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NewsvineThe Stanford field hockey team earned its fifth win of the season on Saturday, beating Davidson College 4-1 in a NorPac Conference home game. An aggressive offense and a stellar performance by junior goalie Madison Bell enabled the Cardinal to walk away with the decisive victory.
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The Cardinal (5-8, 2-1 NorPac) got off to a solid start when sophomore Caroline Hussey took a pass from sophomore Baily Richardson and scored her first goal of the season in the 11th minute. The Wildcats (4-8, 1-1) responded quickly with a goal by Britti Himelfarb, but did not score again in the game. With a minute left in the first half, senior Aska Sturdevan scored to bring the Cardinal to a 2-1 halftime lead.
Stanford dominated the second half, with senior Liz Robinson scoring two goals off of assists by Hussey and junior Jess Zutz.
Before the victory, the Cardinal had lost its two previous games by 3-2 margins against Pacific and Cal, but both the offense and the defense stepped up to stop that trend this weekend. After taking 12 shots against Pacific and just 10 against Cal, Stanford had 23 shots on Davidson’s goalie Brittany Rolleck — the Cardinal’s second highest shot total of the season. And while Bell made four saves each in the Pacific and Cal games, she raised the bar with 13 against the Wildcats. It marked the third time this season that Bell has recovered double-digit saves.
The Stanford field hockey team, particularly the defensive unit, has received a number of accolades this season and proved this weekend that those awards were well earned. Just a week ago, Bell was named NorPac Defensive Player of the Week for the fourth time this season. She is ranked 21st in the nation in saves per game, with an average of 6.77.
In addition, freshman defender Nora Soza was recently named NorPac Co-Defender of the Week and freshman Rachel Mozenter was NorPac Rookie of the Week.
The Cardinal play Appalachian State (1-11, 3-0) in the final NorPac Conference home game of the season, this Thursday at the Stanford Varsity Field Hockey Turf. The Mountaineers’ only win came in their most recent game, a 3-0 victory against Catawba.
The last time the Cardinal faced the Mountaineers was in the quarterfinals of the 2005 NorPac Conference Tournament, which ended with a 5-1 Stanford victory.
Thursday's game will end the Cardinal’s home season. The team’s five seniors, Katherine Brooks, Liz Robinson, Jamie Hais, Julia Drewes and Aska Sturdevan will be honored in a ceremony before the game.