STANFORD, Calif. — Stanford field hockey concludes the opening weekend of the 2025 fall slate on Sunday, battling the James Madison Dukes in the 2025 edition of the Conference Cup. First pass-back from Maryland’s Field Hockey and Lacrosse Complex in College Park, Md. for Sunday’s penultimate match is scheduled for 11 a.m. EST.
FIRST PUSH-BACK
Stanford concludes its time in the Chesapeake Bay on Sunday having fallen in the opener of the 2025 Conference Cup to hosts, No. 4 Maryland, 3-1 on Friday afternoon. The Cardinal received career performances on both fronts with Daisy Ford recording 12 saves and Summer Knight-Thompson scoring her first collegiate goal.
Entering Sunday, Daisy Ford has recorded 199 career saves after stopping 12 shots on Friday. Ford became the first Stanford goalkeeper to record at least 12 saves in a game since the 2019-20 season when Kelsey Bing stopped 12 shots against Louisville on October 15, 2019.
Summer Knight-Thompson, who was named to the NFHCA Collegiate Watchlist, became the first freshman to score in a season-opener since Rose Winter did so in the 2019 season-opener in what was a 4-3 shootout loss to #15 Northwestern (8/30/2019).
The 2025 Conference Cup features teams from four of the major field hockey conferences with Stanford being slotted as the representative from the ACC. The Cardinal is joined alongside predetermined opponents Maryland (Big Ten) and James Madison (Mid-American) while Villanova also joins the quartet out of the Big East.
Stanford enters the 2025 season following a successful maiden campaign in the Atlantic Coast Conference a season ago, finishing 8-9 (2-6 ACC) while earning a trip to the ACC Field Hockey Tournament Quarterfinals as the No. 6 seed before falling to the No. 3-seeded Boston College Eagles, 3-2. Stanford increased its win total from 2023 with four additional wins in the fall of 2024 and earned ACC wins over Wake Forest and Cal to solidify postseason field hockey.
Stanford is 14-13 in season-openers since the 1998 season following Friday’s result, amassing a 9-7 record on the road in those competitions. Stanford opened the 2024 season with a 4-1 win over Ohio in Muncie, Ind. in what culminated into a 2-0 start for the Cardinal after a 5-0 win over Ball State two days later. Stanford’s last home opener occurred in 2023 where the Cardinal opened against the Terrapins in what was a 4-0 loss on The Farm.
The Cardinal returns 23 players for the 2025 squad – including 10…
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