Feb. 25, 2012
STANFORD, Calif. - No. 6 Stanford earned a huge come-from-behind win over No. 9 James Madison on Saturday afternoon at Cagan Stadium. The Cardinal trailed by five goals at half, but came through with a big second half to win 14-13.
The Cardinal took its first lead with just 6:53 to play in the second half, but quickly relinquished it as James Madison refused to go away. However, in the final minute Emile Boeri tied the score and Anna Kim gave Stanford the win with just nine seconds to play.
"I thought it was a great team effort," said head coach Amy Bokker. "We really have been working on possessing the ball and we did a good job of that today. We wanted to put ourselves in position to win by making our opponent defend us. We had good discipline and poise today and did a good job of fighting for draw controls."
The Cardinal improved to 1-3 after dropping three-straight to ranked opponents. It didn't look good early as James Madison dominated the first half, taking an 8-3 lead to the break.
Stanford showed its character, however, coming out with renewed energy in the second half. Stanford outshot James Madison 18-7 in the second half and won 12 of 17 draw controls after the break.
The Stanford comeback began right after the break as Emilie Boeri scored just 44 seconds into the half. Boeri was everywhere on Saturday, scoring five goals and assisting on three others.
Stanford scored seven of nine goals to begin the half and tied the score at 10-10 with 15:41 to play. The Dukes responded to retake the lead, before Anna Boeri and Anna Kim each scored to give Stanford its first lead at 12-11 with 6:53 to play.
James Madison responded with two goals and things looked bleak for the Cardinal as it still trailed with under a minute to play. However, Boeri finished her fifth goal to tie the score and Stanford won the ensuing draw control to have a chance at the win.
On its final possession, Emily Newstrom found a charging Kim who propelled herself at the net, scoring and taking the contact at the same time. Kim did not get up quickly, but scored a magnificent goal with just nine seconds to play to all but clinch a Stanford victory.
In addition to the offense, Lyndsey Munoz kept Stanford in the game with some big-time saves. Munoz totaled nine saves for the game, but was big down the stretch to keep Stanford rolling.
The Cardinal will face its fifth-straight ranked team next weekend when it welcomes No. 17 Vanderbilt to Cagan Stadium. The Cardinal and Commodores will face off on Saturday, March 3, at 1pm.