Hockey https://stanforddaily.com/2021/05/16/stories-from-save-stanford-field-hockey/ https://stanforddaily.com/2021/05/16/stories-from-save-stanford-field-hockey/#respond Mon, 17 May 2021 05:41:43 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1182363 Stanford’s decision to discontinue the program and the initial response have been well-documented, but now, nearly a year after the announcement, past and present members of the team continue to push for the reinstatement of their sport on and off the field.

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Field hockey’s loss to top-ranked UNC in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament is supposed to be the last game for the program at the varsity level — the last for a 118-year-old program that has been on The Farm nearly as long as the term “The Farm” itself has been in use.

Stanford’s decision to discontinue the program and the initial response to that decision have been well-documented. Now, nearly a year after the announcement, past and present members of the team continue to push for the reinstatement of their sport on and off the field. 

This year’s team, for example, crossed out “Stanford” on their uniforms with black tape throughout the season and playoff run in protest of Stanford. 

Stories from Save Stanford Field Hockey
The 2021 Stanford field hockey team. (Photo: KAREN HICKEY/isiphotos.com)

Off the field, previous generations of the program have formed Save Stanford Field Hockey, an organization made up of alums and supporters of the sport. After the initial outrage over the decision, members of the group began channeling their anger into action right from the beginning.

Elise Ogle ’14 MA ’15 and Linda de los Reyes ’84, who knew each other from post-collegiate club field hockey, quickly got in contact and helped form the foundation of the organization with other alums of the program. They worked to disseminate information to the more than 400 field hockey alums, while continuing to reach out and expand their pool of connections.

One such alum, Kathy Levinson ’77, was working with the university last year to create an endowment to honor the memory of a former teammate. She continued to reach out to potential donors right up until she found out on July 8 the sport would be discontinued, the same day as everyone else. She — like so many others — was taken aback by the abruptness of the announcement. 

“I’ve been a longtime significant donor to Stanford field hockey and wasn’t given any advanced notice, or any indication that this was in the works,” she said. “Why would you allow me to continue to reach out to potential donors to create this endowment if you [the university] were going to cut the sport?”

Soon after, Levinson reached out to Nathalie Weiss ’16 and Alexander Massialas ’16, who are former members of the men’s rowing and men’s fencing teams, respectively. The trio created the “Stanford Athletic Response Team.” She, along with friend and women’s basketball alum Jennifer Azzi ’90, also realized the importance in expanding to include the other existing 25 sports, which led to 36 Sports Strong, a collection of alums and supporters of all 36 Stanford varsity sports.

“Kathy was one of the creators of the 36 Sports Strong group,” Ogle said. “And has really spearheaded a lot of their efforts to unite all of the teams.”

Ogle called her and her work for both 36 Sports Strong and Save Stanford Field Hockey, “just incredible.”

“I think one of the most wonderful things that has come out of this terrible decision is that … we’ve reconnected with all our alums in a way that we hadn’t been many years,” Levinson said. 

“It’s really wonderful to see this multi-generational, multi-race, multi-sport group come together on behalf of an institution that we all love,” she continued. “We want to help right that wrong and help Stanford regain its moral compass … because we have such an affinity for our school. If we didn’t care about the school, I don’t think this ever would have happened.”

When asked about the ongoing response to the university decision, Stanford Athletics spokesperson Brian Risso wrote that Athletics has been “supportive” of the current team’s decision to cross out Stanford on their uniforms. He also pointed back to the rationale laid out in the initial announcement last summer, which named “financial sustainability and competitive excellence” as driving forces.

Regarding the former, 36 Sports Strong has presented the University’s Board of Trustees with a proposal to self-fund not just the 11 discontinued sports, but also all non-revenue generating ones.

Of the latter, “the culture of Stanford is really much more broad based, attracting elite athletes from all walks of life,” Levinson said. “It’s evidenced by the number of Olympians that we’ve created. Just go into the, you know, the Hall of Champions.”

This year alone, wrestling’s Shane Griffith and synchronized swimming each won national championships. Field hockey won the America East conference for a fourth time in the past five years.

On Wednesday, members from eight of the 11 sports — including an individual on the field hockey team — filed lawsuits challenging the University’s decision to cut the programs.

Ogle acknowledged that reinstatement would not necessarily solve broader issues within field hockey, but said that cutting the sport would be even more detrimental.

“There’s definitely areas of improvement for diversity and accessibility for field hockey as a sport,” she said. “But there’s so much more to that. And a lot of it takes time; it goes way beyond money. It takes dedicated people who understand the importance and want to build it. And those people are coming from Stanford.”

“It’s why I work three coaching jobs outside of my full-time job,” Ogle said. “It’s because I love it and I feel like I am really driven to give that opportunity to others so that there can be more people like me.”

Without Stanford field hockey leading the way, de los Reyes does not know what will happen to the sport throughout the West Coast. On a more personal level, it was her daughter’s dream to play for the Cardinal.

The impact will also ripple beyond the confines of the field.

“It’s another sport for girls that you, just take it away and it’s just sad,” she said. “It’s a big hole in developing girls, and we’ve talked about many times how playing sports helps develop leaders and teammates and camaraderie.”

If Stanford were to reinstate the sport, Ogle, Levinson, de los Reyes and others are the ones who will continue to help expand and grow the sport that, in many ways, defined their experiences at Stanford and beyond.

Until then, alums and supporters have formed “a little army to fight the decision,” as Ogle put it.

“It’s been a roller coaster,” Ogle continued. “On top of a lot of other things happening this year, you kind of question ‘Am I making the right decision in fighting for this?’ and it takes a lot of reflection for me, reflecting on my own story, or reflecting on stories of my teammates, gives me that level of understanding.”

Stories from Save Stanford Field Hockey Stories from Save Stanford Field Hockey Stories from Save Stanford Field Hockey

“I wouldn’t be where I am today”

Elise Ogle headshot
Elise Ogle (Photo courtesy of Elise Ogle and Save Stanford Field Hockey)

Trigger Warning: This section of the story contains mentions of suicide that may be troubling to some readers.

When Elise Ogle ’14 M.A. ’15 was younger, her father — a high school teacher and football and wrestling coach — would take her and her brother to summer practices for the teams. There she was first introduced to the sport of field hockey. Though she had no prior experience, the school’s coaches began inviting her to practice, and soon she was a member of their club team. 

Ogle, who is biracial and was adopted at a young age, at times struggled to find her identity within field hockey, but her coaches cared deeply about accessibility and took time to ensure that she felt a part of the team on and off the field. 

“I never saw myself really reflected in the players of my sport, and field hockey is predominantly white,” she said. “There’s a lot of issues with field hockey and access to it, but I was given an opportunity through my high school coaches, who really went out of their way to welcome people into the sport… And that opportunity has changed my life.”

Her high school coaches took extra time to work with her and provided equipment and encouragement. During this time, Ogle set her sights on Stanford and began meeting with university’s coaches and attending summer tournaments and camps. Academically, she ensured her course load was rigorous and met the lofty standards for acceptance to the university, with help from her father and coaches. 

Then, as Ogle put it, “the rest is history.” 

She was accepted into Stanford and was a Cardinal from 2010 – 2015. Over the course of the four years — she redshirted the 2011 season — Ogle played in 64 games, scoring five goals and collecting 17 assists. She also began working in the Virtual Human Interaction Lab within the Department of Communication and took classes in a variety of subjects.

Elise running and looking across the field during a game
Elise running and looking across the field during a game (Photo courtesy of Elise Ogle and Save Stanford Field Hockey)

“But when I look back on my personal journey, I feel kind of sad about it,” Ogle said. “I felt like it was really hard as a student to really connect with people on a deeper level. And I felt like the status quo was just to pretend everything was okay.”

During Ogle’s sophomore year, her close friend and roommate died by suicide. She said she felt “broken” following the passing, but field hockey was there for her.

“Piece by piece, the support from my Stanford hockey family put me back together,” she wrote in a statement. “Over time, I started finding joy again. They sparked a light within me that had been missing for a long time.”

Reflecting back, it was these moments and gestures from her teammates and coaches that helped her find herself when she was at her lowest.

“I needed to remember that myself, my health, my happiness was more important than anything, was more important than grief, performance, all these things that, leading up to getting to Stanford, are the most important things that you can have, that can get you in,” she said. “I needed to kind of let go of those things and really get back to focusing on what really mattered.”

“They told me that the only thing that mattered was my health and my happiness,” she said of her teammates and coaches. “And that was something that no one had ever told me before.”

Ogle is currently working to expand the accessibility to and the treatment of young adult and adolescent mental health through digital therapeutics with a small startup company, Limbix. She coaches youth field hockey on the side. 

“I’m writing content to help motivate teens, to be, to feel like their best and healthiest selves,” she said. “And I learned the importance of that, through my experience at Stanford, through specifically being a part of a team.”

“I wouldn’t be where I am today without this program,” she said.

“Fighting tooth and nails for everything”

Kathy Levinson headshot
Kathy Levinson (Photo courtesy of Elise Ogle and Save Stanford Field Hockey)

Kathy Levinson ’77, Stanford’s only three-sport varsity athlete, has likely donned a Cardinal uniform more often than any other athlete in school history. She was on the field hockey, basketball and tennis teams during her four years at Stanford, and would have played more sports if she could have. 

“Now it’d be harder I think to play three sports because of their off seasons and training, but I just really looked forward to going from one season to the next,” she said. “I would have played more sports if they were spread out more. I could have played more, but three is the most you could have done. So that’s what I did.”

Despite her love for basketball and tennis, the sport of field hockey was a unique experience for her.

“I really liked the camaraderie on the field hockey field,” Levinson said. “There’s a way in which you’re far apart from people on the field and yet, you can’t really be a solo contributor.”

She didn’t begin playing the sport until she was 14, however, when she moved to the East Coast from the Midwest. From there, Levinson worked her way into Stanford, where she described her athletic experience as her “saving grace,” despite playing in the early days of Title IX and without any scholarship opportunity.

At the time, Levinson said, field hockey was very much defined by the team around her, as the university did not prioritize the sport.

“We had a coach that had never played field hockey, didn’t really like field hockey and certainly had never coached field hockey,” Levinson said. “So we had to come together to benefit ourselves because clearly the university wasn’t really paying much attention to it or wasn’t that interested in it.”

“We really had to push hard for everything. For uniforms, for balls, the field that we played on was outside of Roble [Hall] had tall grass and was not well-kept. And so we found ourselves fighting tooth and nail for everything,” she continued.

Likening her experiences to what this year’s field hockey team endured, Levinson’s team excelled, making it to the national tournament each of her final two years at Stanford — the first two years there was a national tournament for women.

A field hockey team picture from the 1974-75 yearbook
A field hockey team picture from the 1974-75 yearbook (Photo courtesy of Elise Ogle and Save Stanford Field Hockey)

“We had to work together for everything that we got because nothing was given to us,” Levinson said. “We really had to stand together, speak together, protest together, demand together to get what we considered equal treatment. And so I think there was something about being in the foxhole together, which brought us even closer together, not only as teammates but as human beings.”

“An injection of love of the sport”

Linda de los Reyes headshot
Linda de los Reyes (Photo courtesy of Elise Ogle and Save Stanford Field Hockey)

Over time, field hockey has become a part of the identity of Linda de los Reyes ’84. 

It didn’t begin that way. Originally drawn to softball in high school because her friends were on the team, she quickly realized that the sport wasn’t for her. It was walking back from the softball tryouts, however, where she first saw field hockey being played.

“It looked interesting — kids were running around with sticks,” she said. “So that was my first introduction. And from the moment I picked up the stick, it was just, I didn’t want to put it down.”

The sport helped her find a place at Stanford once she arrived, as there were 10 other freshmen in her recruiting class. It was these people and teammates who make up many of the people she’s still friends with today.

De los Reyes portrait photo from her time on the field hockey team in 1982
Photo courtesy of Linda de los Reyes and Save Stanford Field Hockey

“When you wake up, you go to school, and then you go to field hockey practice,” de los Reyes said. “So yeah, it was hard to really separate that from your identity. And it was great.”

The experience not only left an impact on her, but, more recently, also her daughters. She coaches in Northern California at the middle school, high school and club levels and introduced her two daughters to the sport from a young age.

De los Reyes coaching one of her field hockey teams
De los Reyes coaching one of her field hockey teams (Photo courtesy of Elise Ogle and Save Stanford Field Hockey)

She described Stanford as a beacon for field hockey in Northern California.

Some of the biggest tournaments in the area at the club level every year are the ones hosted by the university, attracting numerous youth club teams in the surrounding area.

“It’s kind of one of the big ones that everybody kind of works toward and practices and trains for and they put their best teams out there,” de los Reyes said. “It’s just this level of competition and camaraderie the same time when you bring all the clubs together like that. Stanford has provided that.”

Field hockey head coach Tara Danielson and assistant coaches Patrick Cota and Steve Danielson also host summer day camps, which both of de los Reyes’ daughters attended.

“The Stanford coaches are fabulous,” she said. “They have so much to share. And they do it in such a way that makes it fun and motivating for the kids.”

And beyond the play on the field itself, de los Reyes instructs her players to go watch Stanford field hockey in action since their home games are so close.

“[The games] are so thrilling and exhilarating and motivating,” she said. “My own daughters come back from one of those games going, ‘I want to go out and play.’ So we come home, they grab their sticks, and they just start hitting around the ball again. That’s so fun to see, it’s like an injection of love of the sport again.”

Contact Jeremy Rubin at jrubin@stanforddaily.com

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Field hockey falls 2-0 to top-ranked UNC https://stanforddaily.com/2021/05/03/field-hockey-falls-2-0/ https://stanforddaily.com/2021/05/03/field-hockey-falls-2-0/#respond Tue, 04 May 2021 05:01:26 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1181977 Facing off against No. 1 University of North Carolina (17-1), No. 13 Stanford (11-3) was unable to advance past the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the second straight tournament, falling 2-0 in Chapel Hill.

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Barring a reversal of a July 2020 decision from Stanford University, field hockey’s season — and program — reached its presumable end on Sunday.

Facing off against No. 1 University of North Carolina (17-1), No. 13 Stanford (11-3) was unable to advance past the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament for the second year in a row, falling 2-0 in Chapel Hill.

The Cardinal’s defense held up for the entirety of the 60 minutes on the field against the Tar Heels’ stout offensive attack. Junior goalkeeper Hannah Santos finished with six saves — a career-high — as the entire team weathered 16 shots throughout the four periods.

Scores in minutes 23 and 57 proved to be all that North Carolina would need, as Stanford was unable to find the back of the goal all morning. Senior attacker Corinne Zanolli — who finished with a hat trick in the first round of the tournament — had two shots on goal, but both were stopped. Senior midfielder Kaylie Mings and junior defender Juli Porto were the only other Stanford players who took shots, as the team attempted just six total.

Before Sunday’s loss, field hockey won its second-straight America East Championship. Zanolli was named the Most Outstanding Player of the tournament, while sophomore midfielder Megan Frost, redshirt junior defender Sarah Johnson and junior midfielder Fenella Scutt each were named to the All-Tournament Team.

Against the Tar Heels, the team continued its season-long protest of the discontinuation of the program by playing in uniforms with “Stanford” crossed out in black tape. Despite the season’s conclusion, Save Stanford Field Hockey tweeted out “We keep fighting” following the game.

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Survive and advance https://stanforddaily.com/2021/04/30/survive-and-advance/ https://stanforddaily.com/2021/04/30/survive-and-advance/#respond Sat, 01 May 2021 04:03:27 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1181843 Set up by a penalty corner in the third minute of overtime, Zanolli fired a shot into the back of the net to give field hockey (11-2, 6-2 America East) a 5-4 win over No. 16 Miami (Ohio) (13-2, 10-0 MAC) in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

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With the season and program on the line, senior attacker Corinne Zanolli once again came through when her team needed her most. Set up by a penalty corner in the third minute of overtime, Zanolli fired a shot into the back of the net to give field hockey (11-2, 6-2 America East) a 5-4 win over No. 16 Miami (Ohio) (13-2, 10-0 MAC) in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

The score, which was assisted by senior midfielder Frances Carstens and sophomore midfielder Megan Frost, ensures a rematch against No. 1 North Carolina (16-1, 9-1 ACC) on Sunday. The two teams faced off in 2019, when the Tar Heels got the best of the Cardinal in a 4-0 shutout.

Although the RedHawks scored first less than a minute into the game, Stanford scored three straight unanswered to enter halftime with a 3-1 lead. Zanolli had each of the first two, and junior defender Juli Porto found the back of the net for the third. Porto added another midway into the second half to make it a 4-2 game. Her pair of scores and Zanolli’s three accounted for the entirety of the team’s scoring and a combined 11 shots.

