No. 17 Stanford lacrosse (5-2, 1-0 MPSF) avoided a Saturday upset, rallying from an early first-half four-goal deficit Saturday against University of Connecticut (2-4). The 19-14 home victory against the Huskies extended the Cardinal’s win streak to five.
UConn took advantage of a relatively sluggish start from Stanford and took a 7-3 lead off of a free position goal from senior attacker Maggie Tripoldi with 12 minutes left to play until halftime. At that point, the Cardinal managed to regroup and return to form, ending the first half on a 6-1 goal run to retake the lead at the break.
The four-goal deficit matched the season-high for the Cardinal, who lost both games this season in which they went down by four goals.
After taking the lead at the end with only 2 seconds left before halftime, Stanford faced a tough battle in the second half. Yet, the squad successfully fended off the Huskies, never relinquishing their first-half lead. In the final ten minutes, they cemented their victory for good.
Once again, the Cardinal were led by a strong showing from their senior class on attack. With only a two-goal lead and 10 minutes left in the game, fifth-year attacker Anna Salemo set up senior attacker Elizabeth Cusick to cement the victory with her 13th goal on the season. With that final assist, Salemo finished the game with a two-goal, one-assist contribution.
Another senior to perform for Stanford was attacker Kelsey Muray, the team leader in scoring and assists. Murray scored 4 goals and passed for 2 assists to bring her total points–goals plus assists–to 29 on the season.
The Huskies were powered by a two-headed attack of junior Grace Nolan and senior Jacqueline Jordan who each netted four goals against a struggling Cardinal defense. In addition to their 8 combined goals, the two also totaled 3 assists, participating in 11 of the Huskies total 14 goals.
Stanford’s match against UConn evened the all-time record between the Cardinal and the Huskies at 2-2.
With the win, Stanford completed their sweep of non-conference opponents in their three-game homestand. The team will now turn their attention to an east coast road trip started against Harvard (3-1) in Cambridge. The Cardinal will the complete their series against the Ivy league against Yale (3-3, 0-1) in New Haven before entering into Mountain Pacific conference play.
All of Stanford’s lacrosse action can be followed live at gostanford.com.
Contact Lorenzo Rosas at enzor9 ‘at’ stanford.edu