March 12, 2006
Stanford, Calif. - The Stanford women's lacrosse team extended its unbeaten streak against conference opponent Saint Mary's this afternoon, with an 18-7 win over the Gaels. Stanford now leads the overall series between the two programs 17-0. Now riding a three-game winning streak, the Cardinal improves to 5-2 overall and 2-1 in conference play. Saint Mary's was handed just their second loss of the season and falls to 2-2 overall and 1-2 in the MPSF.
Stanford took control of the game early, netting the first two goals of the match within 17 seconds of each other in the fourth minute. Sarah Bach notched the first goal for the Cardinal on a pass from Michelle DeChant. On the next possession, the senior launched a well-placed pass to Megan McClain to give the Cardinal an early two-goal lead. After midfielder Jackie Spencer put Saint Mary's on the board just a minute later, the Cardinal rallied to outscore the Gaels 6-1 in the next ten minutes. Junior Liz Piselli led another four-goal run by the Cardinal to close out the first half. Sophomore Daphne Patterson capped the run with her first goal of the afternoon to send Stanford into the break holding its largest halftime margin of the season, 12-4.
Patterson opened the second half just as she had closed the first, netting a goal just over a minute after resuming play. Senior Megan Burker and freshman Bis Fries tallied goals early in the first half as well, to give the Cardinal a commanding 11-goal lead. Saint Mary's reduced the deficit with a brief 3-1 run led by sophomore Chloe Dee, but it was not enough to stop the onslaught of Cardinal scoring. Piselli netted a goal late in the second half before feeding Patterson four minutes later. Stanford finished the game with 18 goals from ten different players and their largest margin of victory so far in 2006.
In total, Stanford bombarded Saint Mary's with 36 shots and forced the team to turn the ball over 15 times. Piselli, DeChant and Maris Perlman each collected three ground balls for the Cardinal while standout goalkeeper Laura Shane recorded six saves. Burker won a career-high seven draw controls for the Cardinal, the second highest single-game total ever for a Stanford player.
Stanford was led in scoring by Patterson, who scored three of her four goals in the second half. Piselli recorded a hat trick to go along with two assists while Bach contributed a pair of goals and a pair of assists. Burker also netted two while junior Jessica Verrilli recorded the first multiple-goal performance of her career, also with two on the afternoon. Perlman, McClain, Fries, Anna Brown, and Bryanne Gilkinson all tallied goals for Stanford as well. Dee and Spencer led the Gael scoring effort with two goals apiece.
The Cardinal will spend next week preparing for a March 25 match-up with No. 1 Northwestern. The contest will mark the last regularly scheduled home match for the Cardinal. Action is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. at Maloney Field.