Miami (Ohio) chipped away following Porto’s second goal to tie the contest with just over a minute and a half left in regular time. The RedHawks outshot the Cardinal 9-1 in the fourth quarter and 18-15 on the game and also held a significant 12-7 penalty corner advantage.

Much like the team’s America East Championship win, however, Stanford once again found a way in overtime. The team has now won four straight games, three of which have gone to overtime.

The Tar Heels are on a 15-game winning streak of their own and, much like Stanford, each of their previous four contests were decided in overtime. The entire tournament is taking place on North Carolina’s field in Chapel Hill, where the team is undefeated on the season.

The rematch will commence on Sunday at 9 a.m. PT.

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Field hockey wins America East Championship https://stanforddaily.com/2021/04/24/field-hockey-wins-america-east-championship/ https://stanforddaily.com/2021/04/24/field-hockey-wins-america-east-championship/#respond Sun, 25 Apr 2021 03:08:19 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1181550 Redshirt junior defender Sarah Johnson scored the game-winning goal in double overtime to clinch the America East Championship final for field hockey on Saturday.

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Redshirt junior defender Sarah Johnson scored the game-winning goal in double overtime to clinch the America East Championship final for field hockey on Saturday. The 3-2 victory over No. 20 Monmouth (10-3, 7-1 America East) also secured an automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament for No. 19 Stanford (10-2, 6-2 AE).

The goal, which was Johnson’s lone shot attempt of the entire game, felt reminiscent of the 2019 conference finals matchup between the two teams, where she also put the Cardinal on top in a 2-1 win. Stanford has now won four of the last five conference championships and both of the past two.

“This entire season has been for us,”  said senior attacker Corinne Zanolli in a postgame interview. “That’s what we cheer at the beginning of the game, and we’ve all bought into what we need to do to have us be successful and playing for each other.” 

Zanolli, who sent the pass to Johnson for the decisive shot, scored each of the first two goals for the Cardinal. Both scores came within the first ten minutes of the game and provided an early 2-1 lead for Stanford. 

That one-goal margin held up for the next 45 minutes of game time before a late goal from Monmouth’s Colleen Craven tied the contest at two to send the game to overtime. Stanford was outshot during regulation time 9-8, but junior goalkeeper Hannah Santos held the Hawks to just the pair of scores to keep the team in the game.

Once in overtime, the Cardinal offense took control. Over the two overtime periods, Stanford generated seven shots compared to Monmouth’s one and had three penalty corners, the last of which led to the eventual game-winner.

When the team received the championship banner and customary school logo, the team crossed out the Stanford “S” with black tape. Field hockey has been playing with “Stanford” crossed out on its jerseys for much of the regular season in continued protest of the university’s decision to cut the varsity program following this season.

The Cardinal reached the championship following Zanolli’s late-game heroics against Maine in the semifinals on Thursday. She was named the Most Outstanding Player of the tournament, while sophomore midfielder Megan Frost, Johnson and junior midfielder Fenella Scutt each were named to the All-Tournament Team. 

Stanford will face off against Miami University (Ohio) in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The game will take place at 9 a.m. PT on April 30.

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Penalty stroke sends field hockey to conference championship https://stanforddaily.com/2021/04/22/field-hockey-to-conference-championship/ https://stanforddaily.com/2021/04/22/field-hockey-to-conference-championship/#respond Fri, 23 Apr 2021 03:25:19 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1181503 With the fate of the game on the line, there has been no one No. 19 Stanford (9-2, 6-2 America East) would rather turn to than Corinne Zanolli.

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Time and time again, with the fate of the game on the line, there has been no one that No. 19 Stanford (9-2, 6-2 America East) would rather turn to than Corinne Zanolli. 

The senior attacker had 14 goals in the regular season — including two game-winners — and was recently named the America East Offensive Player of the Year for the third-straight season. Her 89 goals over the course of her 75-game Cardinal career are the most in program history.

It was only fitting, therefore, that Zanolli was awarded a penalty stroke with the score knotted at one in the 58th minute against Maine (7-4, 7-1 AE) in the America East semifinals. And once again she came through for the Cardinal, slotting the shot into the upper left corner of the goal and sending the team to the America East Championship game.

The shot not only prolonged the current season but the program as a whole, as the team is set to be discontinued by Stanford after this academic year. In response, the team has continued to wear uniforms with “Stanford” crossed out by black tape.

Zanolli also played a hand in the Cardinal’s first goal, feeding the ball to redshirt junior defender Sarah Johnson who found the back of the net for the third time this season.

Stanford outplayed the Black Bears in nearly every offensive category, tripling their shots on goal (15 to five) and the number of corners taken (six to two). However, Maine goalkeeper Mia Borley allowed just two shots to reach the back of the net, compared to six saves. 

Cardinal junior goalkeeper Hannah Santos finished with two saves in less opportunities, as the team was consistently able to pressure Maine downfield.

Stanford is now set to face No. 20 Monmouth on Saturday with an America East Championship and automatic NCAA Tournament berth on the line. The game will take place at 9 a.m. PT in West Long Branch, N.J.

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Field hockey finishes strong on the Farm https://stanforddaily.com/2021/04/11/field-hockey-finishes-strong-on-the-farm/ https://stanforddaily.com/2021/04/11/field-hockey-finishes-strong-on-the-farm/#respond Mon, 12 Apr 2021 05:25:34 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1181008 In what is Stanford’s final home game at the varsity level, No. 18 field hockey (7-0, 5-0 America East) continued its run of dominance in 2021. The Cardinal, behind two goals from senior attacker Corinne Zanolli, downed Cal (2-6, 1-4 America East) 3-0.

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In what was Stanford’s final home game at the varsity level, No. 18 field hockey (7-0, 5-0 America East) continued its run of dominance in 2021. The Cardinal, behind two goals from senior attacker Corinne Zanolli, downed Cal (2-6, 1-4 America East) 3-0.

In a continued protest of the university’s decision to discontinue the sport following this academic year, the team played in uniforms with “Stanford” crossed out by black tape. Many spectators wore 36 Sports Strong shirts in solidarity with the athletes on the field.

Opponents have shown support, as well. UC Davis, Stanford’s opponent on April 9, wore “Save Stanford Field Hockey” shirts during lineup announcements. According to Save Stanford Field Hockey, the Aggies’ head coach reached out to organizers looking to purchase the shirts for the team.

Field hockey finishes strong on the Farm
(Photo courtesy of Save Stanford Field Hockey)

On Sunday, Zanolli got the scoring started at the 12:30 mark in the first period on an assist from senior midfielder Kaylie Mings. Just under 10 minutes into the next frame she followed it up with another score — her 11th of the season. 

Senior midfielder Frances Carstens’ score with just over five minutes remaining in the fourth all but sealed the game in Stanford’s favor.

The Cardinal finished with its fourth shutout in seven games this season. Junior goalkeeper Hannah Santos was flawless in her five attempts as the last line of the defense. Stanford outshot the Golden Bears 16-11 overall and 10-5 on goal as it maintained its status as the sole remaining undefeated team in the America East conference. 

With just under one week left in its regular season, Stanford will travel to the East Coast for three games, the first of which is set for Thursday at 11 a.m. PT against Maine (5-3, 5-1 America East).

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Five different Cardinal score against Cal to keep field hockey undefeated https://stanforddaily.com/2021/04/06/five-different-cardinal-score-against-cal/ https://stanforddaily.com/2021/04/06/five-different-cardinal-score-against-cal/#respond Wed, 07 Apr 2021 05:02:50 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1180796 Stanford field hockey bested Cal in a 5-1 rout in Berkeley on Tuesday.

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Stanford field hockey (5-0, 3-0 America East) bested Cal (2-5, 1-3 America East) in a 5-1 rout in Berkeley on Tuesday. 

The game marked the first career shots and goals for sophomore defender Keely Akagi and freshman midfielder Caroline Guden. The two players combined for two shots over the game’s 60 minutes, the same number taken by the entire Golden Bears squad. 

The Bears scored their only goal in the 44th minute, when Cal’s Kiki Bruijne took a back handed shot that bounced awkwardly off the pads of junior goalkeeper Hannah Santos. The ball floated over Santos’ head and into the net. The goal brought the score to 3-1 in favor of the Cardinal before redshirt sophomore attacker Lily Croddick scored less than a minute later off a penalty corner as the third quarter expired. 

Croddick’s third goal of the season put the Cardinal ahead 4-1, and the final goal from Akagi iced the game in the 53rd minute.

The Cardinal’s first two goals were scored by senior attacker Corinne Zanolli and senior midfielder Frances Carstens, their fifth and fourth goals of the season respectively. The two will look to continue to lead Stanford’s offense against UC Davis (1-6, 0-4 America East) on Friday.

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Field hockey remains undefeated after besting UC Davis https://stanforddaily.com/2021/03/30/field-hockey-remains-undefeated/ https://stanforddaily.com/2021/03/30/field-hockey-remains-undefeated/#respond Tue, 30 Mar 2021 07:03:49 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1180398 Midfielder Frances Carstens was one of three players on Stanford's team (4-0, 3-0 America East) to score in the Cardinal's 3-0 victory over UC Davis (1-5, 0-3 America East) at the Farm.

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Most seniors, who finally moved onto campus last weekend for their last quarter at Stanford, probably spent Monday evening winding down from the first day of spring quarter. Not Stanford field hockey’s Frances Carstens or Corinne Zanolli. 

The midfielder Carstens was one of three players on Stanford’s team (4-0, 3-0 America East) to score in the Cardinal’s 3-0 victory over UC Davis (1-5, 0-3 America East) on the Farm. Even though Zanolli couldn’t find the back of the goal, the Cardinal attacker was the team’s most prolific shooter by far, taking 18 of Stanford’s 26 shots. 

Carstens was not the first to score for Stanford on Monday. That honor would go to redshirt sophomore attacker Lily Croddick, who put the Cardinal on the board in an otherwise quiet second quarter.  

After halftime, the Aggies found themselves parked in front of their goal. At one point in the third quarter, UC Davis conceded five straight corner penalties in a single minute of gameplay and a total of 14 over the course of the match. Carstens capitalized on one of the third-quarter penalties to put the Cardinal ahead 2-0. Redshirt junior defender Sarah Johnson chimed in with a score at the start of the fourth quarter — her first of the season.

Junior goalkeeper Hannah Santos saved all four of the Aggies’ shots on goal in the victory and will look to hold Cal (1-4, 0-3 America East) to a similar result when the Golden Bears square off against the Cardinal at Berkeley on April 6.

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Field hockey finds its form https://stanforddaily.com/2021/03/21/field-hockey-finds-its-form/ https://stanforddaily.com/2021/03/21/field-hockey-finds-its-form/#respond Mon, 22 Mar 2021 03:44:01 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1180088 Led by senior attacker Corinne Zanolli, Stanford field hockey (2-0, 2-0 America East) secured back-to-back wins to open the season in West Long Branch, NJ.

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Led by senior attacker Corinne Zanolli, Stanford field hockey (2-0, 2-0 America East) secured back-to-back wins to open the season in West Long Branch, NJ.

The Cardinal dove straight into conference play, with its first game since Nov. 2019 coming against Vermont. The team’s balanced offense and stout defense proved to be the difference as Stanford coasted to a 3-0 victory. Zanolli opened the scoring at the 5:21 mark, and classmate senior midfielder Frances Carstens doubled the lead with a goal of her own. Zanolli’s second score of the day was the last time either team found the cage. 

Zanolli’s five shots matched the total number of team shots attempted by the Catamounts. Cardinal junior goalkeeper Hannah Santos was flawless in the matchup and finished with one save.

Santos saved another three shots on Sunday, as the team took on Monmouth (3-2, 1-1 America East) at 7 a.m. PT. However, an early score by Maggie Downs put the Cardinal in a 1-0 deficit. It wasn’t until nearly 45 minutes into the game that junior defender Juli Porto was able to even the score, but redshirt sophomore attacker Lily Croddick followed it up with a score of her own just two minutes later. 

Monmouth rebounded to make it a 2-2 game, but from there the two teams went scoreless until 59:24, where Zanolli finished the job for the Cardinal to put the team up 3-2. The game-winner was her 77th goal in 66 career games.

Stanford outshot both teams by a collective 28-13 margin.

The Cardinal will remain on the east coast for a matchup with New Hampshire on Wednesday in Durham. Game time is 11 a.m. PT.

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The Lost Season https://stanforddaily.com/2020/09/17/the-lost-season/ https://stanforddaily.com/2020/09/17/the-lost-season/#respond Thu, 17 Sep 2020 10:23:48 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1172487 Click on the athletes to show their stories below!

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The Lost Season

Along with the rest of the sporting world, Stanford’s athletes saw their seasons and schedules upended by COVID-19 — halfway through a trying summer, some even saw their sports demoted from varsity status. Whether it was training at home, making a professional debut in an empty stadium or speaking up for player safety, the pandemic was a unique experience for the Stanford Cardinal.

The Lost Season The Lost Season The Lost Season The Lost Season The Lost Season

The All-American

Corinne Zanolli embraces a teammate. Image courtesy of ISIPhotos

Senior attacker Corinne Zanolli is one of collegiate field hockey’s most dominant players. A two-time All-American, she accounted for 33 of the Cardinal’s 57 goals last season as the nation’s top scorer. In early 2020, she was named to the USA National Team.

Zanolli’s success helped Stanford to a historic field hockey season in 2019. The team finished with a 16-7 record, their best since 2014, and picked up just the second playoff victory in Cardinal history with a 3-1 win over Miami-Ohio in the NCAA tournament. Going into 2020, Zanolli had a feeling that it was going to be a special year.

“I think we were all really, really looking forward to building on how awesome last season was and moving forward and taking it another step further this year,” she said.

Following her spectacular season, Zanolli had also planned to take a leave of absence from the University in the spring quarter of her junior year to train and play with the USA National Team.

But nothing has gone to plan due to COVID-19. The national team’s season was cancelled and, following the University’s announcement in March that it would send nearly all undergraduates off campus, Zanolli returned home and quarantined with friends to finish out the school year online. She continued to train in isolation and participated in a virtual internship this summer.

Like so many others, although her original plans did not happen, she adjusted, making the most of her time in quarantine. Her younger brother is a cadet at the United States Air Force Academy with a typically demanding schedule, so the time with her entire family was a welcome opportunity.

“We didn’t think we would get to see him for this long of a period of time,” the Pennsylvania native said. “He’s actually back at Air Force now, but it was really nice to get to spend time with him and my parents.”

Now, entering her senior year amidst the ongoing pandemic, the fate of her final collegiate season remains unknown. Stanford is a part of the America East Conference, which recently announced it will postpone all competition until the 2021 calendar year. Soon after, the NCAA announced the same.

To continue to train this fall, Zanolli said she is looking to practice with a club team in England. England’s lockdown is less restrictive than that in the United States once visitors pass an initial quarantine upon arrival. Across the pond, team training and games are both allowed, neither of which can currently happen with Stanford or the USA National Team.

“With the pandemic and everything going on, best laid plans go awry,” Zanolli said. “So it’s about being adaptable and trying to find a way to play and train and stay connected and stay fit and just make the most of the situation.”

More devastating still for Zanolli is the University’s decision to discontinue field hockey and 10 other varsity sports following the 2020-21 academic year. Alumni are campaigning to save the sport, but for now the upcoming school year could be the program’s last at the varsity level.

“I think obviously, we were all very disappointed and very surprised that Stanford made that kind of a decision,” Zanolli said. “It’s not a decision that I think anybody expected… I don’t think there’s a lot of clarity or closure.”

Beyond the stat sheets and standings, the field hockey program has been “everything” for Zanolli since first arriving on The Farm in 2017.

“I think that what it boils down to is you’re a part of something bigger than yourself,” she said on what it means to be a Cardinal. “We talk about being for the team. And I think that’s a really important part of our team’s culture, and it has been awesome to be a part of the last three years.”

Although so much of her training, senior year and sport at Stanford as a whole remain up in the air, Zanolli continues to find a way forward with field hockey as a guide.

“If I’ve learned anything from being a field hockey student-athlete, it’s that problems that seem impossible aren’t when you work together,” she said. “That’s kind of what we want to do. And that’s kind of how we’ve approached the pandemic… I’m super grateful for my experience at Stanford and hope that others can have the same.”

Contact Jeremy Rubin at jjmrubin ‘at’ stanford.edu.

The Rookie

Derek Waldeck playing for North Texas SC. Image courtesy of Jessica Meyer/North Texas SC

When Derek Waldeck ’20 was selected 66th overall by FC Dallas in the MLS SuperDraft in the middle of January, his most pressing worry was signing a contract. He was drafted on a Monday, and by Friday he was on a plane to Texas, where he had not played since the 2016 College Cup.

