No. 5 field hockey earns two more wins ahead of three-game road trip

If early returns are any indication, it’s looking like Stanford field hockey might be one of the most exciting tickets on The Farm this season.

Maddie Secco (right) has perhaps been the Cardinal’s most valuable player so far this season, as she’s notched half of the team’s total goals in its first four games. Most recently, the senior midfielder assisted Jessica Chisholm’s overtime goal against Miami (OH) that earned the Cardinal the win. (HECTOR GARCIA MOLINA/stanfordphoto.com)

After the No. 5 Cardinal (3-1) played the first back-to-back overtime games in program history to open their season, they continued to provide strong defensive performances over the weekend in a pair of 1-0 victories against Indiana and Miami (OH) at the Varsity Turf.

In the Cardinal’s first game of the weekend on Friday, Indiana (2-3) seemed to play to an advantage in the first half, keeping Stanford on its heels while pressuring the Cardinal with 5 corners and 7 shots. However, senior goalkeeper Dulcie Davies maintained her strong streak of play to start the year with 4 big saves in the half to keep Indiana off the board while Stanford’s offense fought back.

“We were a little impatient at the back and disjointed through the midfield,” said head coach Tara Danielson. “The good part is we have a team that’s going to fight even when they don’t have the momentum.”

And fight back they did. Senior Maddie Secco, who had scored in each of the Cardinal’s first two games of the season, broke through the Hoosiers’ defense in the 24th minute on one of her four shots on the afternoon to net the Cardinal a 1-0 lead.

“Maddie executes her role well,” Danielson said. “She has a lot of experience and you can see when she gets inside the 20 that she is going to make something happen.”

That goal proved to be the game-winner, as Stanford’s defense buckled down and suffocated the Indiana offense in the second half, not yielding a corner while only letting the Hoosiers get three of their 10 shots off after the break. Davies didn’t need to record another save after the half en route to her first shutout of the season.

“They weren’t clicking but they stuck it out,” Danielson said. “The challenge for this team is to be more consistent.”

That consistency showed, particularly on defense, as the Cardinal completed their four-game homestand to begin the season with a 1-0 victory over Miami (OH) (3-2) that required overtime even though Stanford dominated the stat sheet.

Although Stanford controlled the first half, holding a 6-0 advantage in corners and an 8-1 shot advantage over the RedHawks, the Miami defense held firm to deny the Cardinal on each of their numerous opportunities. That advantage continued after the break, with Stanford unleashing a flurry of shots on goal that resulted in five saves from Miami goalkeeper Alyssa Xavier, the nation’s sixth-best goalie in save percentage.

“We had 10 corners and lots of opportunities,” Danielson said. “It’s all there for us; we just have to refine our play inside the circle and capitalize on our opportunities in the attacking end.”

After the defenses held firm to take the game into overtime, senior Jessica Chisholm finally broke through off a Stanford penalty corner with under five minutes to go in the first overtime period with her first goal of the season and Stanford’s second overtime victory of the season.

The 1-0 victory secured the second consecutive shutout for Davies, who sits at seventh in the nation with her .857 save percentage. It also marked the second consecutive game in which Stanford held the advantage in both shots and penalty corners.

“The team stepped up today and everyone did their role well,” Danielson said. “It’s early in the season so it was great to see a different style of play. It took us some time to adjust but we were patient in the backfield and created opportunities down the sidelines.”

The pair of victories for the Cardinal led to their rise from No. 6 to No. 5 in the NFHCA poll. Stanford is the second-most highly ranked one-loss team in the nation behind just No. 4 Duke.

Her goal notwithstanding, Chisholm was also named the America East Field Hockey Defensive Player of the Week for her contributions to Stanford’s pair of shutouts over the weekend.

Stanford will now take to the road for the first time this season when it heads to Iowa for a three-game set over the weekend featuring matchups against No. 15 Iowa on Thursday, Saint Louis on Saturday and Kent State on Sunday.

The Hawkeyes (2-2) are coming off of an up-and-down weekend that saw them blow out Richmond 5-1 before getting upended by James Madison in a 4-1 defeat. Iowa is led by the two-headed attack of Stephanie Norlander and Makenna Grewe, who each have 3 goals. However, the Hawkeyes are vulnerable to giving up points in bunches due to the struggles of goalkeeper Alexandra Pecora, who has allowed 8 goals on 25 shots on goal.

Stanford should be heavily favored in both of its other games, with Saint Louis bringing an 0-5 record into the weekend and Kent State sitting at 1-2, with its two losses coming by a combined score of 11-1.

The Iowa game on Thursday will be broadcasted on the Big Ten Networks, while the other two games will not be televised but will be available for live streaming.

Contact Do-Hyoung Park at dhpark ‘at’ stanford.edu.