By Carlie Tenenbaum on October 13, 2014

No. 7 Stanford (14-1, 2-0 NorPac) held on to a one-goal lead to beat No. 8 Northwestern (10-4, 4-0 Big Ten) this past Friday. The 2-1 victory brought the Cardinal to 3-0 against top-10 teams. Another close game, this one was a stubborn 1-1 draw until the 63rd minute when junior midfielder Maddie Secco netted her fifth goal of the season.

The Wildcats struck early, getting a tip-in goal from junior midfielder Caroline Troncelliti. Troncelliti redirected the shot from fifth-year senior Kelsey Thompson. That would be the only shot to beat Cardinal goalkeeper Dulcie Davies for the remainder of the game. Davies recorded six saves for the game, including two consecutive penalty corners near the end to preserve the Cardinal victory.

After playing down by one for just over six minutes, senior midfielder Hannah Thiemann scored the first Cardinal goal. The goal marked the only conversion of their 10 penalty corners. The assists were credited to Secco and senior defender Kelsey Harbin. The rest of the first half was scoreless, but both teams remained persistent. Stanford fired off four more shots and Northwestern offered two more attempts. However, the game stayed knotted up.

Stanford has held opponents to one or fewer goals in 14 of 15 games this season. #gostanford #defense | http://t.co/2GPVplMQJF — Stanford FieldHockey (@StanfordFH) October 12, 2014

Coming out of halftime, Northwestern edged the Stanford offense, registering six shots to the Cardinal five, and recording four penalty corners to Stanford’s three. But the Wildcats were missing an essential offensive element that Stanford achieved — a goal. With just over seven minutes of play left in the game, Secco took possession at midfield. From there she charged to the cage, taking space quickly before rifling the game winner from the left side of the circle. The score gave Stanford its first lead of the game, a lead fiercely defended by Davies and the Stanford defense, fighting off two late shots and a penalty corner to secure the Cardinal victory.

Beating another top 10 team gave the Cardinal all the momentum they needed to face another tough opponent — the No. 14 Michigan Wolverines. Michigan entered the game with momentum of its own, having just upset No. 10 Iowa on the road 3-1. It wasn’t enough, however, as the Wolverines fell 2-1 to the Cardinal in an overtime thriller.

This fire showed early; Michigan got on the board in just the seventh minute of play. Freshman forward Veerle Lubbers took the ball from the left side of the field and launched a pass across the mouth of the Stanford cage. Waiting on the other end was fifth year senior Leslie Smith to tip the ball past Davies for what would be Michigan’s only goal of the contest.

Stanford fought back, with time of possession largely equal throughout the half. Michigan recorded three more shots, which Stanford countered with three of its own, but was unable to find the net. Michigan looked dangerous with a penalty corner attempt but was denied. The Wolverines were unsuccessful on all three of their corner attempts but Stanford was held without any corners.

The second half was more fruitful for the Cardinal. In the 48th minute Secco lifted an aerial from the right sideline to the cage. Freshman attacker Katie Keyser neatly collected the high ball, knocking it to the turf from above her head and finishing the play with a smooth, waist-high swing. For the second time in as many games, Stanford had tied up an early deficit, and had its eyes focused on the win. However, as the final whistle blew at the seventy-minute mark, the teams remained tied with one goal apiece.

In its fourth overtime appearance of the season, Stanford improved to 4-0 while Michigan dropped to 0-3 in extra time. Michigan took the first possession and drove to the Stanford circle, but failed to get a shot off. Stanford took control and swiftly counterattacked. Led by Secco, who registered an amazing trip with three assists and a goal, the Cardinal ran down the Michigan defense. With numbers up at the net, Secco slipped the ball to junior Lauren Becker, who knocked it in for the win.

Stanford returns home 14-1 and 5-1 against top-20 opponents. The Cardinal will face three NorPac opponents, Pacific, Cal and Davis, to close out the season. Next up will be an away game against Pacific at 3 p.m. on Friday.

Contact Carlie Tenenbaum at carliet ‘at’ stanford.edu.