“I just had the mindset of ‘Okay, I’m coming out here for — it could be a week, it could be two weeks, could be six weeks, it could be a full year.’ I really had no idea,” Waldeck said in a phone interview. “I just came out with, I guess, a mindset of ‘I have nothing to lose and I’m just going to do the best that I can to prove myself and try to earn myself the contract.’”

At first, Waldeck was pressing to make the FC Dallas first team, which plays in the MLS. But the competition was steep. Waldeck battled his way to a starting position on North Texas SC, the USL League One affiliate of FC Dallas.

With the league’s opener scheduled for March 27, North Texas had completed nearly its entire preseason when the league suspended play due to coronavirus on March 12.

Stuck on the sidelines with the rest of the league, Waldeck found a silver lining amid the pandemic.

On the Farm, Waldeck set the program record for career starts and made both the All-Pac-12 and United Soccer Coaches All-Far West Region first teams in his senior year — all as a midfielder. In the professional ranks, however, Waldeck sees his future as a left back.

“In the wake of that pandemic, it was a great opportunity for me to spend some extra time watching film and getting to learn the position as quickly as possible so I could hit the ground running once play resumed,” Waldeck said.

The former Stanford standout watched both his own tape from the team’s two filmed preseason games and video of left backs around the world.

“For a good two months we were completely quarantined at home, and had no sort of training going on so we would be sent individual workouts to be doing so I could train with my roommate [right back Juan Manuel Alvarez] and that was essentially it,” Waldeck said.

Waldeck finally made his professional debut on July 25, in Arlington’s Globe Life Park, playing all 90 minutes as North Texas beat Forward Madison FC 2-1.

Unlike most games since the restart of sports, 652 fans were present to watch. The USL is allowing limited spectators at games — a 53 page document for league protocols includes fan ingress times, entrances that correspond to seat location, and cool down zones to allow a body temperature above 100.4 ºC to fall back to “normal.”

Still, the atmosphere is different. Waldeck said one of the many challenges of playing during a pandemic has been finding momentum when fans have been explicitly asked to refrain from chanting or singing.

“When you have the crowd behind you at home and there is truly that home field advantage, you just kind of feel like you have the upper hand in any game,” he said. “It definitely takes a bit of the wind out of your sails.”

Waldeck pointed to particular instances when the game would swing in his team’s favor, but with fans unable to make noise to create a hostile environment for the opponent, North Texas would fail to capitalize.

“I’ve definitely missed that aspect of it and I think our team has [too],” Waldeck said. “But at the end of the day we’re the ones that can control what goes on inside the lines of the field.”

Waldeck has done his part between the lines, starting in all seven contests and playing all 630 minutes since his debut. His 356 passes are first, 20 crosses are second, and his 11 interceptions are third on his team.

Despite battling the effects of a pandemic, the beautiful game has not lost its allure.

“I love the sport,” Waldeck said. “Anytime I get to play it’s a blessing and it’s something that I really enjoy getting to do.”

Contact Daniel Martinez-Krams at danielmk ‘at’ stanford.edu.

The Successors

The Stanford Women's Volleyball team celebrates a point. Image courtesy of ISIPhotos

In 2019, Stanford Women’s Volleyball won their ninth national championship but said goodbye to a historic senior class that won three national championships in their four years on the Farm.

This year, sophomores Selina Xu ’23 and Kendall Kipp ’23 know they have to step up. Although they both admit that this year will be a rebuilding year for the team, winning another title is always the goal.

‘One of the biggest team goals we have is to really develop our team identity since we lost so many seniors last year,” Xu said. “And then gelling together as a team and finding a new identity so we can win a national championship.”

They have big shoes to fill, however. As a freshman, Kipp played behind star outside hitter Kathryn Plummer and is now switching positions to opposite hitter where she’ll replace another All-American in Audriana Fitzmorris. Xu, meanwhile, faces the tall task of replacing All-American setter Jenna Gray.

After COVID-19 froze NCAA sports and sent Stanford students home in March, Xu and Kipp had to find a way to continue their offseason training — and gel with their team — from home.

Even 20 minutes away from campus in Belmont, Xu struggled to find adequate training facilities and others to train with.

“After we got sent home, it was difficult to find a place to train because [San Mateo County] is very strict, with gyms being closed and no place to practice,” she said. “Towards the later months of quarantine, I was able to get into Stanford and do voluntary lifts, so those have been really helpful. My mom’s coworker owns a volleyball gym so I’ve been getting some reps in there.

Kipp also couldn’t find a place to play six-on-six volleyball in her hometown of Newport Beach. Her gym had capacity limits, but she was able to start lifting with her trainer when she returned home. In the later months, she found a gym where she could practice volleyball and played there until the team returned to Palo Alto on Aug. 9.

Despite the distance between team members for the past four months, the team used weekly Zoom calls and one-on-one FaceTimes each week to bond and stay connected.

Each week, one teammate “would pick something that they wanted to talk about, whether that was a TED talk or a book or an article, and [they] would share that,” Kipp said.

“I think it’s been a good thing for our team dynamic relationships because you’ve had to make an effort to reach out to other people in order to maintain those relationships,” Xu said. “I definitely think going home…strengthened our relationships with each other.”

Once the team returned to the Bay Area, they continued to face limitations on workouts and practice. Xu said the team has been practicing outdoors on the University’s tennis courts and occasionally its grass rugby fields, while staying at the Sheraton hotel across the street from Stanford’s campus.

During fall quarter, the team will rent a house in San Diego, where they will continue training and practicing together.

Although there is uncertainty surrounding the upcoming season, Kipp said the team is “just trying to go with the flow and not get our hopes up too much but also stay ready for a season if it does happen.”

The Pac-12 announced last month that all fall sports, including volleyball, will be postponed through the end of 2020. The conference did not announce when fall sports seasons will be made up but did say that, if the pandemic improves, it anticipates that Jan. 1 will be the earliest that sports competitions return.

If the team does get to play, both Kipp and Xu think that the current team is ready to fill the roles of the departed players. Xu pointed to the lessons learned from Plummer and others, saying what the current team learned from them has prepared them for their upcoming season. Kipp said the current juniors and seniors, including two-time national champions Holly Campbell and Meghan McClure, have been “great leaders” during the pandemic and have helped the team feel prepared for the 2021 season.

Kipp and Xu said the team’s camaraderie is its most distinctive aspect. During the pandemic, they’re grateful to have the team as a support system.

“The best part about being on a team here at Stanford is the relationships you make and the memories you make with all your teammates,” Xu said. “It’s a one-of-a-kind experience and I feel super lucky to be where I am.”

Contact Sofia Scekic at sscekic ‘at’ stanford.edu.

The Activists

Dylan Boles and Treyjohn Butler. Image courtesy of ISIPhotos

When the Pac-12 cancelled fall football in August, defensive end Dylan Boles ’21 and cornerback Treyjohn Butler ’20 were gutted. There were scores to settle from the Cardinal’s disappointing 2019 campaign. And they missed their teammates after a stressful offseason interrupted by the coronavirus.

But even without a football season, they still have plenty to play for. Over a summer wracked by the pandemic and racial injustice, Boles and Butler have become leaders of a national movement of college football players looking to use their platform and make their voices heard like never before.

It started in July, when most Pac-12 schools brought their football teams back to campus to prepare for a fall season. Through word of mouth, Boles, Butler and players across the conference grew concerned at inconsistencies they saw between different schools’ coronavirus precautions and safety measures. Faced with the prospect of playing teams that he believed weren’t testing as stringently as Stanford, Butler grew concerned for his family and his teammates’ families.

“We quickly realized that nobody was on uniform standards in terms of procedures or policies or any testing manners,” Boles said. “We decided that we needed to do something about that.”

Through phone calls and group chats, their network grew to around 500 players in the Pac-12. They drafted a statement to issue as a united body of student athletes, with demands that included tighter, uniform coronavirus policies across the conference; revenue sharing; name, image and likeness rights; the establishment of a Black College Athlete summit and the use of conference revenue for financial aid for low-income Black students.

After a summer also dominated by police killings and Black Lives Matter protests, Boles and Butler were keen to use the players’ platform to discuss racial justice alongside issues of player safety and compensation.

“Just with everything that transpired early in the year, with the murder of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd and all these horrible events… ” Boles said. “I just felt like, how can I really focus on football, or how can I really just focus on school right now when all of this is going on?”

On Aug 2nd, Boles, Butler and the newly-dubbed WeAreUnited movement published their demands and threatened to boycott the 2020 season if they weren’t met, rocking the college football world. They were joined in subsequent days by similar statements from players in the Mountain West and the Big 10.

By the next weekend, the movement had gone national. Boles joined a Zoom call with Trevor Lawrence, Justin Fields and student athletes from all five Power 5 conferences, and helped draft a statement that claimed to represent college football players nationwide.

The historic nature of the national movement wasn’t lost on Boles.

“The fact that we had come together as a conference and did something like that was unprecedented,” he said. “But then for the fact that other conferences joined on too, that was completely unprecedented as well … each step was making history to some degree.”

The Pac-12 WeAreUnited movement hasn’t stopped after the Pac-12 and Big 10 postponed their football seasons. In the weeks since their postponement, the group met with senator Cory Booker — who recently proposed a bill of rights for college athletes that shares many of Boles’ initial demands — and is continuing to push for negotiations with Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott and the conference. The coalition also issued a new set of demands following the shooting of Jacob Blake.

In the future, Boles and Butler hope to build on the national network of college football players that came together in the summer — they’re still connected on group chats — to establish a formal player’s association and bring in student athletes from other sports.

At the end of the day, Boles added, he is still desperate to play football. Growing up on a farm outside of Des Moines, he was on the gridiron as early as he can remember and spent his evenings watching the heroics of Brett Favre and Patrick Willis. Now, he still doesn’t know when he can suit up again. As national speculation about when a Pac-12 season might occur continues, Boles and the Cardinal can only return home and wait.

“That’s just kind of all up in the air right now,” Boles said of plans for a season. “It’s just kind of a consistent theme for the last couple months. We’ve just got to stay ready, and we gotta do what we can.”

Until then, he takes comfort knowing that the WeAreUnited movement could mark a seismic change for college football, and the voices of student athletes, for years to come.

“We’re continuing to make steps and we’re continuing to stay in contact,” Boles said. “I think this is something that can really grow into something great.”

Contact Daniel Wu at dwu21 ‘at’ stanford.edu.

The Rival

Tanner Beason plays for the San Jose Earthquakes. Image courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

“It’s quiet, is the first thing you notice.”

Tanner Beason ’19 made his professional debut on Aug. 29 in the California Clasico, the rivalry between the San Jose Earthquakes and the LA Galaxy known as one of the fiercest in the MLS.

Some of the rivalry’s most inspired moments have come in Stanford Stadium, mere feet from where Beason cemented his legacy with Stanford men’s soccer in Cagan Stadium. But with only piped-in crowd noise for the pandemic-wrought season, no Galaxy fans were on hand at Dignity Health Sports Park to heckle Beason or his San Jose Earthquakes teammates.

The introduction was proper for a player adopted by California. Beason came over from Winston-Salem, North Carolina in 2015 to join Stanford for the first of three consecutive national championships between 2015-17. Because he redshirted his freshman season, he had spent five years at Stanford before the Earthquakes selected him 12th overall in the 2020 MLS SuperDraft.

“San Jose is definitely a different city and far enough from Palo Alto where it’s not like I knew San Jose well,” Beason said in a phone interview. “But I’m close enough to feel like I’m in a comfortable place.”

Despite their differences, Stanford and San Jose do share a county, and county ordinances, that have been stringent on coronavirus guidelines. Santa Clara was the first county to issue a shutdown order, and while MLS began allowing teams to open their practice facilities for individual training on May 6, San Jose was the last team to get clearance to train in individual ballwork sessions on June 9.

Unable to go to the Earthquakes training facility for about 12 weeks between March and the beginning of June, and fighting to stay physically and mentally motivated, Beason went to local parks to complete the individual workouts the team sent him. On a few occasions, Beason made his way back to Stanford. No longer a student, Beason said the free time during the shutdown allowed him time to read, watch shows and play his new favorite pastime: golf.

“Toward the end, it started to look like there was something in terms of games in sight, so that helps with staying motivated,” Beason said.

On June 10, the league announced the MLS Is Back Tournament to take place in a bubble at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in the Walt Disney World Resort. The Earthquakes had not been cleared locally to train in full group sessions when they became the first team to travel to Florida on June 24, the first day MLS teams were allowed to arrive. But it seemed that the local orders paid off — the Quakes had not had a positive case.

While Beason did not see the field in Florida, the tournament bubble helped him to integrate with his new teammates, who were around him all day at meals, training and downtime. Without the distractions of a college season, which for Beason had included juggling course finals and College Cup finals, the focus on soccer within the bubble was an opportunity to concentrate.

“It was a really unique environment and space,” Beason said. “I don’t know that there will be another one like that where all the teams are in the same hotel facility and it’s almost like a really long camp.”

The Quakes’ run in the tournament ended in the quarterfinals to Minnesota, and the team returned to San Jose not knowing if the regular season would resume. On Aug. 8, the league announced a schedule for the regular season to continue in the team’s home markets. So far, the plan has worked. Beason credits the protocols, which include frequent testing and restructuring facilities to include more outdoor space, as the key to the league’s success, which eventually allowed him to make his debut.

In the California Clasico, Beason started and played 90 minutes at center back, saving a goal with a bodyblock and conceding a penalty kick on a handling call in the box. Despite the quiet, the emotion of the game is unchanged for Beason.





“It’s a different environment with no fans or anything but that doesn’t make the game any less important or intense,” he said. “First game at the pro level — always have nerves going into it.”

Contact Daniel Martinez-Krams at danielmk ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Overtime: Alumnae discuss future of field hockey at Stanford, on West Coast https://stanforddaily.com/2020/08/20/sports-overtime-2/ https://stanforddaily.com/2020/08/20/sports-overtime-2/#respond Fri, 21 Aug 2020 05:06:21 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1171479 For many academically driven athletes, Stanford is a dream school. The University is arguably the best overall program in the NCAA, having won the last 25 Director’s Cups, and also consistently ranks as one of the top universities worldwide.

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“Overtime” is a series documenting the reactions of field hockey alumnae to the University’s announcement on July 8 that Stanford Athletics would discontinue the sport and 10 others after the 2020-2021 academic year. Part one on initial reactions and the petition can be accessed here.

For many academically driven athletes, Stanford is a dream school. The University is arguably the best overall program in the NCAA, having won the last 25 Director’s Cups, and also consistently ranks as one of the top universities worldwide

“I chose Stanford due to its combination of excellent academics and athletics,” said Christina Williams Harding ’03 M.S. ’04, a former midfielder and former Stanford assistant coach. “Stanford clearly distinguishes itself on modeling how to be an ideal scholar-athlete, and that is crystal clear when you come to visit campus — whether on a recruiting visit or otherwise.”

With Stanford field hockey discontinued, however, many high school players will no longer have the opportunity to play for the Cardinal, cutting short or altering the dreams of many young players.

Former defender Kelsey Scherer ’15 now coaches a club field hockey team in St. Louis. One of her teenage players recently verbally committed to Stanford but will now have to rethink her collegiate plans. 

Scherer was tasked with relaying the news of the cancellation to the rising high school junior since recruits were not invited to the Zoom announcement.

“She was just in tears,” Scherer said. “It’s her dream school with her dream program. Now she has to decide, does she give up the sport that she absolutely loves to go to the university that she wants to go to? Or does she start over? It’s heartbreaking.”

Overtime: Alumnae discuss future of field hockey at Stanford, on West Coast
(Photo: RICHARD C. ERSTED/isiphotos.com)

Another affected recruit is the daughter of former player Maree Chung ’87. Despite the cut, the incoming freshman is still planning to attend the University to play for the program’s final season, which has been postponed until spring due to COVID-19.

“It has never occurred to her to go anywhere else, and she was so excited,” Chung said. “Right now I just keep saying to her, ‘We’re going to try to get [the program] back’…I feel like we have a chance.”

Modeling diversity in multiple ways

Among the reasons for the intended cancellation cited in the University FAQs are the limited number of NCAA teams on the West Coast and “impact on the diversity of our student-athlete population.”

Field hockey is largely an East Coast sport at the collegiate level, and Stanford is just one of three Division I programs in the West. But alumnae argue this should be a reason to keep the team, not to cut it.

“When Stanford does anything, they’re a thought leader, they’re an influencer, and it messages to the West Coast community that this is something that’s important,” Bassi said. 

Given the University’s status as a leader, alumnae said that the success of the Cardinal team has fueled the creation of new field hockey programs for younger players throughout the region. Without the prospect of playing for Stanford at the collegiate level, however, movement away from field hockey may also occur at lower levels.  

