Stockton, Calif. – The Pacific Tigers defeated the No. 12 Stanford Cardinal 1-0 Friday afternoon, recording their first win over a ranked opponent this season and moving into second place in the America East West Division standings.  Pacific is now 8-6 on the season and 2-1 in conference.  Stanford falls to 9-5 overall and 1-2 in conference.

The win came after Pacific honored their three previous coaches in a pregame ceremony, unveiling a bronze tiger outside the Pacific Field Hockey Turf to thank Doris Meyer, Carla Konet, and Linda MacDonald for all they did for the program.  "We had three pioneers of Pacific field hockey back today and what they witnessed was something really special," said Coach Andy Smith about the team's victory.

The Cardinal appeared to score first early on in the game when a shot from outside the circle was deflected into the net.  The referees waved the goal off, however, and the score remained knotted at zero.  From there, the Tigers were able to create offensive pressure and earn multiple corners, ending the half with five shots.

The only goal of the game came on Pacific's second corner at 31:44.  Rylee Comeau sent the ball in to Katherine Egan before rushing to the goalmouth to try for a deflection.  Egan stopped the ball for Savannah Burns, who fired away from the top of the circle.  The low shot made it to the left corner of the goal, where Comeau was able to tip the ball high as Stanford's Dulcie Davies dove for the save attempt.  The goal was Comeau's third this year.

The game took on a see-saw pace from there, with each team forcing the other into tough shots and creating turnovers in the midfield.  The Cardinal managed eight shots in the second half and 13 total but were turned aside by Laura Pujade at every opportunity, as the junior made five saves en route to her fifth shutout this year.  "I thought Stanford played really well, they're a good team and they're very well coached," said Smith about the opposition.

"We executed the gameplan superbly, I thought we played really well and proved ourselves," said Smith.  The Tigers were able to pressure the ball throughout the game and kept Stanford away from dangerous areas for the most part, getting sticks in the way of shots.  Kelsey Gulledge knocked a shot away in front of the net late in the second half, ending a Stanford scoring chance.  It was one of many blocks for the Tigers in the game.

"We played with one of the best teams in the country and beat them," said Smith of the performance against the 12^th-ranked Cardinal.  "What you saw today is us playing the Pacific style of hockey and I'm really proud of this group."

The Tigers will be back on the turf this Sunday as they host the UC Davis Aggies at 2:00 pm.  Smith emphasized the importance of the next few games, saying that "we've got three conference games left and we've got to take care of business."

Make sure to follow Pacific field hockey on Twitter with the username @PacificTigersFH and on Instagram at pacifictigersfh.