Oct. 10, 2004
Berkeley, Calif. - No. 12 Boston College (10-4) squeezed by Stanford (6-9) by a score of 2-1 in a neutral site non-conference field hockey contest played at the Maxwell Family Field on Sunday. The Cardinal jumped out to an early 1-0 lead on an unassisted goal by Liz Robinson but the Eagles bounced back with unassisted Crystal Frates in front of the net at 19:29. Boston College scored the game-winning goal on a penalty corner at 42:30 with Kerri Doherty picking up a goal on assist from Kristen Madden.
"We were proud of the way we played today but disappointed in the outcome because we had some chances to win this game against a good Boston College team," said Stanford head coach Lesley Irvine.
Stanford was outshot (19-4) and outcornered (8-2) by the Eagles but spent much of the second half playing in Boston College territory. Lazzari and Madden both attempted a game-high-tying four shots for the Eagles, while Robinson had three of Stanford's four shot attempts.
Stanford goalkeeper Ana Kralovec had another huge game with 10 saves, one shy of her career-high, despite suffering the loss to fall to 6-9. Aska Sturdevan helped keep the Eagles out of the cage and Stanford just a goal behind when she picked up the only defensive save of the game late in the second half at 59:17 to run her team-high defensive save season total to four and her career total at Stanford to six.
"Our entire defensive, and especially Ana Kralovec in the cage, played really well today against a lot of pressure," said Irvine.
Boston College goalkeeper Jillian Savoy improved to 10-4, recording a single save in her winning effort.
Stanford's one-goal loss marked the seventh time in nine defeats this season that the Cardinal has lost by a single goal, including each of its last four losses.
Robinson's goal increases her career-high season point total to 11 to rank her second on the team, one shy of the 12 scored to this point by team-leader Jessica Zutz. Robinson has scored in each of the team's last two games after getting the game-winner in Stanford's previous contest, a 3-2 double overtime win at Saint Louis last Monday.
Stanford will be out of action for 12 days before playing its final two games of the regular season. The Cardinal hosts Pacific in its final regular season home game on Saturday, October 23 (1:00 pm, PT) before visiting California in its final regular season contest the following Saturday, October 30 (4:00 pm, PT). Both contests are NorPac affairs.
"We're still looking for our first NorPac win," said Irvine about her squad that is 0-4 in conference action. "We are looking forward to playing well in both of these games."