On the collegiate level as well, the discontinuation of net-negative revenue sports at Stanford may send a message to other collegiate athletic departments that they should also pivot their focus to sports that bring in revenue. 

Overtime: Alumnae discuss future of field hockey at Stanford, on West Coast
Karen Chamberlain and Bonnie Warner (above) in 1983 (Photo: JAMES SPIRAKIS/isiphotos.com)

The National Team typically draws its players from the East Coast as well. Twenty-two of the current 23 USWNT members hail from the East Coast; the only non-East Coast native is Kelsey Bing ’20, the three-time America East Goalkeeper of the Year goalie from Houston.

Similarly, Scherer said that when she played for the National Team in 2015, she was the only athlete who did not grow up on the East Coast. 

Many field hockey athletes who grew up on the West Coast — including Scherer, a San Diego native — said their passion for growing the sport on the West Coast was a factor in their decision to play at Stanford instead of an East Coast college.

Former attacker Kristina Bassi ’17, raised in Mountain View, grew up attending Stanford athletic events, particularly women’s basketball and soccer games. Cardinal student-athletes, like women’s basketball’s Candace Wiggins ’08 and Jayne Appel ’10, were “icons” to her. 

“Knowing that Stanford had a [field hockey] program was like a lighthouse for me,” she said. “I was like, ‘This is where I want to go. I know this is something that can give me more opportunities.’ When it became a reality my junior year of high school…it was a dream come true.”

Bassi still resides in the Bay Area, where she coaches a non-profit field hockey club. 

Aside from regional diversity, alumnae also emphasize the other types of diversity on the team. Stanford Athletics’ vague wording prompted some alumnae to question how exactly the University defines  “diversity.”.

“What is diversity?” Chung asked. “Is diversity only a certain race? When I played, the field hockey team had a lot of diversity with the [LGBTQ+] community as well, but that was [seemingly] not considered. Is there only one classification [of diversity]? To say that these sports didn’t represent diversity for the school was very confusing.”

When asked for further comment, a Stanford Athletics spokesperson wrote, “Stanford is committed to creating a diverse and inclusive campus community, and that includes the Department of Athletics. As we evaluated these changes, we placed a high priority on preserving the diversity of the overall student-athlete population. The decision to discontinue these 11 sports will not disparately impact any particular demographic.”

Overtime: Alumnae discuss future of field hockey at Stanford, on West Coast
Kelsey Bing ’20 (above) is the sole current national team member not from the East Coast. (Photo: LYNDSAY RADNEDGE/isiphotos.com)

Field hockey, however, is one of the more internationally diverse teams at the University. Nearly 30% of the current roster hails from outside of the United States — including three players from England, one from Canada and one from South Africa. By contrast, the undergraduate student body as a whole is only 11% international.

Club sports: A viable alternative?

Stanford’s club sports program currently offers 32 options for current students, and that number will likely grow after 2021 since “all of the [discontinued] sports will have the opportunity to compete at the club level after their upcoming varsity seasons are complete,” according to the University’s official announcement.

This is not Stanford’s first attempt to move field hockey down to the club level. A similar plan was proposed in 1990, and it also garnered negative reactions from players and alumnae. 

Caroline Clevenger ’91 Ph.D. ’10, who played on the field hockey team, wrote an open letter to The Daily in 1990: ‘Demoting field hockey to club sport insults players.’ She ridiculed the Athletic Department’s assertion that club sports are nearly identical to varsity sports, writing that “if the caliber and intensity of varsity and club sports are the same, why doesn’t the Athletic Department demote every sport except the money-making enterprises to club status and everyone, the players and the administrators, could be happy?”

Now, similar sentiments persist. Other alumnae expressed similar concern with the level of competition of club sports, stating that to improve as a player and to be able to move on to the next level, competing against top competition nationwide is crucial. 

Competing against top teams from the East has been a yearly staple for the team, but the shift from varsity to club will limit the level of competition and opportunities for travel. 

“For a program to be successful and competitive athletes to really want to go there and pursue their athletic and academic careers,” Scherer said, “it has to be a Division I, NCAA-recognized sport.” 

Bassi, however, noted that there were some positive aspects of club sports.

“I think club sports are a good path forward for the future of sports in general,” she said. “I do think converting sports into club sports and thinking about creating this more holistic, accessible sports experience at universities is really positive. It would be horrible if these sports remained cut and they didn’t get an opportunity to turn into a club.”

Overtime: Alumnae discuss future of field hockey at Stanford, on West Coast
The 1974 field hockey team included (standing L to R): Emily Wilkins, Ann Walker, Onnie Killefer, Betsy Morris, Janell Edman, Jane Soyster, head coach Shirley Schoof (sitting L to R): Dian Gates, Kathy Levinson, Cappy Coleman, Jane Schultz, Susie Schatzman, and Lyse Strnad. (Photo courtesy of dgonzales@stanford.edu)

Success across the Bay

The planned elimination and eventual reinstatement of five varsity sports at Berkeley during the 2010-2011 academic year provides a beacon of hope for the Cardinal. 

In September of 2010, the University of California announced that it would eliminate men’s and women’s gymnastics, baseball and women’s lacrosse, while demoting men’s rugby to varsity-club status. Citing the rising cost of athletics departments, unforeseen financial consequences brought on by the Great Recession and state budget cuts to the university, Berkeley eliminated those sports in an effort to save close to $4 million annually. 

Cal initially did not believe it was feasible for its community to raise sufficient funds to reinstate the programs, saying at the time, “It would be unrealistic to expect a significant number of donors to immediately increase their giving far above current levels.” However, by May 2011, all five sports had raised sufficient funds for official reinstatement — nearly $25 million across the teams. Ultimately, Berkeley reinstated all five programs at the varsity level. 

Because Cal gave set monetary targets for the sports to reach before they could be reinstated, it gave students, alumni and other supporters a specific goal for their fundraising efforts. By contrast, Cardinal field hockey alumnae noted that the lack of transparency surrounding Stanford’s financial situation makes fundraising and the eventual reinstatement of the team even more difficult. Unlike Berkeley, Stanford Athletics has not announced monetary targets for the teams to reach before each team can be reinstated. Instead, the University wrote “any future philanthropic interest in these sports may be directed towards supporting them at the club level.”

“The [Cal] community needed to understand that they had certain goals that needed to be met,” Williams Harding said. “The community didn’t understand that before, and the cuts allowed them to understand the seriousness of the situation.”

In spite of Stanford’s refusal to accept funding for the varsity program, the Cardinal field hockey community is in the process of raising sufficient funds to cover operating costs for the team indefinitely in an effort to convince the University to allow the sport to continue to operate at the varsity level. “I truly believe that the [Stanford] administration can be transparent with those clear targets,” Williams Harding said. “Teams will work tirelessly on a solution to meet those goals. It seems completely antithetical to Stanford’s values to not be given the chance.”

Despite unclear financial goals and Stanford’s insistence that the cancellations are final, alumnae refuse to go down without a fight.

“Stanford created monsters,” Scherer said. “They created these strong female athletes [and gave them] an amazing experience. They’ve now created young women that are smart, resilient and do not give up.”

Contact Sofia Scekic at sscekic ‘at’ stanford.edu and Mary Lee at marylee1099 ‘at’ gmail.com.

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Overtime: Field hockey alumnae reflect on upcoming cut https://stanforddaily.com/2020/08/09/sports-overtime1/ https://stanforddaily.com/2020/08/09/sports-overtime1/#respond Sun, 09 Aug 2020 19:00:58 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1171002 Last season, Stanford field hockey went into overtime in four games. Despite the exhaustion, the Cardinal were victorious twice. As an underdog from the West Coast, the Cardinal upset then-No. 7 Michigan in early September and then beat Maine in a shootout in the American East Conference Semifinals in November.

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“Overtime” is a series documenting the reactions of field hockey alumnae to the University’s announcement on July 8 that Stanford Athletics would discontinue the sport and 10 others after the 2020-2021 academic year. Athletes were notified of the news that morning in a Zoom webinar with Athletic Director Bernard Muir. The field hockey community is currently circulating a petition, which had more than 18,000 signatures at the time of publication, to reinstate the varsity program.

Last season, Stanford field hockey went into overtime in four games. Despite the exhaustion, the Cardinal were victorious twice. As an underdog from the West Coast, the Cardinal upset then-No. 7 Michigan in early September and then beat Maine in a shootout in the American East Conference Semifinals in November.

This perseverance to win and draw out a game is characteristic of the team, who now faces another unexpected obstacle: the team’s impending cut.

2019 was one of the best seasons in history for Stanford field hockey. The Cardinal ended the 16-win season with a loss to No. 1 North Carolina in the NCAA tournament, but they still produced the most program victories since 2014. 

The field hockey team was founded in 1903 and is one of the oldest women’s sports on campus. Since its inception over a century ago, the Cardinal have netted 17 NCAA tournament appearances and have won 19 conference championships, including three of the last four.

However, among the University’s listed reasons for the team’s impending cancellation are “incremental investments required to keep or put the sport in a position to achieve competitive excellence on the national level,” “history of the sport at Stanford” and “prospects for future success of the sport at Stanford.”

The reasoning was frustrating for Kelsey Scherer ’15. The former Team USA and Cardinal defender, who competed as Kelsey Harbin, called the reference to the program’s lack of national championship “so insulting to the huge amount of success that that program has had.”

“I am shocked, confused and lost,” said midfielder Fenella Scutt ’22, one of five international athletes on the team. “The deliverance of this news in the middle of a pandemic seemed simply opportunistic of Stanford Athletics, and I am outraged by the fact they put so little consideration into how this affects our lives amidst the many other struggles a college student in this time is facing.”

When asked for further comment, Stanford Athletics referred The Daily back to the original July 8 announcement.

USA Field Hockey also weighed in on Stanford’s decision, releasing a statement expressing disappointment in the decision.

Alumnae, who had no prior knowledge that the cuts were coming, learned of the discontinuation in the same way as the general public: through the University’s official news release and the following social media uproar.

“I could not have been more disappointed nor felt more disrespected by how this was communicated,” said former attacker Kristina Bassi ’17. “People were completely shocked … we did not feel any care or recognition [that the] hours of my life that I gave the school [or] my body that I gave to the school, was respected at all in the communications.”

Overtime: Field hockey alumnae reflect on upcoming cut
Former attacker Kristina Bassi ’17 (above) produced three game-winning goals her senior season. She also shone in the classroom, earning America East Conference Commissioner’s Honor Roll both her senior and junior seasons. (Photo: HECTOR GARCIA-MOLINA/isiphotos.com)

For Scherer, the initial reaction was shock, too. 

“It’s never been a question of whether our program was going to be continued,” she said. “We just got a brand new field, a brand new locker room. We’ve been a winning program for the last [11] years.”

The alumnae, many of whom continue to be involved with the field hockey program, explained that they felt the University’s decision to discontinue 11 sports, and the way it was communicated, was “un-Stanford-like” and departed from the values that they thought the school held. 

Scherer compared it to “hearing that a very close personal friend of yours did something completely out of character, and you can’t place how you would know that person and how that would happen at the same time.” 

The decision, in their eyes, represented a shift from valuing the students and their sports teams to an emphasis on revenue. It is widely known that the 11 sports generate very limited, if any, revenue for the University. 

“They’re not honoring what makes a champion at Stanford and they’re just defining it by what generates revenue now, which is never what I’ve been told,” said Maree Chung ’87.

‘Stanford is a business first’

The University’s official announcement stated that the primary reason for the cuts to all 11 sports is a projected financial shortfall of at least $25 million in the upcoming financial year, stemming from a combination of previous budget deficits and the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Alumnae felt that the financial reasoning in particular was “soft” and “not legitimate,” lamenting that the pandemic’s impact seemed to them like the perfect cover up for deeper, pre-existing financial issues.

“It’s sad to say that I’m not surprised, but it became really clear to me as a student and through this pandemic that Stanford is a business first,” Bassi said. “They will do whatever it takes to make sure they are preserving their bottom line. The way that they have treated student organizing, to their frontline staff workers and now non-revenue sports, is all on trend with that. And they’re always going to use financial reasons.” 

Another field hockey-specific reason for the cut includes a lack of Division I teams on the West Coast, with Stanford representing one of just three Division I programs in the West. 

Scherer and others also indicated that despite field hockey’s lack of prominence on the West Coast, Stanford is in a unique position to spearhead the growth of the sport, given its long history and recent success. 

“The reasoning behind it is actually the exact reason they shouldn’t cut the program,” Scherer said.

Overtime: Field hockey alumnae reflect on upcoming cut
1979 Stanford Field Hockey Team. Front Row, L-R: Veronica Vella, Julia Johnson, Nancy Jackson, Nancy White, Andrea Welch, Lynn Keyser, Liz Maxwell. Back row: Head Coach Barbara Longstreth, Trainer Sherry Babagian, Kathy Nicholson, Becky Howell, Kelly Westerwick, Jeanine Valadez, Claudia Gold, Nancy Jo Geenan, Franchesca Freccero, Asst. Coach Janet Luce. (Photo courtesy of dgonzales@stanford.edu)

USA Field Hockey also announced in early 2020 an initiative to grow the sport on the West Coast and in other regions, creating the California State Chapter — at well as chapters in Michigan and Kentucky — to pilot the new program. 

“[California] already has a solid field hockey base with more than 30 clubs for boys, girls and adults, over 100 high school programs, three NCAA Division I collegiate programs and eight collegiate club programs,” USA Field Hockey wrote in it’s announcement. “Establishing a California State Chapter will help improve communication and increase support from USA Field Hockey for local competition.”

Alumnae pointed out that the lack of University communication — before, during and after its announcement — is one of the main hindrances as they search for viable solutions to keep the program. Many share the sentiment that, with a willingness from the university to engage, collaborative discussions will lead to their ultimate goal: reinstatement of the team at varsity level.

“At Stanford, we are educated to speak up when we feel that we need to be heard and in a respectful, professional way,” said Christina Williams Harding ’03 M.S. ’04. “I think there are avenues to share our voice, and to share ideas and to work with the university. [There is] just a determination when you hear a ‘no’ or when you aren’t able to get to your goal. You keep working towards it.”

No stranger to adversity

Impending cuts to their sport are nothing new for the Cardinal field hockey players. Former Athletic Director Andy Geiger announced in February 1990 that the sport would lose its varsity status in 1991. 

University financial support had been waning slowly since 1986, when the Athletic Department slashed the team’s budget from $25,000 to $5,000. To keep the program alive, the team relied on philanthropic support for funding, while current athletes also chipped in to help the team with its expenses by working for the Athletic Department. Four years later in 1990, the team was the first that the Department announced it would cut as the University searched for ways to reduce their expected $1 billion budget deficit.

However, the Athletics Department announced a caveat along with the news of the looming demotion: the team would continue to be recognized as a varsity sport and would be allowed to travel to the NCAA regional tournament, if it won its conference in 1990. Playing with a chip on its shoulder, the team won the NorPac Conference (now defunct) in both 1990 and 1991 — appearing in the NCAA tournament those years as well. Despite field hockey’s success, the University did not commit to fully funding the team for nearly 15 more years, leading players to work for the athletics department to raise sufficient funds for the team.

“In the past, in the ‘80s when I played, we were a good team — but we had to fundraise a lot,” Chung said. “We would pick up trash after the football games in the stadium and in the surrounding area to raise funds to have a travel budget to go east.”

Williams Harding remembered working at the men’s and women’s basketball games and various football games to raise needed team funds. 

“That was a long-standing tradition of the Stanford field hockey program,” the former midfielder said. “We were happy to give back to the athletic department, as a way to keep our operating expenses low and to continue playing at the varsity NCAA Division I level.” 

For subsequent players, the stories of past perseverance and ability to overcome financial challenges served as motivation. 

“[The team] took huge cuts to all their gear, all their expenses, they rented vans to get themselves to games because they just wanted to play,” Bassi said. 

Overtime: Field hockey alumnae reflect on upcoming cut
Onnie Killefer ’78 (above) was Stanford field hockey’s first All-American, earning the honor in 1976 and 1977. In her time at Stanford, the Michigan native also played for the varsity women’s basketball and volleyball teams, as well as the junior varsity tennis team. (Photo: DAVID MADISON/isiphotos.com)

According to Williams Harding and other players, the program finally became fully funded by the University during the 2006-2007 academic year when it was given a full allotment of scholarships and a full-time, paid assistant coach position, and players were no longer required to work for the athletics department.

Now, however, that funding has come to a screeching halt. 

The team will have one final fully-funded season as a varsity program in spring 2021. Due to the pandemic, the American East Conference, Stanford’s field hockey conference, announced that all fall sports will be postponed until spring. 

