April 22, 2006
Baltimore, Md. - The No. 19 Cardinal women's lacrosse team claimed victory over the Loyola Greyhounds this afternoon in a close 13-12 decision played at Geppi-Aikens Field in Baltimore. The hard-fought match included eight lead changes and nine ties, but the Cardinal succeeded in downing the Greyhounds for just the second time in school history. With the win, Stanford's third straight, the squad improves to 8-5 on the season. The Greyhounds were handed their first loss since April 2 and fall to 6-7.
Loyola senior Kate McHarg took control of the game early, leading her team to a 3-1 advantage in the first eight minutes of play. Yet Stanford quickly answered the Greyhounds' early energy with a three-goal scoring run to take a 4-3 lead. Senior Sarah Bach notched three of her four goals in the first 12 minutes of play to carry the Cardinal in the opening minutes. Loyola was not fazed by the Stanford surge, however, and outscored the Cardinal 4-1 over a ten minute span to reclaim the lead. Senior Megan Burker netted a pass from Liz Piselli to finish the first half, but the Cardinal went into the break trailing, 7-6.
The second half continued with the squads trading scoring runs. McHarg carried the Greyhounds with three goals to start the second half, while Burker and Piselli opened the period with two apiece. Bach capped a Stanford scoring streak with 6:42 left to play to give her team a late 12-10 advantage. Loyola had far from conceded, however, as Kate Filippelli and Emily Lawrence scored within two minutes of each other to bring the match into a late tie.
With the score knotted at 12, Stanford head coach Michele Uhlfelder took a timeout set up the game-winning possession and rally her team. Her pep talk worked, as sophomore Bri Ned battled for the most crucial draw control of the game and gave the Cardinal a chance at the win. On the first trip down the field, Bach launched a high pass from behind the cage to sophomore Anna Brown. The Denver, Colo. native caught the pass and sent it past Loyola goalkeeper Alex Piraino for the first game-winner of her career. Stanford's rock solid defense allowed the Cardinal to hold on for the win.
Burker and Bach led the Cardinal with four goals each in the match while Piselli contributed a pair to the Cardinal effort. The Stanford scoring was rounded out by Brown, sophomore Daphne Patterson and freshman Maris Perlman. Six Cardinal players were credited with assists in the match. Loyola was led by the seven goals of McHarg, who stands second in the nation in goals per game.
Stanford returns to action next weekend, facing the Connecticut Huskies on April 28 and the Cornell Big Red on April 30. Friday's match is set for 7 p.m. (EST) on the University of Connecticut campus, while Sunday's match will be played at Harvard University.