STANFORD, Calif.— Following a career year between the posts in 2024, senior goalkeeper Daisy Ford has been named to the Preseason All-ACC Field Hockey Team, the conference announced Tuesday. As a team, Stanford was picked seventh in the ACC Preseason Field Hockey Coaches Poll after a sixth-place finish in 2024.
Ford, who recorded a career high in saves(94) and save percentage (.770), returns for her senior year on The Farm having led the ACC in saves per game a season ago, averaging 5.53 saves per game. Ford also recorded a career high four shutouts last season and had seven games recording seven or more saves. Ford helped backstop a defensive corps for the Cardinal that drastically improved in the 2024 season, trimming its goals against average from 3.02 in 2023 to 1.94 last fall.
The Cardinal, which ended its maiden campaign in the ACC with a berth in the conference’s postseason tournament, heads into the fall season picked to finish seventh according to the conference’s preseason coaches poll. Having achieved a +4 win differential a season ago, the Cardinal returns nearly 80% of its offensive production including Star Horlock (6 goals, 1 assist) and Cara Sambeth (6 goals). Stanford also returns 23 players - including 10 seniors - for the 2025 season, losing only two graduate transfers from 2024 while adding four incoming freshmen to the squad.
Perennial national championship contender North Carolina was picked to finish first, garnering six of a possible nine first-place votes and a total of 77 points. Duke is slotted in second place with two first-place votes totalling 67 points while Virginia rounds out the top three with 63 points. Boston College, who knocked out the Cardinal in last season’s ACC Tournament Quarterfinals, 3-2, earned the final first-place vote to accumulate 56 points. Syracuse is slotted fifth with 46 points followed by Wake Forest (32), Stanford (24), Louisville (23) and Cal (17).
The Cardinal begins the season with a trip to the Chesapeake Bay, taking on Maryland on August 29 followed by a tilt against James Madison on August 31 as part of the Conference Cup which features teams from the ACC (Stanford), Big Ten (Maryland), Big East (Villanova) and MAC (James Madison). Stanford takes on the Terps from the Maryland Field Hockey & Lacrosse Complex on August 29 at noon ET.
| 2025 Preseason ACC Field Hockey Coaches Poll | |
| 1. North Carolina (6) | 77 |
| 2. Duke (2) |
67 |
| 3. Virginia | 63 |
| 4. Boston College (1) | 56 |
| 5. Syracuse | 46 |
| 6. Wake Forest | 32 |
| 7. Stanford | 24 |
| 8. Louisville | 23 |
| 9. California | 17 |
| 2025 Preseason All-ACC Field Hockey Team | ||
| Liz Klompmaker | F | California |
| Alaina McVeigh | M/F | Duke |
| Izzy Bianco | M | Louisville |
| Charly Bruder | F | North Carolina |
| Sietske Bruning | M/B | North Carolina |
| Ryleigh Heck | F | North Carolina |
| Daisy Ford | GK | Stanford |
| Bo van Kempen | D | Syracuse |
| Mia Abello | M | Virginia |
| Suze Leemans | M | Virginia |
| Mia Schoenbeck | B/M | Wake Forest |