Another aspect hindering alumnae efforts to retain varsity status, Stanford has indicated that even if donors stepped forward to fund the team, the decision to demote the field hockey team is “final” and that the philanthropic interest should be directed towards supporting the sport at a club level. 

One thing is certain: if the decision is indeed final, it will not be due to a lack of effort from current players, alumnae and others from the broader field hockey community. 

“I would rather roll over and die,” Scherer said, “before I don’t work as hard as I can to give the girls underneath me that same experience.” 

Contact Sofia Scekic at sscekic ‘at’ stanford.edu and Mary Lee at marylee1099 ‘at’ gmail.com.

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Bernard Muir defends cancellations in press conference https://stanforddaily.com/2020/07/08/sports-cancellations-muir/ https://stanforddaily.com/2020/07/08/sports-cancellations-muir/#respond Thu, 09 Jul 2020 02:16:08 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1169961 In a follow-up press conference to the sudden news that Stanford Athletics planned to cut 11 of its 36 varsity programs, athletic director Bernard Muir clarified that the decision was not solely based on COVID-19 concerns.

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In a follow-up press conference to the sudden news that Stanford Athletics planned to cut 11 of its 36 varsity programs, Athletic Director Bernard Muir clarified that the decision was not solely based on COVID-19 concerns.

“To blame this all on COVID would be erroneous, and it would not be accurate,” he said. “But it certainly helped contribute to the growing deficit moving forward.” 

The affected sports are men’s and women’s fencing, field hockey, lightweight rowing, men’s rowing, co-ed and women’s sailing, squash, synchronized swimming, men’s volleyball and wrestling. The teams include 240 students and 22 coaches. The decision also included eliminating 20 support staff. 

The athletics department faced a $12 million structural deficit before the pandemic, which caused the deficiency to balloon to $25 million. In the potential and increasingly likely event that football will not be played, Muir said that the deficit would double again to $50 million. Keeping with the university’s wishes for the department to be self-sustainable, Muir said the choice had to be made. 

Stanford athletes were sent an email just after 9 a.m. PT about a  Zoom meeting to be held just 50 minutes later in which Muir delivered the news. During the conference call, Muir expressed regret that the announcement could not be made in person. Coaches were told in an earlier announcement. 

“We did that this morning on relatively short notice, just trying to get that word out,” Muir said. “I have not had the opportunity to interact with our student-athletes to this point since the call this morning, but our sport administrator for each sport is going to be on calls with the teams — just so we can process, help answer questions, and then go from there.”

Teams planned meetings for the afternoon to discuss options. All teams would be allowed to play one more season with full support. Coaches will receive a bonus to incentivize staying on for the year and will have their full contracts honored, while students will be able to stay on scholarship for their entire time at Stanford. 

This scholarship extension includes incoming freshmen that were accepted but have not yet stepped foot on campus as an enrolled student. As equivalency sports, however, most programs were able to offer only partial scholarships to many players instead of full scholarships. This means that while 240 students will lose their sport at Stanford, only up to 35.4 full-ride scholarships will be honored, according to Troy Clardy of the TreeCast

That number comes from 4.5 scholarships from men’s fencing, 5 for women’s fencing, 12 for field hockey, 4.5 for men’s volleyball and 9.9 for wrestling, the five sports that were recognized as NCAA Division I programs and adhered to the governing body’s scholarship limits. The number does not include any scholarships given to athletes in the other six sports. Programs are free to offer fewer than the maximum number of scholarships, and it was known that wrestling was not offering its full complement of scholarships.

“This has been a heartbreaking day for all of us, especially those student-athletes and coaches who are involved,” Muir said. “We made this decision only after exhausting all viable alternatives. It recently became painfully clear that we would not remain financially stable and support 36 varsity sports at a nationally competitive level, which is what we so desire.”

Muir did not know if any of the athletes in the 11 affected sports were on campus currently for voluntary workouts, but some local students told The Daily that they are using Stanford facilities to train.

In order to maintain all 11 teams on a permanent basis, to endow scholarships, coaching positions and “other elements to the department that we would need to do and not take away from the 25 that we’re going to continue,” Muir said, would cost $200 million. On a yearly basis, the 11 teams cost the department a combined $8 million.

On the announcement’s FAQ page, it was stressed that the decision was final. Even if a donor was willing to support the team, the athletic department would direct it toward the club level. If a team wanted to play as a club sport, it would be student driven.

Because none of the affected sports are baseball, men’s or women’s basketball, football or men’s ice hockey, any transfer would be immediately eligible to play at any other school — provided that they are academically and athletically eligible. Stanford has said they will be supportive of an athlete’s decision and would offer a transfer-release agreement.

“We also know that some [athletes] might choose to go elsewhere and want to continue to play their sport at the Division I level, and so we will help, assist in that regard with our compliance staff and make sure that they have the opportunity to transfer,” Muir said.

A recurring theme of the press conference was that Muir wanted the 25 remaining sports to live up to the moniker “Home of Champions.” Stanford has won a national championship for 44 consecutive years, and its 126 total is more than any other college. The 11 sports have accounted for 20 of those championships, but a list of 11 factors —  including NCAA sponsorship, postgraduate participation, fan interest, savings, impact on diversity and history contributed — to the eventual decision to cancel those programs.

Muir said in the press conference that the alternative to cutting certain sports was a “broad and deep reduction in support for all 36 sports, including eliminating scholarships, ceasing to be competitive in our efforts to attract and retain the very best coaches and staff.” This path was simply not followed, he continued, as it “would be antithetical to Stanford’s values and its determination to be excellent in everything that it does.”

Muir stressed the desire to maintain the remaining 25 sports at the highest level. In talks with President Marc Tessier-Lavigne and Provost Persis Drell — both of whom co-signed the letter sent out to the community today — and the Board of Trustees, it was clear to Muir that athletics would be important to this campus moving forward, “making sure that we’re fiscally responsible and sustainable.” 

To stress the existing financial strain, Muir shared past stories in which coaches requested “legitimate things” that the department was forced to say “no” to. Cost-saving measures have included a voluntary pay cut taken by head coach of the football team David Shaw ’94, head coach of the women’s basketball team Tara VanDerveer and Jerod Haase, her counterpart on the men’s side. The department has also reduced sport and administrative operating budgets “to the greatest extent possible” and asked teams to limit their travel plans for the upcoming academic year.

The football team, however, is scheduled to travel to Notre Dame in Indiana and men’s basketball has a trip to Hawaii for the Maui Invitational during the 2020-21 season — assuming COVID-19 restrictions will not pose an impediment.

Prior to the announcement, Stanford had the most NCAA Division I offerings of any FBS school outside of Ohio State, which Muir estimates operates on twice the budget. After years of “punching above our weight,” he said it was time to scale down. Among other factors, Ohio State is generating more in TV revenue, where the Pac-12 conference is notably lackluster, and the Buckeyes have more seats in their football stadium.

At the end of the Zoom call with the media, Muir said that he has had weekly calls at the conference level about the upcoming season. He expects a decision to be made by the end of the month.

Contact Daniel Martinez-Krams at danielmk ‘at’ stanford.edu.

Corrections: The equivalent scholarship numbers were not added correctly. The number is 35.4, not 56 as stated in the original article. The article was also updated to reflect the fact that scholarship limits apply to a maximum, but that not all programs had been able to support this number.

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Stanford to discontinue 11 varsity sports https://stanforddaily.com/2020/07/08/sports-cancellations/ https://stanforddaily.com/2020/07/08/sports-cancellations/#respond Wed, 08 Jul 2020 18:12:05 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1169951 A joint statement released today by University President Marc Tessier-Lavigne, Provost Persis Drell and Director of Athletics Bernard Muir announced that Stanford will discontinue 11 of its 36 varsity sports upon the completion of the 2020-21 academic year. After that, the the affected sports will have the opportunity to transition to club status.

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A joint statement released today by University President Marc Tessier-Lavigne, Provost Persis Drell and Director of Athletics Bernard Muir announced that Stanford will discontinue 11 of its 36 varsity sports upon the completion of the 2020-21 academic year. After that, the the affected sports will have the opportunity to transition to club status.

The sports to be cancelled are men’s and women’s fencing, field hockey, lightweight rowing, men’s rowing, co-ed and women’s sailing, squash, synchronized swimming, men’s volleyball and wrestling.

The teams facing cancellation will be allowed to compete one final year, should the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic allow for the upcoming 2020-21 season. 

Stanford formerly boasted more Division I collegiate sports offered than any other university; the average Division I athletics program sponsors 18 varsity sports.

Teams were notified of the upcoming cancellation via Zoom and were given little prior notice of the restructuring.

“I am just so shocked,” one men’s volleyball player said. “I did not think 2020 could get this bad. My whole life plan has been turned upside down, and I no longer know what I am doing.”

The 11 affected teams have brought the university 20 national championships and 27 olympic medals since their respective inaugurations. Lightweight rowing brought home national honors most recently and has won the IRA championship for the last five consecutive years (2015-19).

“I’m overall just confused and taken back that this is their final decision,” a current synchronized swimmer said. “I definitely didn’t see something of this magnitude coming.”

Currently, more than 240 student athletes and 22 coaches are a part of these sports on the Farm — in addition to committed high school athletes, who may now reevaluate their collegiate plans.

Current athletes will not lose any existing athletic scholarships should they choose to remain at Stanford to complete their undergraduate education, but presumably no future scholarships will be given. The contracts of affected coaches will be honored, and any support staff whose employment is ending will be provided with severance pay.

“I think I’m mainly just disappointed,” a current men’s fencer said. “I had high hopes for the next three years.”

Greatly exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, this decision was largely due to financial strain placed on the university from the cost of maintaining so many teams. 

The statement cited a variety of reasons as to why the university chose these specific sports. These factors included sponsorship at the NCAA Division I level, national youth and postgraduate participation and local and national popularity, among others.

Questions remain if potential donations may save the future of these sports.

Many of the cancelled sports were unable to begin or complete their 2020 seasons due to COVID-19 cancellations. Spring athletes were given an extra year of eligibility by the NCAA to ameliorate the disruption, and it is now likely that many Stanford athletes will transfer to another school that does offer the given sport on the varsity level. 

“We hope they choose to remain on The Farm and earn their Stanford degrees,” the university wrote in its statement.

But for many, the decision is not that easy. One player discussed the dilemma of deciding between a Stanford degree and playing his Division I sport.

“I guess I am going to have to figure out as life goes on,” he said. “But in the meantime, I am truly heartbroken.”

Contact Jeremy Rubin at jjmrubin ‘at’ stanford.edu and Cybele Zhang at cybelez ‘at’ staford.edu.

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Tournament run cut short by No. 1 Tar Heels https://stanforddaily.com/2019/11/16/tournament-run-cut-short-by-no-1-tar-heels/ https://stanforddaily.com/2019/11/16/tournament-run-cut-short-by-no-1-tar-heels/#respond Sun, 17 Nov 2019 01:39:22 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1160564 No. 15 field hockey’s (16-7, 4-0 America East) season ended on Friday in a 4-0 loss to No. 1 North Carolina (20-0, 6-0 ACC) in the first round of the NCAA tournament. The Tar Heels raced to a quick lead behind three goals in the first half and Stanford was never able to gain any momentum to muster a comeback.

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No. 15 field hockey’s (16-7, 4-0 America East) season ended on Friday in a 4-0 loss to No. 1 North Carolina (20-0, 6-0 ACC) in the first round of the NCAA tournament. The Tar Heels raced to a quick lead behind three goals in the first half and Stanford was never able to gain any momentum to muster a comeback.

UNC was just too much for the Cardinal to handle. The Tar Heels had 13 shots in the game compared to the Cardinal’s six. North Carolina’s dominance was not unexpected. They are the defending national champions and winners of 43-consecutive matches, a streak which dates back to the start of last season in which they ran the table.

As she has for the Tar Heels all season, sophomore forward Erin Matson led UNC’s overwhelming offensive charge. The 2018 ACC Offensive Player of the Year and Team USA player scored once at the end of each half.

North Carolina’s first two goals established dominance, coming seven minutes into the first quarter and five minutes into the second quarter. The stingy Tar Heel defense prevented the Cardinal from starting any sort of offensive momentum. Stanford’s star junior attacker Corinne Zanolli, who has led the Cardinal offense this season, was effectively held back by the UNC defense. Zanolli was held scoreless for only the sixth time this season.

The game showcased a matchup between two of the most prolific offensive players in the NCAA this season, between Zanolli and Matson. Although Zanolli leads the nation in goals this season with 33, Matson is the only player to average more goals per game and won the head-to-head matchup on Friday. Nevertheless, Zanolli’s stellar season included demolishing her own school record for single season goals.

The loss was a tough way for Stanford to end what has otherwise been an amazing season. The Cardinal were riding a season-high seven-game winning streak before their match in Chapel Hill. The 16 wins that the Cardinal amassed this year were the most since the program’s best season, a 19-3 record in 2014

The game marks the end of the collegiate careers of senior goalkeeper Kelsey Bing, attacker Emma Alderton, midfielder Phoebe Crosthwaite, and attacker Jessica Welch. The class had a 57-27 overall record including an 18-4 record in conference play. They amassed three NCAA tournament appearances coming from their three America East titles in 2016, 2017 and 2019. Bing had six saves on Friday, marking the end of a stupendous career in which she was named the America East Goalkeeper of the Year for her final three seasons and caught the eye of Team USA.

Stanford’s fantastic season has come to a bittersweet close, but just as they did this season, the Cardinal will surely fight and persevere in 2020.

Contact Niles Egan at negan ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Tar Heels up next for field hockey in playoffs https://stanforddaily.com/2019/11/14/tar-heels-up-next-for-field-hockey-in-playoffs/ https://stanforddaily.com/2019/11/14/tar-heels-up-next-for-field-hockey-in-playoffs/#respond Fri, 15 Nov 2019 06:50:42 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1160482 No. 17 field hockey (16-6, 4-0 America East) takes on top-ranked and undefeated North Carolina (19-0, 6-0 ACC) in Chapel Hill on Friday. By securing a win against Miami on Wednesday in the opening round of the NCAA tournament, the Cardinal earned a date with the defending national champion Tar Heels.

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No. 17 field hockey (16-6, 4-0 America East) takes on top-ranked and undefeated North Carolina (19-0, 6-0 ACC) in Chapel Hill on Friday. After securing a win against Miami on Wednesday in the opening round of the NCAA tournament, the Cardinal earned a date with the defending national champion Tar Heels.

Having won seven-straight games and coming off of the program’s second win in NCAA tournament history, Stanford is carrying a significant amount of momentum heading into Friday’s matchup. The 16 wins earned by the Cardinal this year are its most since the program-best 19-3 record in the 2014 season.

In spite of how great Stanford has been recently, their success is eclipsed by the dominance North Carolina has displayed this entire year. The Tar Heels have not lost a single match since losing to Connecticut in double overtime during the semifinals of the 2017 NCAA tournament. UNC leads the nation with an average scoring margin of 2.87 goals.

Stanford’s offense has thrived behind junior attacker Corinne Zanolli, sophomore midfielder Fenella Scutt, and redshirt sophomore defender Sarah Johnson. Zanolli leads the nation in goals with 33 and has had six hat tricks this season, including one against Miami on Wednesday. Scutt and Johnson ranked third and seventh in the nation in assists per game.

North Carolina’s offense, however, may even rival Stanford’s offensive machine. In particular, Tar Heel sophomore forward Erin Matson will be challenging to stop. With 1.5 goals per game, Matson is the only player in the nation who averages more goals per game than Stanford’s Zanolli’s 1.43. Matson also leads the nation in assists and averages 0.94 per game. The UNC star was named both the ACC Rookie of the Year and Offensive Player of the Year as only a freshman last season, and she also is a member of the U.S. Women’s National Team.

Kelsey Bing, a fellow team USA member and Stanford’s senior goalkeeper, has been a force to reckon with in the goal this season. The three-time America East Goalkeeper of the Year has made 117 career saves for the Cardinal and could very well be playing in her last career game for Stanford on Friday. Given the incredible career she has had for the Cardinal, she can be expected to play well against the Tar Heels. A particularly inspired performance from her could trigger an exceptional upset for Stanford.

Winning against the undefeated national champions would be absolutely tremendous for Stanford. Being the significant underdog, the Cardinal have nothing to lose. They are just playing to keep their postseason alive.

Stanford takes on North Carolina at 9 a.m. PST Friday in Chapel Hill.

