Aug. 31, 2003
Stanford, Calif. - Villanova (1-1) scored three second half goals to spoil the 2003 season-opener for Stanford (0-1) in a 3-1 victory over the Cardinal on Sunday at the Varsity Field Hockey Turf. Stanford freshman Cara-Lynn Lopresti, a member of the Under-20 National Team, put the Cardinal ahead 1-0 in the first half when she scored on the first shot she attempted in a Stanford uniform. Villanova's second half goals came from Sarah Francis, Rory Rogers and Leah Lisausky.
The Cardinal retained its 1-0 lead until 45:37 when Francis tied the score at 1-1, picking up a rebound of her own shot and getting the ball by Cardinal goalkeeper Ana Kralovec, who had entered the game at halftime for starter Emily Zander. Rogers gave Villanova its first lead at 2-1 when she lifted a reverse flip into the upper right corner of the net on an assist by Sara Schmidt. Lisausky added an unassisted goal with just one second remaining on the clock (69:59) to make the final score 3-1.
Stanford had several opportunities to tie the game after Rogers gave the Wildcats a 2-1 advantage, earning seven penalty corners and outshooting Villanova, 8-0, over a period of 11:17 but failing to score.
"We came close with a couple of our opportunities to tie the contest," said Stanford head coach Lesley Irvine after her first game as the team's head coach. "It was just tough luck that we didn't get one to go in."
Villanova held a 20-12 advantage in shots for the games, including an 8-1 margin in the first half. Stanford had nine penalty corners, one more than Villanova's eight.
Villanova freshman goalkeeper Erin Scott (1-1) earned her first career victory, picking up six saves. Kralovec (0-1) recorded four saves but was credited with the goalkeeper loss for the Cardinal. Zander had five saves and held Villanova scoreless in the first half.
Stanford's Tammy Shuer and Villanova's Vanessa Pizzulli each registered a defensive save.Stanford will next be in action when the Cardinal hosts Ohio State on Tuesday (12 pm, PT).