ORONO, Maine – Haley Mossmer tallied Stanford's first hat trick since 2020, and Stanford field hockey upset top-seeded No. 23 Maine, 3-1, on its home turf in the America East semifinals. Stanford improves to 10-8 this season and will play for its fifth America East championship in the last seven seasons.
Haley Mossmer scored a career-best three goals, representing Stanford's first hat trick since Corinne Zanolli had three goals in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on April 30, 2021 against Miami. The junior has a league-best four goals in the America East tournament, and has scored seven goals in the last six games and nine goals in the last nine games. The hat trick is Stanford's first in an America East tournament contest in program history, and the first for any team in the tournament since 2018.
"It feels amazing (to score a hat trick)!" said Mossmer. "It's really exciting to watch all of our hard work and team building come to fruition. We had a bit of a slow start to the season but we came into the tournament with a lot of confidence and belief in our abilities, and I think this mentality has really come to life in our game."
Lynn Vanderstichele had a career-high two assists, while Molly Redgrove also dished a helper in the opening quarter. Daisy Ford and Kendall Dowd split the action between the posts, making two and three saves, respectively.
"Heart and belief put us on the front foot today," said head coach Roz Ellis. "Maine is a very strong side, we knew we'd need a full team effort with our defensive presence and attacking with numbers."
After a scoreless first period, Mossmer put the Cardinal in front with a tipped effort past the Maine goalkeeper. Redgrove fired the initial shot for her second assist of the year. There were only five combined shots in the first half, and the Cardinal led 1-0 at the break.
Mossmer scored her second of the day in the 42nd minute, coming on the counter after a feed from Vanderstichele. The junior from La Jolla smoothly slotted it into the lower corner, giving her a multi-goal game for the third time in her career. Seven minutes later, Mossmer completed the hat trick with a tap in from a shot from Vanderstichele, giving her 11 goals on the season.
Maine added a consolation tally with 22 seconds to go, but the Cardinal advanced to the tournament championship with the 3-1 win.
Stanford will play the winner of second-seeded Albany and sixth-seeded New Hampshire on Sunday, Nov. 6 in Orono. The game will air on ESPN+ at 9 a.m. PT.