Contact Niles Egan at negan ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Field Hockey secures second-ever NCAA tourney win https://stanforddaily.com/2019/11/13/field-hockey-secures-second-ever-ncaa-tourney-win/ https://stanforddaily.com/2019/11/13/field-hockey-secures-second-ever-ncaa-tourney-win/#respond Thu, 14 Nov 2019 05:02:05 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1160450 Behind another hat trick from junior attacker Corrine Zanolli, Stanford field hockey claimed its second NCAA tournament win in program history. The No. 17 Cardinal (16-6, 4-0 America East) cruised to a 3-1 victory over Miami-Ohio (13-8, 5-1 MAC) in the opening round at home on Wednesday. Zanolli leads the nation in both goals (33) and points (69).

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Behind another hat trick from junior attacker Corrine Zanolli, Stanford field hockey claimed its second NCAA tournament win in program history. The No. 17 Cardinal (16-6, 4-0 America East) cruised to a 3-1 victory over Miami-Ohio (13-8, 5-1 MAC) in the opening round at home on Wednesday. Zanolli leads the nation in both goals (33) and points (69).

The Cardinal dominated Miami from start to finish. After neither team registered a shot in the first quarter, Stanford went on to outshoot the RedHawks 11-7. Zanolli broke open the floodgates with a dagger into the upper left corner of the goal five minutes into the second quarter. She was assisted by sophomore midfielder Fenella Scutt. Scutt is having a brilliant season of her own and is ranked third in the nation for assists per game (0.76).

The Cardinal then had four shots in the third quarter while holding Miami to none. Zanolli spectacularly scored twice in quick succession during the third and fourth minutes of the third quarter. The first came from a shot she made off of her own rebound. The second goal came when she hit a penalty stroke that ricocheted off of the goalkeeper’s stick into the net.

While Stanford’s offense came out in full force on Wednesday, the defense also contributed significantly. Miami did not score until there were less than two minutes left in the game. Senior goalkeeper Kelsey Bing registered three saves for the Cardinal.

The game against Miami marked Stanford’s 10th appearance in the NCAA tournament in the last 13 seasons and its first since 2017.

After the win on Wednesday, Stanford will advance to play No. 1 ranked North Carolina in Chapel Hill on Friday. The Tar Heels are the defending national champions and will almost certainly be the toughest team the Cardinal face this season. The odds are overwhelmingly in UNC’s favor, but if Stanford’s continues to play as well as they have, then they could very well surprise the Tar Heels.

Contact Niles Egan at negan ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Field hockey captures third America East title in four years https://stanforddaily.com/2019/11/10/field-hockey-captures-third-america-east-title-in-four-years/ https://stanforddaily.com/2019/11/10/field-hockey-captures-third-america-east-title-in-four-years/#respond Mon, 11 Nov 2019 07:37:28 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1160172 Behind Sarah Johnson’s game-winning goal in the final minute, No. 17 field hockey (15-6, 4-0 America East) captured the America East Championship in a 2-1 win over tournament host No. 20 Monmouth (14-5, 5-0 America East), securing a spot in the NCAA tournament.

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Behind Sarah Johnson’s game-winning goal in the final minute, No. 17 field hockey (15-6, 4-0 America East) captured the America East Championship in a 2-1 win over tournament host No. 20 Monmouth (14-5, 5-0 America East), securing a spot in the NCAA tournament.

Johnson’s game winner came in the 59th minute of the game when she tapped in a score off of a clutch pass from sophomore midfielder Isabelle Pilson. The assist marked Pilson’s first of the season, and it could not have come at a better time for the Cardinal.

Sunday’s game marked the Cardinal’s third appearance in the America East Conference Tournament final, and their first since winning back-to-back titles in 2016 and 2017. Stanford will now be making its 17th overall NCAA tournament appearance and its tenth in the past 13 seasons.

The Cardinal shot out to an early one-goal lead behind junior attacker Corinne Zanolli’s score five minutes into the game. The goal marked Zanolli’s 30th of the season and extended her own single-season school record. She leads the NCAA this season in both goals and points (63). In total she attempted a game-high six shots against Monmouth, helping Stanford finish with a 16-2 advantage in shot attempts.

Monmouth evened the score at one goal apiece just after halftime when Josephine van der Hoop scored following a deflection. In the final quarter, Stanford’s offense rallied to attempt seven of their 10 total penalty corners in the last 15 minutes of play. This offensive onslaught culminated with Johnson’s game-winner.

Throughout the tournament, the Cardinal expertly outmatched their opponents behind a stout defense. Monmouth’s two shot attempts were the fewest by a Stanford opponent this season. In three postseason victories, the Cardinal recorded two shutouts and surrendered a total of 17 shots and just a single goal.

Much credit for Stanford’s defensive success this season can be attributed to senior goalkeeper Kelsey Bing, who also is a member of the U.S. Women’s National Field Hockey Team. In the final, Bing registered no saves for just the third time in her career. All of those games resulted in Stanford wins.

Stanford will look to build upon its postseason momentum in the opening round of the NCAA tournament. Stanford will play Miami University (13-7, 5-1 MAC) Wednesday at 11 a.m.

Contact Niles Egan at negan ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Field hockey hosts Aggies on Senior Night https://stanforddaily.com/2019/11/01/field-hockey-hosts-aggies-on-senior-night/ https://stanforddaily.com/2019/11/01/field-hockey-hosts-aggies-on-senior-night/#respond Fri, 01 Nov 2019 07:01:46 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1159626 No. 18 field hockey (11-6, 3-0 AEC) will play UC Davis (7-8, 2-1 AEC) at home in their regular season finale and senior night. The Cardinal have already clinched the America East West Division title and will be the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament next week.

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No. 18 field hockey (11-6, 3-0 AEC) will play UC Davis (7-8, 2-1 AEC) at home in their regular season finale and senior night. The Cardinal have already clinched the America East West Division title and will be the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament next week.

Before the game, senior midfielder Phoebe Crosthwaite, senior attackers Emma Alderton and Jessica Welch and senior goalkeeper Kelsey Bing will be honored. This senior class has had a 52-26 record in the past four seasons, including a 17-4 record in conference play. They have captured two America East conference titles in 2016 and 2017. In those same two seasons they made appearances in the NCAA tournament.

Unfortunately, the star senior goalkeeper will miss Friday’s game because she will be playing in an important match for Team USA as they try to qualify for the 2020 Olympic Games. No. 13 USA will be playing against No. 9 India in Bhubaneswar, India for an FIH (International Hockey Federation) Olympic qualifier. This match is the last chance for both countries to qualify for the Olympics. In her place, sophomore goalkeeper Hannah Santos will likely fill in between the posts. 

Junior attacker Corinne Zanolli can be expected to continue her streak of stellar performances in games this season when the Cardinal take on UC Davis. As she has for much of the season, Zanolli leads the NCAA in goals with 25 scored so far this season. In Stanford’s last game, a 3-2 victory against Cal in Berkeley, Zanolli notched all three of goals in her fourth hat-trick of the season. Last season, she broke the school record for single-season goals by scoring 26 times. Being only one score away from that mark, Zanolli seems to be on pace to break that mark again this season.

UC Davis will likely not pose too much of a challenge to Stanford on Friday. In their last match, an away game for the Cardinal, Stanford defeated the Aggies 3-1. However, UC Davis is just coming off of an exciting victory against Cal on Oct. 30 in which they beat the Golden Bears 2-1 in a shootout. Although a Cal loss in anything is always a happy occasion for Stanford, the Aggies may be carrying a little more momentum off of their win than the Cardinal would prefer. Their win on Wednesday was the first time the Aggies had beaten a conference opponent since they last beat Cal in 2016. Stanford, however, has dominated UC Davis in recent years. The last time the Aggies defeated the Cardinal was in 2013.

Stanford plays UC Davis at home on Friday at 6 p.m. P.T.

Contact Niles Egan at negan ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Field hockey goes across the Bay https://stanforddaily.com/2019/10/22/field-hockey-goes-across-the-bay/ https://stanforddaily.com/2019/10/22/field-hockey-goes-across-the-bay/#respond Tue, 22 Oct 2019 08:34:14 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1158998 No. 19 field hockey (10-6, 2-0 AEC) looks to keep their undefeated record in conference play as they head across the bay to take on rival Cal (7-8, 1-1 AEC). The Cardinal enter the match having just handily won an away game against conference opponent UC Davis on Sunday.

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No. 19 field hockey (10-6, 2-0 AEC) looks to keep their undefeated record in conference play as they head across the Bay to take on rival Cal (7-8, 1-1 AEC). The Cardinal enter the match having just handily won an away game against conference opponent UC Davis on Sunday. 

In recent years, Stanford has dominated the Golden Bears, and have lost only twice in their previous 18 meetings. In the rivalry match on the Farm earlier this season, senior goalkeeper Kelsey Bing shutout California, and the Cardinal soundly won 2-0.

Bing will soon be seeking to help Team USA land a spot in the 2020 Olympic Games.

On Tuesday, junior attacker Corinne Zanolli can be expected to play a particularly significant role. Last year, Zanolli had a breakout season, setting the single-season school record with 26 goals in her sophomore campaign. This season, she’s already had three hat tricks. Having scored 22 times this year, Zanolli also leads the nation in goals.

Sophomore midfielder Fenella Scutt and redshirt sophomore defender Sarah Johnson can both also be expected to contribute heavily against Cal. Scutt averages .73 assists per game and Johnson averages .77, nationally ranking them eighth and sixth, respectively, in that category. In their most recent game against UC Davis, Scutt tallied both a goal and an assist. Johnson also recorded an assist. 

Stanford will also be looking for scoring opportunities off of penalty corners. Of their 43 goals this season, the Cardinal have notched 16 scores resulting directly from penalty corners. Zanolli’s 22nd goal of the season against UC Davis came off of a corner.

With just one more conference game on the schedule after this Tuesday, Stanford wants a strong finish to the regular season ahead of postseason play. The Cardinal have won two of the past three America East Conference championships and have also qualified for the NCAA tournament in 10 of the past 12 seasons. To guarantee qualification for the NCAA tournament, Stanford will have to win the America East Conference tournament which starts on Nov. 6. Ending the regular season on a win streak will help give the team some momentum as they enter the postseason.

Under current head coach Tara Danielson, the Cardinal have consistently been successful. In each of Danielson’s nine years at the helm of the field hockey program, Stanford has won at least thirteen games. A win on Tuesday would continue the Cardinal’s sustained success.

Stanford will play against Cal in Berkeley at 3:00 PM PT on Tuesday, Oct. 22.

Contact Niles Egan at negan ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Field hockey drops a pair in North Carolina https://stanforddaily.com/2019/10/01/field-hockey-drops-a-pair-in-north-carolina/ https://stanforddaily.com/2019/10/01/field-hockey-drops-a-pair-in-north-carolina/#respond Tue, 01 Oct 2019 07:41:10 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1157862 No. 15 Stanford field hockey (6-5, 1-0 AEC) suffered a 1-3 loss to No. 21 Wake Forest (4-5, 0-1 ACC) and an 0-1 loss to No. 2 Duke (8-1, 0-1 ACC) this past Friday and Sunday, respectively. The Cardinal's tour of North Carolina brought on tough battles and even tougher decisions, as Stanford just barely dropped the ball against the Demon Deacons and could almost taste a tie against the Blue Devils in the second half of Sunday's match.

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No. 15 Stanford field hockey (6-5, 1-0 AEC) suffered a 3-1 loss to No. 21 Wake Forest (4-5, 0-1 ACC) and a 1-0 loss to No. 2 Duke (8-1, 0-1 ACC) this past Friday and Sunday, respectively. The Cardinal’s tour of North Carolina brought on tough battles and even tougher decisions, as Stanford just barely dropped the ball against the Demon Deacons and could almost taste a tie against the Blue Devils in the second half of Sunday’s match.

The Cardinal came off of a glorious 2-0 victory over rival Cal (3-6, 0-1 AEC) on Sept. 20, having now won 14 of the last 16 confrontations against the Golden Bears since 2016. A third-quarter goal by junior attacker Corinne Zanolli broke a 0-0 deadlock against the Golden Bears, and then another from the All-American sealed the deal in the 58th minute.

The battle against Wake Forest was a different story. Cut off in Demon territory, the Cardinal gave up two goals in the fourth quarter. Zanolli added another to her nation-leading 15 goals in the second quarter — a missile from the top of the circle. But in the third quarter, the Deacons’ junior forward Alexis Grippo returned the compliment with her first goal of the season. And like the gelatinous blobs that constrained Mr. Incredible, the Deacons suppressed the Cardinal and popped in two more goals in the second half at the hands of Grippo and sophomore midfielder Laia Vancells with less than five minutes remaining.

The Stanford loss had hope to be redeemed in Durham, not too far from Chapel Hill, the home of No. 1 University of North Carolina (9-0, 2-0 ACC), Duke’s next opponent. Here the field hockey team ventured into the unofficial capital of the collegiate sport, the Mordor of hockey-dom. The Devils, the equivalent of the Ringwraiths and true servants of Sauron the Deceiver, were able to score a point in the 18th minute. Duke beat Stanford in terms of shots (11 to 7), shots on goal (4 to 3) and corners (4 to 2). Although the Cardinal made valiant attempts at putting one on the scoreboard, their momentum was not enough to topple the tower of Barad-dur and truly usher in the fourth age. Freshman attacker Lynn Vanderstichele, a London native, was able to place two shots on target for the Cardinal and freshman defender Rose Winter added one.

Stanford’s next opponent is Syracuse (7-2, 1-1 ACC), which they will face on Oct. 5 at 2:00 p.m. PT in Berkeley, CA.

Contact Arman Kassam at armank@stanford.edu. 

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Field hockey ends 4-game road trip with 6-2 rout of Vermont https://stanforddaily.com/2019/09/16/field-hockey-ends-4-game-road-trip-with-6-2-rout-of-vermont/ https://stanforddaily.com/2019/09/16/field-hockey-ends-4-game-road-trip-with-6-2-rout-of-vermont/#respond Mon, 16 Sep 2019 08:17:24 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1157225 No. 18 field hockey (5-3, 1-1 America East) overwhelmed conference rival Vermont (2-3, 0-1 America East) in a 6-2 win on Sunday. Stanford matched its season-high number of goals in one game and scored a season-high four second-half goals.

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No. 18 field hockey (5-3, 1-1 America East) overwhelmed conference rival Vermont (2-3, 0-1 America East) in a 6-2 win on Sunday. Stanford matched its season-high number of goals in one game and scored a season-high four second-half goals.

The game was played at a neutral site in New Hampshire, making it the only contest in which Stanford did not find itself behind enemy lines during its six-day East Coast road trip.

Coming off her first game of the season without a goal, junior attacker Corinne Zanolli turned things around in a big way on Sunday, recording her first hat trick of the season and fourth ever with Stanford. Zanolli has 12 goals this year and leads all NCAA players in goals per game.

After Zanolli’s goals in the fourth and 23rd minutes, freshman attacker Lynn Vanderstichele netted the first goal of her Stanford career in the 37th minute. Sophomore midfielder Isabelle Pilson scored her first goal of the season (43’), senior attacker Jessica Welch her second (46’) and Zanolli her 12th (55’) to round out the Cardinal scoring.

Zanolli’s fourth-minute goal got the scoring started early for Stanford, but Vermont kept the game close through halftime, with the Cardinal never leading by more than one.

Vermont sophomore Clodagh Ferry tied the game at 1-1 in the 22nd minute and, when Stanford held a 4-1 lead near the end of the third quarter, her freshman teammate Kate Hall closed the gap to two with a 45th-minute goal.

From there, it was all Stanford. After being outshot 6-4 in the first half, the Cardinal outshot Vermont 10-4 in the second half. Having made five saves in the first half, senior goalkeeper Kelsey Bing did not face any shots on goal in the second half. Bing tagged in sophomore goalkeeper Hannah Santos for the final six minutes of the game, but Santos also faced zero shots on goal.

Prominent in Stanford’s win on Sunday was the efficiency missing in Friday’s loss to New Hampshire. The Cardinal took 14 shots in both games, but netted only two goals on Friday in comparison to Sunday’s six.

Stanford went 3-1 on the road trip and returns home to play archrival Cal (1-4, 0-0 America East) on Friday at 2:30 p.m. PT. The game will be televised on Pac-12 Networks.

Contact Holden Foreman at hs4man21 ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Field hockey ends win streak, falls to earth with loss to unranked New Hampshire https://stanforddaily.com/2019/09/14/field-hockey-ends-win-streak-falls-to-earth-with-loss-to-unranked-new-hampshire/ https://stanforddaily.com/2019/09/14/field-hockey-ends-win-streak-falls-to-earth-with-loss-to-unranked-new-hampshire/#respond Sat, 14 Sep 2019 08:01:21 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1157187 No. 18 Stanford field hockey (4-3, 0-1 American East) could not overcome second-half struggles in its conference opener, falling 3-2 at New Hampshire (2-3, 1-0 America East). The loss snaps Stanford’s win streak at four games, two of which were against top-10 teams, and is the first loss to an unranked opponent this year.

