STANFORD, Calif. — A fourth quarter push from the visiting Pioneers proved too much to overcome for No. 10/9 Stanford as the Cardinal fell in its home finale to Denver, 14-9, on Sunday afternoon.
Sophomore Aliya Polisky finished the afternoon with a five-point outing. Polisky’s 14th hat trick of the season and 51st goal moves her into 7th all-time in single-season goals and is two shy of her career-high.
Having entered the final frame looking to dig into a two-goal deficit, Stanford was unable to corral the Pioneers as the visitors nabbed three goals - including both a woman-down and woman-up goal - to take a 13-8 lead with 8:24 to go.
In what was a grudging affair early on, it was Stanford that looked the better of the two sides, earning a 4-2 lead with under five to play in the first quarter. Aliya Polisky and Rylee Bouvier traded goals twice for the Cardinal - including Polisky’s team leading 50th to take its first lead of the afternoon - as Stanford jumped on the visitors. However, Denver fought back late in the quarter to level the scoreline at four heading into the second.
In the second, Stanford capitalized on its early opportunities as Amanda Lawson collected her fourth of the season on a give-and-go from Polisky while on the tail end of a woman-up opportunity. Elise Murphy followed that up with an arching bounce shot that beat Denver’s Lexi Gwaku as the sophomore soared into the air and slotted home the shot to give the hosts a 6-4 advantage. Denver, though, stopped the potential run just over two minutes later before taking on two goals later in the quarter to take a 7-6 lead into the halftime break.
Looking to mount a comeback, Stanford earned another woman-up opportunity but could not convert as Denver came back to take a two-goal lead with just over two minutes elapsed into the quarter. Stanford, though, continued to fight well into the quarter with Martha Oakey and Ava Arceri bookended a Pioneer tally to bring the Denver lead within one. Unfortunately for the Cardinal, Denver’s Olivia Ripple pushed the lead back to two with 93 seconds left in the quarter as the Cardinal entered the fourth down 10-8.
With Denver in the drivers’ seat, holding on to a 13-8 lead that it took within seven minutes into the quarter, the Pioneers pushed the game nearly out of reach as Ripple slotted a shot past Lucy Pearson to take a 14-8 lead with 4:38 remaining. Polisky nabbed the hat trick in an attempted comeback for the Cardinal with her 51st of the season but the visitors controlled the remaining moments of the match, earning the win as Stanford fell at home, 14-9.
Defensively, Stanford amassed 11 caused turnovers on the afternoon with Bouvier leading the charge with three caused turnovers to her name. Pearson collected seven saves while Lawson led the way on the draw circle, tabbing four of Stanford’s 13 draw controls to her account.
Stanford is back in action this week, partaking in its regular season finale against Bay Area opposition, Cal, on Thursday, April 17. Opening draw is slated for 4 p.m. PT.