STANFORD, Calif. — Star Horlock’s second goal of the season and a late stage defensive stand paved the way for the Stanford field hockey team as the Cardinal dispelled Central Michigan on Monday afternoon, 2-1. With the win, Stanford moves to 3-0 for the first time since 2024 and matches the best start to a season since the spring 2021 campaign.
“We are happy for the three wins,” said Susan Ewing York Director of Women’s Field Hockey Roz Ellis. “However, we know what our standards are and today we found a way even if we were not up to our standards.”
Summer Knight-Thompson and Star Horlock both tallied for the Cardinal with the former snagging her first of the season. Defensively, Anya Jackson recorded a season-high seven saves while Stanford’s penalty corner defense went a perfect 6-for-6 including stopping all of CMU’s three corner chances in the final frame.
Stanford (3-0, 0-0 ACC) doubled back on its strong start from Sunday’s contest tallying just over two minutes into the contest with Summer Knight-Thompson recording her first goal of the season. On a quick counter, Grace Essalih found space along the wing and rifled a pass into the circle that Knight-Thompson corralled and fired into the cage to push Stanford ahead, 1-0.
However, Central Michigan (0-3, 0-0) stormed back into the match with four shots in the frame, the second of which finding twine as the Chippewas leveled the match on the counter. With the late frame momentum, Stanford held firm with Jackson stopping two of CMU’s three shots on frame in the period as the two sides went deadlocked into the first quarter break, 1-1.
With the visitors having stolen the momentum into the break, Stanford pushed the issue in the offensive end, recording all 13 shots of the quarter toward the CMU cage. However, CMU was equal to each of Stanford’s attempts with five saves of its own as the game went into the halftime break level, 1-1.
In the third, CMU once again found its footing, pestering the Stanford defensive zone with three shots and two penalty corners. However, Jackson and the Stanford PCD dispelled the danger while the Cardinal offense kept the Chippewa’s honest defensively as neither side could find the elusive tiebreaker leading into the fourth.
Keeping up with the see-saw of momentum, Stanford found its poise in the early going of the fourth quarter, securing another quick goal with Star Horlock’s second of the season pushing Stanford ahead. Following a Liv Martin chip in from outside the circle, Horlock controlled the pass in tight and sent a backhand past the CMU goalkeeper to regain the lead, 2-1.
CMU, however, did not go away quietly as the Stanford half quickly fell under siege. Having secured the momentum into the Stanford end, CMU earned the final few chances of the game while on the player-advantage following a Stanford green card in the final two minutes. Though the Chippewa’s had its opportunities on three separate penalty corners, Jackson’s final-minute save - alongside the defensive poise from the Cardinal - ultimately secured the 2-1 win for Stanford.
“Anya was a well-deserved ‘Player of the Game’ and she is commanding everyone to a really high standard,” said Ellis. “Our PCD was great again today and we found a way to battle through frustration, but now we get back to work.”
The Cardinal is back in action on a short week, hosting Bellarmine on Friday, September 4. First strike from Varsity Turf is slated for Noon PT.