Championship Heartbreaker in Stroke Off

ORONO, Maine – The America East Championship went to the very end after 80 minutes was not enough, but Stanford field hockey fell in a shootout to No. 17 UAlbany, 2-1, on Sunday afternoon. The Cardinal ends its campaign at 10-9 overall.

Caroline Guden scored for the Cardinal, her second of the season, which was assisted by Cara Sambeth and Scout Butler. Daisy Ford and Kendall Dowd split the action between the posts, making two and six saves, respectively.

"They gave it their entire heart and effort," said head coach Roz Ellis. "I couldn't be more proud of the team we became over the course of the season. We truly had fun the whole time. You never want a game to end in shootouts. Albany put together a great game plan and the two teams battled it out till the end. Our seniors were our backbone, they left their mark."

After the first perod ended at 0-0, Guden put Stanford on the board in the 22nd minute on the penalty corner. Butler and Sambeth, recording their second and fourth assists of the season, set of Guden for a tip past the goalkeeper. The Cardinal led 1-0 at the break.

Stanford held strong in the second half with its 1-0 lead until the 58th minute, with Albany scoring on the penalty corner. Stanford tallied four shots across two overtime periods, while Dowd made three saves, but the game was sent to a shootout.

Sambeth sunk her attempt to open the stroke off, but Albany made three in a row, against two Cardinal misses, to win the shootout 4-1 and take a 2-1 win in the match.