BERKELEY, Calif. — Natalie Hoppe’s team-leading fourth goal of the season started the scoring but a fourth quarter flurry proved too much as the Stanford field hockey team fell in its regular season to the Cal Golden Bears, 3-1, on Thursday night.
“We were winning the ball all across the field and had tons of shots on goal,” said Susan Ewing York Director of Women’s Field Hockey head coach Roz Ellis. “Cal punished us on the counterattack and that proved the difference tonight.”
In a tightly contested game for both sides, the first quarter saw flashes of what was to come in the final 45 minutes. Serving as the aggressor early on, Stanford earned the first corner of the game to put the Golden Bears immediately on the back foot. However, Cal negated the set piece opportunity as neither side was able to find the clinical finish in the attacking end, ending the frame in a scoreless deadlock.
However, the second quarter saw both sides find the back of the cage starting with the Cardinal just under a minute into the frame. Having earned another corner to open a quarter, the Cardinal found paydirt with Natalie Hoppe slotting home a feed from Anna Ghuliani into the far corner to put the Cardinal up, 1-0.
I am happy with our PCA today,” said Ellis. “I wish we would have found more feet and earned more corners but I am happy with 1-for-4 today especially with our PCD keeping Cal off the board”
Stanford continued to hem Cal in its defensive posture for a considerable portion of the half following Hoppe’s fourth of the season. However, Cal’s counterattack proved costly in the final moments of the half as the Golden Bears leveled the scoreline.
With just over two minutes to go in the half, Cal sprung a counterattack that eventually found the stick of Holly Pears whose deft deflection inside the circle found its way past Daisy Ford and into the back of the cage. Though both sides continued threatening, Pears’ tally stood as the final goal of the half as both sides went into the break tied, 1-1.
The second half continued the same script as the second quarter in a push-and-pull affair with both sides weathering each other’s counterattack. Stanford outshot the Golden Bears 2-1 in the third quarter, but it was the brilliant play of both goalkeepers including Anya Jackson - who made her way into the game following halftime - that kept the scoreline level near the finale of the frame.
Stanford, however, thought it had taken the lead in the waning stages of the quarter after a quick counterattack of its own. With a nifty set of passes from the backline, Jenny O’Grady funneled a through ball into the path of both Maroussia Walckiers and Chantal Eiwanger that the latter took following a small feed from the former, slotting home a backhand shot that put Stanford in the lead momentarily. However, following an umpire referral the ruling was overturned, keeping the scoreline 1-1 heading into the final quarter.
In the fourth, Stanford looked poised to find the finishing touch to break the scoring drought, but it was the Golden Bears that found the breakthrough just five minutes into the quarter. On another counter, Cal made its way through the Stanford defense before slotting home its first of two goals in the frame to take a 2-1 lead.
Stanford, though, continued fighting for the tying goal, sending two shots on goal and earning two of its four corners to try and pull level in the frame. However, Cal added an insurance tally late in regulation to put the game out of reach as the Cardinal could not mount the comeback, falling 3-1.
“I am happy with our deep defense today and setting their priorities,” said Ellis. “However, defending a counterattack is on our team's defense so our team will work to be better.”
Stanford is back in action next week on Tuesday, November 4 for the first round of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Tournament. The Cardinal is locked in as the seventh seed in the tournament and will play in the 3:30 p.m. ET / 12:30 p.m. PT slot against an opponent that is to be determined.