March 11, 2006
Stanford, Calif. - The Stanford women's lacrosse team claimed its second-straight victory this afternoon, taking down the undefeated Columbia Lions 13-4 at Maloney Field. The win marked Stanford's first-ever defeat of the Columbia program and improves the Cardinal to 4-2 overall and 1-1 in the MPSF. Columbia was handed its first loss of the season and falls to 2-1 overall and 0-0 in the Ivy League.
Columbia started off the scoring early, as sophomore attacker Marisa Marcellino netted a goal for the Lions in the third minute. The goal marked just the second time this season that an opponent has struck first against the Cardinal. Stanford responded to the early attack less that a minute later, however, with a goal by sophomore Megan McClain. The Dallas native's goal ignited a 5-0 Stanford run to give the Cardinal a 5-1 lead. Sophomore Daphne Patterson led the Cardinal surge, with two of her three goals in a three minute span.
The determined Columbia squad made an attempt to battle back in the final ten minutes of the half as junior Kate Lombard and senior Carrie Anderer netted quick goals to bring the Lions back in the game. Junior Liz Piselli's unassisted goal with 2:29 left in the first half, however, ended any chance of a Lion comeback and gave the Cardinal a 6-3 lead at the break.
McClain won the draw for Stanford to open the second period of play, and the Cardinal never looked back. In the second half, the squad outscored its opponent 7-1 and took 16 shots to Columbia's 9. Senior Megan Burker came alive for the Cardinal, scoring all three of her goals in the final 30 minutes of play. The Baltimore native now leads Stanford with 14 goals and 24 total points on the year and moves into a tie for third on the Stanford career scoring chart.
Eight Cardinal players got on the board to lead a balanced Stanford attack. The squad was led by Burker and Patterson, each with a hat trick in the match. McClain notched her first multiple-goal performance of the season, with a goal in each half. Piselli, Anna Brown and Sarah Bach also contributed to the Cardinal effort with a combined three goals and two assists. Freshmen Maris Perlman and Bis Fries rounded out the Cardinal scoring, with the second and sixth goals of their young careers, respectively. The Lions were led by Anderer, their senior captain, with two goals.
As a team, the Cardinal defense forced the Lions to turn the ball over 27 times and collected 19 ground balls. Piselli carried the Cardinal defense with four caused turnovers and three ground balls while goalkeeper Laura Shane collected 10 crucial saves to hold the Lions to the lowest opponent total of the season.
Stanford returns to action tomorrow, taking on MPSF opponent Saint Mary's. The match is scheduled for 1 p.m. at Maloney Field.