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No. 18 Stanford field hockey (4-3, 0-1 American East) could not overcome second-half struggles in its conference opener, falling 3-2 at New Hampshire (2-3, 1-0 America East). The loss snaps Stanford’s win streak at four games, two of which were against top-10 teams, and is the first loss to an unranked opponent this year.

Notably absent on Friday was the efficiency, particularly in goals per shots taken, that Stanford has displayed in other games this week. The Cardinal outshout the Wildcats 14-10 and took five penalty corners to the Wildcats’ three, but the net proved elusive for Stanford’s offense.

Going into Friday’s matchup, approximately 74% (54/73) of Stanford shots this season were on goal, meaning that either a goal was scored or the opposing goalkeeper made a save. As recently as Thursday’s win over No. 10 Harvard, Stanford shot 87.5% (7/8) on goal.

Friday was a different story, as just 64% (9/14) of Stanford shots were headed for the net. The Cardinal finally broke through with four minutes left in the first half, as senior midfielder Phoebe Crosthwaite notched her second goal of the season to give Stanford a 1-0 lead. But Stanford’s failure to score more early points proved devastating when New Hampshire turned up the heat in the second half.

The Wildcats outshot the Cardinal 6-1 in the third quarter, netting back-to-back goals in the same  two-minute span to claim a 2-1 lead. Having already assisted Crosthwaite’s first-half goal, senior attacker Jessica Welch scored a goal of her own in the 57th minute to knot the game at 2-2.

But the Wildcats connected on a penalty corner less than one minute after Welch’s goal, securing a 3-2 lead that would prove insurmountable for the Cardinal.

For the first time this season, junior attacker Corinne Zanolli walked away from a game without a goal to her name. 

With Friday’s loss, five of Stanford’s seven games this season have been decided by just one point, and three of them have gone to shootouts. The Cardinal are now 2-3 in these narrow contests, having come out on top in two of the shootouts. 

Stanford will stay in New Hampshire for the finale of a four-game road trip in which the Cardinal are thus far 2-1. They will aim to maintain a winning record overall and secure a .500 conference record in a matchup against Vermont (2-2, 0-0 America East) on Sunday at 9 a.m. PT.

Contact Holden Foreman at hs4man21 ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Field Hockey upsets Harvard en route to fourth-straight win https://stanforddaily.com/2019/09/12/field-hockey-upsets-harvard-en-route-to-fourth-straight-win/ https://stanforddaily.com/2019/09/12/field-hockey-upsets-harvard-en-route-to-fourth-straight-win/#respond Fri, 13 Sep 2019 03:56:51 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1157154 After opening the season with a pair of one-point losses to top-15 opponents, Stanford has been clutch on both ends of the field. The Cardinal’s 2-1 win over the Crimson marks the halfway point of a road trip in which No. 18 Stanford (4-2, 0-0 America East) will next visit New Hampshire.

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With yet another shootout victory on Thursday, No. 18 Stanford field hockey (4-2, 0-0 America East) extended its winning streak to four games and secured its second upset of that span, this time against No. 10 Harvard  (1-2, 0-0 Ivy League). The Cardinal’s 2-1 win over the Crimson marks the halfway point of a road trip in which Stanford will next visit New Hampshire.

After opening the season with a pair of one-point losses to top-15 opponents, Stanford has been clutch on both ends of the field. Despite allowing Harvard to tie Friday’s game at 1-1 in its final minute, senior goalkeeper Kelsey Bing kept the Crimson from the net for the duration of the ensuing shootout, while junior attacker Corinne Zanolli and senior attacker Emma Alderton each scored for the Cardinal to claim the win.

Underlying Stanford’s recent success is its efficiency, as the Cardinal found the goal on less than half as many shots as the Crimson (19-8) in regulation. Stanford took only three penalty corners to Harvard’s five, but Zanolli netted the first goal of the game on a penalty shot one minute before halftime. Even before her shootout heroics, Bing made nine saves. 

Stanford looks to extend its winning streak to five games when it takes on New Hampshire on Friday at 3 p.m. PT.

Contact Holden Foreman at hs4man21 ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Field hockey breezes past Brown in first road game, claims winning record https://stanforddaily.com/2019/09/10/field-hockey-breezes-past-brown-in-first-road-game-claims-winning-record/ https://stanforddaily.com/2019/09/10/field-hockey-breezes-past-brown-in-first-road-game-claims-winning-record/#respond Wed, 11 Sep 2019 04:35:53 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1157127 No. 18 Stanford field hockey (3-2, 0-0 America East) traveled to Brown (1-2, 0-0 Ivy League) and put on a clinic Tuesday afternoon, with five different Cardinal players netting goals in a 6-0 victory over the Bears.

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No. 18 Stanford field hockey (3-2, 0-0 America East) traveled to Brown (1-2, 0-0 Ivy League) and put on a clinic Tuesday afternoon, with five different Cardinal players netting goals in a 6-0 victory over the Bears.

Stanford’s lesson for Brown was in efficiency, as the Bears came up empty-handed despite matching the Cardinal 17-17 in shots and 5-5 in penalty corners. Stanford was also consistent, netting three goals in each half of the game.

Per usual, junior attacker and America East Offensive Player of the Week Corinne Zanolli led the Cardinal in scoring, notching two goals and bringing her total to eight on the season. 

But Zanolli wasn’t alone on Tuesday. Redshirt sophomore defender Sarah Johnson scored her second goal of the season, while senior attacker Emma Alderton, senior midfielder Phoebe Crosthwaite and sophomore defender Molly Redgrove each scored their first.

Senior goalkeeper Kelsey Bing recorded six saves before sophomore Hannah Santos replaced her at the start of the fourth quarter. Santos picked up a save of her own to maintain the shutout.

Stanford will look to build upon Tuesday’s dominance in another Ivy League road matchup, this time against Harvard, on Thursday at 1 p.m. PST.

Contact Holden Foreman at hs4man21 ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Field hockey stuns No. 7 Michigan, sets sights on Brown https://stanforddaily.com/2019/09/09/field-hockey-stuns-no-7-michigan-sets-sights-on-brown/ https://stanforddaily.com/2019/09/09/field-hockey-stuns-no-7-michigan-sets-sights-on-brown/#respond Tue, 10 Sep 2019 05:35:37 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1157119 One week after a 4-3 shootout loss to No. 15 Northwestern, No. 21 Stanford (2-2, 0-0 American East) toppled No. 7 Michigan (2-2, 0-0 Big Ten) in another Friday shootout. The win capped a comeback mounted by the late-game heroics of star junior attacker Corinne Zanolli and senior goalkeeper Kelsey Bing.

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One week after a 4-3 shootout loss to No. 15 Northwestern, No. 21 Stanford field hockey (2-2, 0-0 American East) toppled No. 7 Michigan (2-2, 0-0 Big Ten) in another Friday shootout. The 3-2 win capped a comeback mounted by the late-game heroics of star junior attacker Corinne Zanolli and senior goalkeeper Kelsey Bing.

The Cardinal trailed 2-0 in the third quarter, but roared back with two third-quarter goals from Zanolli, in the 34th and 39th minutes, to tie the game 2-2 entering the penalty shootout. It was again Zanolli who scored the game-winner.

Last year, Zanolli scored 26 goals, setting Stanford’s single-season record. This year, she is on pace to break her own record, having already netted six goals through four games. 

Though Zanolli took all six of Stanford’s shot attempts during regulation on Friday, she had a strong supporting cast behind her. She was assisted in her first goal of the game by redshirt sophomore defender Sarah Johnson and sophomore midfielder Fenella Scutt. On the second goal, Zanolli was assisted by senior attacker Emma Alderton.

Bing made 12 saves on Friday and successfully warded off the Wolverines in the shootout. Her effort was essential to a Cardinal win in which Michigan dominated the statistical categories of shots (20-6) and penalty corners (5-1).

Tuesday’s matchup with Brown marks the start of a four-game road trip for Stanford, as it looks to claim a winning record for the first time this season. The game is set for 1 p.m. PST.

Contact Holden Foreman at hs4man21 ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Field hockey seeks second-straight win of season against Michigan https://stanforddaily.com/2019/09/05/field-hockey-seeks-second-straight-win-of-season-against-michigan/ https://stanforddaily.com/2019/09/05/field-hockey-seeks-second-straight-win-of-season-against-michigan/#respond Thu, 05 Sep 2019 19:06:21 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1157052 No. 21 Stanford field hockey (1-2, 0-0 America East) will shoot for its second-straight victory when No. 7 Michigan (1-1, 0-0 Big Ten) visits the Farm on Friday. The Wolverines will be the Cardinal’s third ranked opponent in the first four games of the season.

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No. 21 Stanford field hockey (1-2, 0-0 America East) will shoot for its second-straight victory when No. 7 Michigan (1-1, 0-0 Big Ten) visits the Farm on Friday. The Wolverines will be the Cardinal’s third ranked opponent in the first four games of the season.

The Michigan and Stanford field hockey teams have been at odds since the programs first met in 2007. The two schools have played a total of nine games, four of which Stanford has won. In last year’s matchup, the Cardinal broke a three-year losing streak to the Big Ten foe with a 4-2 triumph. 

Stanford began this season with some bumps. Following consecutive losses to No. 15 Northwestern and No. 4 Connecticut, Stanford staged a minor comeback with its first win of the season on Tuesday against Quinnipiac. With three games in the book, Stanford has averaged three goals per game and a 0.214 shot percentage, well below the 0.249 shot percentage from last season.

Michigan, like Stanford, is coming off its first victory of the season, having won its most recent game against No. 10 Wake Forest. Having played only two games, Michigan has produced a 0.556 shot percentage, scoring five goals out of nine shots. The succinct number of shots stands out among other teams in the league — No. 1 North Carolina has a shot percentage of 0.316 after making six of its 19 shots. 

Both teams enter with strong offense. Junior All-American attacker Corinne Zanolli led the Cardinal in goals made last season with 26, the highest single-season record for a Stanford field hockey player. She has four of Stanford’s nine goals this season.

Michigan midfield Meg Dowthwaite, a former All-American who entered this season with 34 career goals, continues her final season journey. The senior has already netted three goals in the opening two matchups of the season. 

Dowthwaite will be a formidable force of the Wolverine offense when Michigan visits Varsity Field Hockey Turf on Friday at 7 p.m. PST. 

Contact Inyoung Choi at ichoi ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Field Hockey downs Quinnipiac behind season-high four goals https://stanforddaily.com/2019/09/03/field-hockey-downs-quinnipiac-behind-season-high-four-goals/ https://stanforddaily.com/2019/09/03/field-hockey-downs-quinnipiac-behind-season-high-four-goals/#respond Tue, 03 Sep 2019 22:08:37 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1157013 The Cardinal earned their first victory of the season with Tuesday's win.

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No. 21 Stanford field hockey (1-2, 0-0 America East) beat Quinnipiac (0-3, 0-0 Big East) 4-1 on Tuesday, marking the team’s first victory this season.

The Cardinal began its season with two road-bumps: home games against No. 15 Northwestern (2-1, 0-0 Big Ten) and No. 4 Connecticut (2-0, 0-0 Big East).

The match against the Wildcats resulted in some major highlights, including junior attacker Corinne Zanolli’s 100th career point and freshman defender Rose Winter’s first career goal, but the Cardinal ended up falling to Northwestern 3-4 in double overtime.

The following match against Connecticut ended with a 2-3 Stanford loss and another pair of goals from Winter and Zanolli; in the end, a 2-0 lead over the Huskies in the first half was not enough to overcome the top-five team.

Naturally, the back-to-back losses only made Stanford more revved up to serve a steaming hot plate of vengeance today. Quinnipiac also approached today’s match with their heads hanging a bit lower than usual; the Bobcats suffered losses to both UC Berkeley (1-1, 0-0 America East) and UC Davis (1-0, 0-0 America East) on Friday and Sunday, respectively.

Stanford’s first ever game against Quinnipiac started on the right foot when redshirt sophomore defender Sarah Johnson, off of a rebound from Zanolli, put one in the net at 4:41. Only thirteen minutes later, Zanolli followed up with another goal off of a penalty corner. The Cardinal were amassing momentum with which the Bobcats simply could not compete. At the 25-minute mark, Stanford added a third goal from Winter, who now has scored a goal in each of this season’s games. The good times kept rolling for the Cardinal despite the Bobcat’s prompt response at the 27th minute, when sophomore Jess Halley popped one in the net off of a rebound from a penalty corner.

With 3-1 on the scoreboard at the end of the first half, Stanford was coasting. The Cardinal had twelve shots to the Bobcats’ five and nine penalty corners to the Bobcats’ two. The second half wasn’t very different. In less than two minutes from the start of the second half, junior midfielder Frances Carstens reclaimed the three-point lead after picking up some loose change in front of net. Stanford again dominated in terms of shots and penalty corners, and the game’s fate was sealed. The Cardinal secured its first victory of the season and its first victory against Quinnipiac with a 4-1 decision.

Next time, Stanford goes up against another ranked opponent, No. 7 Michigan (1-1, 0-0 Big Ten). Catch the match against the Wolverines on Friday, Sept. 6 at 7:00 p.m. PT on campus.

Contact Arman Kassam at armank ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Field hockey puts pressure on Connecticut but fails to pull off upset https://stanforddaily.com/2019/09/01/field-hockey-puts-pressure-on-connecticut-but-fails-to-pull-off-upset/ https://stanforddaily.com/2019/09/01/field-hockey-puts-pressure-on-connecticut-but-fails-to-pull-off-upset/#respond Mon, 02 Sep 2019 06:06:54 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1156969 For a moment on Sunday, it looked as if No. 21 Stanford field hockey (0-2, 0-0 America East) would bounce back in a big way from its nail-biting, season-opening shootout loss to No. 15 Northwestern on Friday.

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For a moment on Sunday, it looked as if No. 21 Stanford field hockey (0-2, 0-0 America East) would bounce back in a big way from its nail-biting, season-opening shootout loss to No. 15 Northwestern on Friday. The Cardinal took a commanding 2-0 lead over No. 4 Connecticut (2-0, 0-0 Big East) in the second quarter, only to watch the Huskies roar back with three unanswered goals for a 3-2 Stanford loss.

Connecticut’s go-ahead goal came courtesy of Antonia Tiedtke in the 54th minute, capping a second half in which the Cardinal were battered by the Huskies’ offense, with Connecticut outshooting Stanford 10-1. Jessica Dembrowski had tied the game in the 41st minute.

Despite the loss, Stanford can feel good about its first-half performance. Junior attacker Corinne Zanolli scored in the seventh minute, and freshman defender Rose Winter extended the Cardinal lead with a 16th-minute score off a penalty corner. Connecticut’s Svea Booker connected on a goal in the 17th minute to cut the Cardinal lead to 2-1.

Following up on a career-best 14 saves against Northwestern, senior goalkeeper Kelsey Bing made nine saves on Sunday. 

Stanford has now lost both of its matches as host of the 2019 Stanford Invitational. In yet another home game, the Cardinal will look to tally the first win of the season against Quinnipiac on Tuesday, Sept. 3 at 10 a.m. PST.

Contact Holden Foreman at hs4man21 ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Field hockey drops season opener after double overtime, shootout https://stanforddaily.com/2019/08/30/field-hockey-drops-season-opener-after-double-overtime-shootout/ https://stanforddaily.com/2019/08/30/field-hockey-drops-season-opener-after-double-overtime-shootout/#respond Sat, 31 Aug 2019 02:14:02 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1156916 No. 23 Stanford Field Hockey (0-1) opened the season at home Friday morning for the first time since 2016 with a faceoff with No.15 Northwestern (1-0). Both the Cardinal and the Wildcats put in strong performances, but Northwestern eked out the win 4-3 in a shootout.

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No. 23 Stanford Field Hockey (0-1) opened the season at home Friday morning for the first time since 2016 with a faceoff with No.15 Northwestern (1-0). Both the Cardinal and the Wildcats put in strong performances, but Northwestern eked out the win 4-3 in a shootout.

The match served as the debut for freshmen midfielder Megan Frost and defender Rose Winter. Three fouls were called early against Stanford in quick succession, and Northwestern made several substitutions to find the right combination of players. 

At the 5:40 mark, junior attacker Corinne Zanolli scored the first goal of the game for the Cardinal, and the season, on an assist from Frost and redshirt sophomore defender Sarah Johnson. In an effort to respond, a shot was fired off by Northwestern’s forward Bente Baekers but flew wide. Another Wildcat shot effort by midfielder Sabrina Solomen was blocked by Stanford goalkeeper senior Kelsey Bing. Stanford held the lead to end the first half on top. 

