The No. 15 Stanford women’s lacrosse team had a successful weekend at the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) Tournament, beating host Denver in the title game, and now returns back home for the NCAA play-in game
against Massachusetts at Laird Q. Cagan Stadium.
In Denver, the Cardinal excelled, beating No. 7 seed Fresno State in the first round of the MPSF Tournament 16-1. Stanford controlled the game from the get-go, with junior midfielder Lauren Schmidt’s goal 57 seconds into the game. The Cardinal continued to dominate for the rest of the half, scoring 12 goals in the half to take a 12-1 lead at halftime. Senior Dana Lindsay led the team with five goals, and junior goalie Annie Read made 10 saves in the win.
In the semifinals of the tournament, the Cardinal faced California, pulling out a hard-fought win over the Bears. Stanford performed well in the game, recording 43 shots, but had difficulty getting past Cal goalie Allie Shropshire, recording only nine goals in the match. Fortunately, it was enough, as the Cardinal won the match 9-7, outlasting the Bears to advance to the tournament final against No. 1 seed Denver, the only team to have defeated Stanford in conference play this season.
“We knew we needed to come out strong against Denver in the championship game,” said senior midfielder Julie Christy. “We wanted to dominate draw controls and take smart shots against their goalie. If we had possession of the ball, then Denver wouldn’t be able to score so possession starts right from the opening draw control. Once we had the ball, then it was our opportunity to score and take the lead. We also had a lot more confidence going into the championship game than earlier this month.”
Stanford started out strong in the match, outscoring Denver to take a 4-2 lead into halftime. The Pioneers battled back, however, forcing overtime as the game ended in a tie at nine. The Cardinal’s future looked bleak when just over halfway through the overtime period, Denver put in a goal to go up by one. However, Stanford refused to go away and Schmidt scored with 28 seconds left to force a sudden-death second overtime. This OT was even more exciting than the first one, with junior midfielder Karen Nesbitt scoring the winning goal with a mere five seconds left on the clock.
With the win, the Cardinal claimed its sixth straight conference title and advanced to the NCAA Tournament play-in game.
“Advancing to the NCAAs is an amazing feeling,” Nesbitt said. “Not only do we get the chance to represent Stanford and the West Coast, but we get to show the country how bomb Stanford lacrosse is and that we will not be denied.”
“The team is so excited to have the opportunity to compete for an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament,” said sophomore defender Catherine Swanson. “We are trying to make a statement that West Coast lacrosse is strong.”
Stanford will have the chance to make such a statement this weekend as it faces the Minutewomen of Massachusetts with both teams’ seasons on the line. Although Massachusetts advanced to the play-in game by winning the Atlantic-10 Tournament, the Minutewomen are not ranked and have a 10-9 record on the season.
While past meetings cannot be analyzed, as the two teams have never played one another, favoring the Cardinal is the fact that the play-in game will be played at home, this weekend at Laird Q. Cagan Stadium. Stanford is 8-1 at home this season, and its victories include impressive wins over ranked teams Ohio State and Hofstra.
“It’s an unbelievable feeling playing in front of our home crowd, and I love Maloney [Field],” Nesbitt said. “It always helps to have a crowd there supporting you . . . and dishing out some comical remarks to no one in particular. And the fact that we don’t have to travel to the East Coast is awesome.”
The play-in game starts Saturday at 1 p.m. If Stanford wins, it will automatically advance to the NCAA Tournament and will find out its spot in the 16-team field during the selection show on Sunday.