April 13, 2008
With a win already secured the previous afternoon in Albany against Vermont, the Cardinal went for two in a row in New York, but fell 13-9 to the Cornell Big Red in Ithaca, NY. The loss came despite big days from senior Daphne Patterson and senior goalkeeper Laura Shane. Patterson scored four goals in the contest and Shane added to her stellar season with 14 more saves.
The first half started well for the Cardinal as they scored four of the first five goals and took a 4-1 lead, 12 minutes into the match. Patterson scored three of the first four goals and assisted on the fourth, which was on a shot from sophomore Claire Hubbard. The Big Red responded with two goals of their own, but the Cardinal still remained in front by the score of 4-3. Senior Megan McClain scored her first goal of the match two minute later, and Patterson netted her fourth of the half to extend the lead back out to 6-3.
At this point was when the Cardinal started to lose control of the match, when they allowed Cornell to score the next six goals, which covered a 10 minute span of the match. The Cardinal was in front 6-5 with a minute remaining, but the Big Red scored two goals within the last 30 seconds of the half to go into the break with a 7-6 lead and momentum in their locker room.
Stanford came out of the halftime locker room hoping to turn it around in the second half, but the Big Red attack continued to cause problems for the Stanford defense. Cornell scored six of the first seven goals of the first half to take a commanding 13-6 lead. The run was keyed by Katherine Simmons, who scored three goals during the run.
Late goals by freshman Karen Nesbitt and McClain cut into the lead, but weren't enough as the Cardinal fell by the final score of 13-9. Stanford was out shot in the match 38-19 and Cornell goalkeeper Renee Hughes was forced to only make two saves on the afternoon.
The Cardinal now prepares to face University of Denver next Sunday, Apr. 20. The match against their biggest MPSF rival is set to start at 1:00 p.m. PT.