MUNCIE, Ind. - Stanford field hockey opened up the season in decisive fashion on Friday, securing a 4-1 victory over Ohio at Briner Sports Complex. With the win, the Cardinal begins the season 1-0 as it prepares for Sunday's game against Ball State.
Stanford generated offensive pressure early and often against the Bobcats, jumping out to a commanding 3-0 lead at the halftime break, and adding a fourth goal in the third quarter to seal the win.
"The past two weeks, we've put a lot of focus on how we attack and the numbers we attack with," head coach Roz Ellis said. "Couldn't be more pleased of the team's offensive effort today. It shows the work that they've put in and it's great to see that work pay off."
Goal scorers for Stanford included Start Horlock, Allison Kuzyk, Kate Nemec, and Cara Sambeth. Nemec also contributed an assist alongside freshman Jenny O'Grady, while Daisy Ford tallied her first win of the season between the posts.
Stanford took an early lead with a Kuzyk backhand rattling the cage just after the five-minute mark. Horlock doubled the lead in the second quarter with a backhand of her own before Nemec registered her first career goal to further extend the advantage heading into halftime.
"We've been really confident in the work we've put in this offseason," Horlock said. "We went into the game with the mindset that this game was ours to take and it paid off today."
Ohio tallied their only goal of the game shortly after the break to pull within two goals, but Cara Sambeth responded quickly with the goal off a penalty corner to round out the game's scoring.
"It was really important to get that goal back," Sambeth said. "We've talked a lot of momentum and we lost it for a bit after their goal, but being able to score quickly after was a big step for us."
The Cardinal outshot Ohio, 15-8, in Friday's season opener and held a 6-5 edge in penalty corners.
"Feels good to start the season off positive," Ellis added. "I know it's cliche but we're going one game at a time so we'll enjoy this game for a bit, then put it in our back pocket and move on to the next."
Stanford continues the road trip on Sunday at 10 a.m. PT with a match against Ball State, which will be available to watch live on ESPN+