Stanford women’s lacrosse overcame some occasional missteps in its offensive execution yesterday afternoon, hanging on for a 12-8 win in its midweek game against Brown at Cagan Stadium. Senior Sarah Flynn led Stanford (9-1, 1-0 MPSF) with four goals and senior Annie Read had six saves in the Cardinal net.
Although the No. 9 Cardinal seemed to struggle on offense at times, its defense held Brown (5-3, 1-1 Ivy League) to single digits on the scoreboard and led the team to victory.
Early on in the game, both teams traded goals back-and-forth. Cardinal seniors Karen Nesbitt, Leslie Foard and Lauren Schmidt put Card on the board, but Brown fired right back to tie it up at 3-3 with 17:50 left in the first half.
With 13:51 left to play before halftime, senior Sarah Flynn started a 4-0 scoring streak for Stanford. Flynn scored three of her four goals in a nine-minute period and Foard added the fourth to give Stanford a 7-3 lead. With just 14 seconds left in the half, Brown closed in on Card, scoring off a free position shot and ending the half at 7-4.
Freshman attacker Rachel Ozer started off the half with an unassisted goal at 24:50. Stanford’s staunch defense tried to control the Brown attack, but by the 13:05 mark Brown had closed the gap to 9-7.
The Cardinal didn’t let Brown hang around for long, scoring three consecutive goals on the Bears. Two of the goals came from junior Maria Fortino, who scored her fourth and fifth goals of the season. Jackie Candalaria, a sophomore, came off the bench and put the ball in the back of the net off a pass from Flynn.
Stanford outshot the Bears, 32-18, although the final score was only 12-8. Cardinal’s solid defense helped get the win, along with dominance in draw control and possession. After a season-record 27 draw controls, senior midfielder Leslie Foard now leads her team.
The Cardinal will be back at Cagan Stadium this Friday to match up against MPSF rival Cal at 7 p.m. The Bears are 2-0 in the conference, and a win against them could help Stanford take control in the MPSF.