GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Eight-consecutive goals and 38 minutes of shutdown defense provided the No. 10/9 Cardinal enough to earn an NCAA Tournament First Round win on Friday night as Stanford dispatched No. 22 Denver, 10-4, from Donald R. Dizney Field. The win is the first NCAA postseason win in the Danielle Spencer era and the first for the Cardinal since 2016.
Stanford showed its offensive prowess in the early going, bouncing back from an early deficit with Jorydn Case and Martha Oakey finding twine in the first five minutes of the game. However, Denver was quick to jump back on the attack, stymying the Cardinal for the remainder of the first quarter as the Pioneers jumped out to a 3-2 lead.
Following the break, Denver found twine for its fourth goal of the game with 7:39 remaining in the first half. It was the final goal of the game for Denver.
Down by two, Stanford found offense from its familiar faces starting with Lindsey Devir notching an unassisted goal, working her way through traffic to cut the deficit to one.
DEVIR!!!
— Stanford Lacrosse (@StanfordWLax) May 9, 2025
Fight through contact and bury it!
2Q | 3:53 | STAN 3-4 DEN pic.twitter.com/PYGmzP1SXe
Aliya Polisky opened her account for the evening in the waning moments of the half, notching her 60th of the season with 33 seconds to go to pull level, 4-4.
AL1YA!!!!
— Stanford Lacrosse (@StanfordWLax) May 10, 2025
Fire it through and ties this one with 33 seconds left!!
2Q | 33.2 | STAN 4-4 DEN pic.twitter.com/r3c1yOUhAj
Stanford showed its bend-but-don’t-break defense in the second half, killing off two seperate yellow cards in the first seven minutes of the quarter to trouble the Denver offense. On the other hand, Oakey tallied her second of the game - and 20th of the season - to give Stanford the lead. Later in the frame, Case gathered her second of the game to give Stanford its largest lead heading and an eventual 6-4 lead through three quarters.
Stanford dominated the fourth quarter - as it has a majority of the season - snatching two quick goals in the first two minutes to push the lead to four. Oakey grabbed the hat trick after finishing off a feed from Case while Polisky earned her 61st with a finish off of an Arceri helper. Arceri later tallied her lone goal of the game with less than five minutes gone in the quarter with a jumping finish in front for a 9-4 lead.
With under seven to go in the frame, Polisky tallied her record-tying 62nd goal of the season, finishing off any Denver attempt of a comeback with 6:39 remaining. Defensively, Stanford tallied 15 caused turnovers across the game, headlined by Sophia Brindisi’s four caused turnovers. Lucy Pearson’s tallied six second-half saves en route to a nine-save outing for her 15th win of the season.
No. 10/9 Stanford now takes on the No. 4 seed in No. 4 Florida on Sunday, May 11. Opening draw from Donald R. Dizney Stadium is slated for at 11 a.m. ET.