The second half began with energy, and Zanolli capitalized with two shot attempts, but both went high. At the twenty minute mark, Zanolli tried her luck again, but the Northwestern goalkeeper denied the efforts. The Cardinal offense kept Northwestern on its toes as the entire Wildcats defense put in strong defensive play to limit further Stanford advances. Northwestern’s defense turned into offense, and Baekers carried out a solo run and with a shot from the left side tied up the score 1-1 in the 27th minute. 

With no change in score, the game was sent to extra minutes. The first overtime period saw even more action with both teams making advances to break the deadlock. After a Wildcat penalty corner and a shot launched off by Northwestern’s forward/midfielder Lakin Barry, possession switched in Stanford’s favor and the Cardinal put another goal on the board. Zanolli scored her second of the game and surpassed the 100-point mark for her career. 

In her debut, Frost got a good look at a goal in the 39th minute but the shot was blocked. At the 40th minute possession returned to Northwestern and the Wildcats capitalized. In rapid succession a shot attempt, penalty corner and score by Maren Seidel knotted the game at 2-2. On a run, Northwestern added a goal by Baekers to take a 3-2 lead at the end of the first overtime period. 

Northwestern flipped the script on the first half so that it was now Stanford’s keeper Kelsey Bing working to deny Northwestern attempts. Bing finished with a career high 14 saves in the cage. Against the run of play, Stanford tied the score at 3-3 with an impressive shot from Winter, marking her first career score. Neither team could break through before the final whistle of overtime, sending the game to a shootout. 

Stanford made the first attempt, but missed three of the next four. Northwestern squandered the first, but buried the next three in succession to claim the shootout 3-2, and open the season with a win.

Stanford will next play No. 4 Connecticut on Sunday at 11 a.m. PT.

Contact Nandini Naidu at nnaidu ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Field hockey opens 2019 season with back-to-back ranked matchups https://stanforddaily.com/2019/08/29/field-hockey-opens-2019-season-with-back-to-back-ranked-matchups/ https://stanforddaily.com/2019/08/29/field-hockey-opens-2019-season-with-back-to-back-ranked-matchups/#respond Fri, 30 Aug 2019 04:41:25 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1156905 For the third year in a row, No. 21 Stanford field hockey opens up its season with the Stanford Invitational against No. 15 Northwestern and No. 4 Connecticut. The Cardinal will host Northwestern on Friday, followed by Connecticut on Sunday.

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For the third year in a row, No. 21 Stanford field hockey (0-0, 0-0 America East) opens up its season with the Stanford Invitational against No. 15 Northwestern (0-0, 0-0 Big Ten) and No. 4 Connecticut (0-0, 0-0 Big East). The Cardinal will host Northwestern on Friday, followed by Connecticut on Sunday.

Last year, Stanford went 14-6 overall, 5-1 in conference matches, and managed to remain a top-25 team throughout the year. The Cardinal carried an eight-game win streak and defeated No. 6 Michigan (0-1-1, 0-0 Big Ten), and at the end of the year, the record-setting squad swept the America East awards. Junior Corinne Zanolli won Offensive Player of the Year, sophomore Molly Redgrove won Rookie of the Year and senior Kelsey Bing won Co-goalkeeper of the Year. Head coach Tara Danielson and assistant coaches Steve Danielson and Patrick Cota were all named the America East Coaching Staff of the Year.

Among other successes, Bing went on to compete in the Pan American games, helping the US National Team bring home a bronze medal in early August. 

Zanolli was named a Longstreth/National Field Hockey Coaches Association second-team All-American, a fitting reward for someone who nearly doubled her goals scored between her freshman and sophomore years. With 26 goals and 59 points, Zanolli had a remarkable sophomore campaign. She was ranked second in the nation offensively, led Stanford in offensive stats and set a new school scoring record for a single season.

The Cardinal introduces five new freshmen this year: Keeley Akagi, Megan Frost, Caroline Reinhart, Lynn Vanderstichele and Rose Winter. Despite all of the Cardinal’s potential and raw talent, rookie and veteran, the fact remains that Stanford has not won a season opener since 2014. 

And the opening competition on Friday won’t give the Cardinal an easy out to break this trend. Northwestern has beat Stanford in six of the past 11 matches, including the previous two. Most recently, the Wildcats’ Saar de Breij popped in a goal against Stanford to secure a 3-2 double-overtime victory on Aug. 26, 2018.

Connecticut may prove to be an even more formidable opponent on Sunday. The Huskies have taken nine of the past 10 games against Stanford. At the last bout between good and evil, the Huskies beat Stanford 3-0 on Aug. 25, 2018, solidifying a five-game winning streak against our heroes in red. Unsurprisingly, the Huskies went 19-4 last season, winning their seventh-straight Big East tournament title and advancing to the NCAA national quarterfinals.

As for the rest of the season, Stanford starts off with a series of home matches against Quinnipiac (0-0, 0-0 Big East) and Michigan before turning to the Northeast for some action against Brown (0-0, 0-0 Ivy) and Harvard (0-0, 0-0 Ivy). The Cardinal will then find itself going from Durham, New Hampshire — where they will play New Hampshire (0-0, 0-0 America East) and Vermont (0-0, 0-0 America East) — to Durham, North Carolina, where they will play Duke (0-0, 0-0 ACC). In mid-October, the Cardinal will take another stop at Columbus and Louisville before settling back in California until tournament season flares up.

As of now, this weekend’s opponents are the only two ranked teams that Stanford will compete against this season. The Cardinal is slated to play against rival Cal Berkeley (0-0, 0-0 America East) on Sept. 20 at Stanford and Oct. 22 at Berkeley. The Cardinal last defeated their nemesis at UC Davis in a close 3-2 match — Stanford has won 11 out of the past 13 matches against the Golden Bears. Zanolli netted two goals at this last match.

The saga of fockey titans begins with a match against Northwestern Aug. 30 at 11 a.m. PT on Varsity Turf. The game against Connecticut will take place Sept. 1 at 11 a.m. PT at Stanford as well.

Contact Arman Kassam at armank ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Field hockey falls to Maine in America East semifinals https://stanforddaily.com/2018/11/05/field-hockey-falls-to-maine-in-america-east-semifinals/ https://stanforddaily.com/2018/11/05/field-hockey-falls-to-maine-in-america-east-semifinals/#respond Mon, 05 Nov 2018 10:25:51 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1146279 On Saturday, No. 22 Stanford field hockey (14-6, 5-1 America East) was knocked out of the conference tournament in the semifinal game against No. 18 Maine (16-4, 5-3 America East) with a 0-3 decision. The Cardinal, thrown off by the Black Bears’ early lead, could not secure a goal despite taking more shots and ramping up the pressure in the second half. The Black Bears went on to the final match of the tournament but lost to No. 1 Albany (16-4, 6-2 America East) with a 0-2 result.

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On Saturday, No. 22 Stanford field hockey (14-6, 5-1 America East) was knocked out of the conference tournament in the semifinal game against No. 18 Maine (16-4, 5-3) with a 0-3 decision. The Cardinal, thrown off by the Black Bears’ early lead, could not secure a goal despite taking more shots and ramping up the pressure in the second half. The Black Bears went on to the final match of the tournament but lost to No. 1 Albany (16-4, 6-2t) with a 0-2 result.

Although there were a few hiccups in Stanford’s quarterfinal game against New Hampshire (6-12, 3-5), the Cardinal were still able to take the day at 4-3. That first tournament game started great for Stanford, which was able to set the pace for the game with a two-point lead by halftime, but the Cardinal let their guard down and allowed New Hampshire to rack up a hat trick in the second half.

A similar offensive barrage was seen in the semifinal match against Maine. Black Bear defender Samantha Wagg tallied up three goals within a 10-minute timespan. Wagg made a total of six shots and found the net first in the 26th minute off of a penalty corner, and then again in the 29th minute off of a deflection. The last goal, won by a penalty stroke, happened only 25 seconds into the second period; Stanford had not seen a barrage like this since the beginning of its season, when it dropped a 0-3 decision to then-No. 1 Connecticut (18-3, 7-0 Big East).

At first glance, the Black Bears appear to have dominated the field entirely, but Stanford put up quite a fight. Junior goalkeeper Kelsey Bing made six saves, including an incredible dive in the 47th minute mark that kept the Cardinal in the game. Her playing exuded her determination: Right after Bing made that jaw-dropping save, she bounced right back up, slammed her stick into her pads and celebrated with her teammates. She did not have to say anything to communicate what she meant: Stanford was going to fight.

And fight they did. Sophomore attacker Corinne Zanolli, with an astronomical 26 goals this season (second in the nation), made a game-high seven shots. Zanolli was also recently named America East offensive player of the year. Freshman defender Molly Redgrove, who scored the winning goal for the quarterfinal match, made four shots against Maine as well. Stanford’s efforts were reflected in its dominance over the Black Bears in terms of shots (13-12) and penalty corners (10-5). In the second half alone, Stanford outshot Maine 10-3 and took eight penalty corners, but Maine still did not yield.

The Black Bears’ concrete defense could not help them against Albany’s 2-0 victory the following day. The Great Danes swiped their third America East Championship in five years and automatically received a bid for the NCAA tournament.

Stanford aspired for their third America East title — last year they won the final match against New Hampshire with a 4-1 decision. Given the success of this year’s squad, another title did not seem out of reach. The Cardinal women achieved 3.10 goals per game, scored about a quarter of all of the shots they made and shot with more than 60 percent accuracy. Maine may have had a better record this season, but the Cardinal came into the game with all the finesse and talent they needed to win.

After that third Black Bear goal, it seemed like Maine was a boulder headed right down to crash into the Cardinal. It seemed like there was nothing Stanford could do. But the Cardinal stood their stance and stopped that rock. Through the muck of a goal deficit, Stanford persevered and achieved an honorable finish for such a legendary season.

This team is a pantheon of titans. They, who shook the ground with every strike and save, never had or expected a simple game. They thrived off of surprise and suspense. Every victory was hard-fought, every battle was gritty, every bout called for interventions so miraculous that they defied the laws of physics. The guardians of Varsity Turf may have been dethroned in this one clash, but they have not been dethroned forever. Only three Cardinal players graduate this year, meaning the heart of this squad will remain largely unchanged. Indeed, these titans will only grow more as they prepare for the 2019 season, and they will reign victorious and persevere just like they did this season — just like they did this game. They will fight.

 

Contact Arman Kassam at armank ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Field hockey squeaks through America East quarterfinals https://stanforddaily.com/2018/11/02/field-hockey-squeaks-through-america-east-quarterfinals/ https://stanforddaily.com/2018/11/02/field-hockey-squeaks-through-america-east-quarterfinals/#respond Fri, 02 Nov 2018 09:03:43 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1146125 No. 22 Stanford field hockey (14-5, 5-1 America East) triumphed over the University of New Hampshire (6-12, 3-5 America East) in a close 4-3 quarterfinal game in the America East conference tournament. The Cardinal started off strong with a 2-0 lead at the end of the first half, but the Wildcats retaliated with a hat trick of their own. Stanford was finally able to secure the victory after a late-game finisher by freshman defender Molly Redgrove.

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No. 22 Stanford field hockey (14-5, 5-1 America East) triumphed over the University of New Hampshire (6-12, 3-5 America East) in a close 4-3 quarterfinal game in the America East conference tournament. The Cardinal started off strong with a 2-0 lead at the end of the first half, but the Wildcats retaliated with a hat trick of their own. Stanford was finally able to secure the victory after a late-game finisher by freshman defender Molly Redgrove.

The Cardinal have been on a roll this season, claiming the top seed in the conference tournament after earning a 5-1 intra-conference record and recording a flurry of phenomenal individual performances. Among the superstars of the Stanford squad, junior goalkeeper Kelsey Bing has thwarted countless enemy shots with jaw-dropping reflexes, and sophomore attacker Corinne Zanolli, who was recently named America East offensive Player of the Year, has dominated the field with a whopping 24 goals this regular season (second in the nation). All things considered, Stanford was in position to start off this tournament with an easy win.

In the third minute of the first period, Zanolli scored a goal off of a penalty corner and set the pace of the game. Stanford’s early lead was backed up by another goal from senior attacker and team captain Emma Christus, who shot in the top-left corner and landed her seventh goal of the season. The Cardinal’s exceptional offensive plays were also coupled by Bing’s bulwark, which did not let a single Wildcat attempt through.

But just when the Cardinal thought an easy win was within their grasp, the second half of this game became anything but easy. Twenty seconds into the period, Wildcat attacker Finn Caron cut the Cardinal lead in half with a deflection into net. Five minutes later, attacker Bloem van den Brekel tied the game with a goal off of a sneaky penalty corner. The Cardinal were locked in a back-and-forth with a feline opponent that came out like a passive Persian cat and then somehow transformed into a passionate panther.

The stalemate was finally dissolved in the 49th minute after Zanolli scored her 26th goal this season, capitalizing on a penalty corner and putting the Cardinal up 3-2. This momentary high was promptly subdued by another goal from the Wildcats’ Finn Caron. Kelsey Bing dove towards the ball, attempting to confront the action before it confronted her. Caron was just able to slip past Bing, notch the point and tie the game, 3-3.

Shortly after, the gritty back-and-forth resumed. This deadlock was broken only after a penalty corner for the Cardinal, which resulted in the sixth goal of the season for freshman defender Molly Redgrove. Both teams knew what was at stake with only seven minutes left, and the Cardinal kept up the pressure. Stanford almost scored again off of a penalty corner and Zanolli made another marvelous attempt a little later on, but the intensity of the game reached a maximum after the Wildcats subbed out their goalie to increase their chances of an offensive play. Senior midfielder Kennedy Schumacher broke away towards the empty Wildcat net and shot on goal, but out of nowhere, one of the Wildcats threw themselves forward to block the shot at the last second. The game finished not as an easy Stanford victory, but as a close match between a traditional favorite and a tireless underdog. As predicted, the Cardinal drove the Wildcats back to their frosty New Hampshire forests, but not without a little trouble along the way.

On Saturday, Stanford will gear up for a semifinal match against the winner of Friday’s game between No.18 Maine and Berkeley.

 

Contact Arman Kassam at armank ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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America East Field Hockey Championship begins https://stanforddaily.com/2018/11/01/america-east-field-hockey-championship-begins/ https://stanforddaily.com/2018/11/01/america-east-field-hockey-championship-begins/#respond Thu, 01 Nov 2018 11:31:50 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1146050 With the conclusion of the field hockey regular season this past Sunday, the 2018 America East Field Hockey Championship bracket has been determined and has eight teams heading to Stanford University for the tournament, which takes place November 1st through 4th. The first game for No. 22 Stanford (13-5, 5-1 America East) is on Thursday, November 1st at 1PM PST. against the No. 36 New Hampshire Wildcats (6-11, 3-5 America East).

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With the conclusion of the field hockey regular season this past Sunday, the 2018 America East Field Hockey Championship bracket has been determined and has eight teams heading to Stanford University for the tournament, which takes place Nov. 1-4. The first game for No. 22 Stanford (13-5, 5-1 America East) is on Thursday, November 1st at 1 p.m. against the No. 36 New Hampshire Wildcats (6-11, 3-5 America East).

For fourth straight season, Stanford and No. 28 Pacific (11-7, 5-1 America East) share the West Division title, with both teams finishing the regular season with 5-1 conference records. However, the Stanford Cardinal claim the top seed by out-scoring the Pacific Tigers 5-4 in their two regular season matches, pushing the Tigers to the second seed. No. 29 Cal (5-11, 2-4 America East) and No. 60 UC Davis (6-12, 0-6 America East) take the third and fourth seeds, respectively, in the west.

On the east coast, No. 21 UAlbany (13-4, 6-2 America East) takes the top seed for the fourth-straight season. With a 3-0 sweep against No. 43 Vermont (8-10, 4-4 America East) last Sunday, the Great Danes have trounced the majority of the East Division this season, adding to their five consecutive years of eastern dominance. Making its first tournament since 2015, the Vermont Catamounts are the third seed with the New Hampshire Wildcats squeezing themselves into the champions as the fourth seed with a loss by UMass Lowell to Maine on Sunday.

Coming off a 1-2 loss to Pacific last Friday, the Cardinal is fired up and out for redemption, boasting a crew of talented players, with freshman Lily Croddick earning the Rookie of the Week title for the first time this past week after scoring one of three goals for the Cardinal in 3-0 win against UC Davis last Wednesday.

Currently on a three win streak high, the New Hampshire Wildcats will gear up for a fierce brawl as they stick it out to grab a place on Saturday’s semi-final game at 12 p.m. This match, however, will be no catfight as the fiery Cardinal spirit will drive the Wildcats back to their frosty New Hampshire forests.  

 

Contact Asia Zhang at asiaz ‘at’ stanford.edu

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