April 18, 2012
DAVIS, Calif. -- Stanford earned a big road win on Wednesday night, coming from behind to defeat UC Davis, 19-18. The Cardinal and Aggies were locked into a high scoring back-and-forth affair, but Stanford used a late run to overcome a four-goal second half deficit.
The win improved the Cardinal record to 5-9, but more importantly 3-2 in the MPSF. Davis falls to 2-4 in conference, meaning the Stanford has clinched a spot in the MPSF tournament. The Cardinal needed to finish in the top four to secure that berth and UC Davis was the last threat to break inside the top four and leave the Cardinal on the outside looking in.
Stanford continues to be sparked by the return of Anna Kim from injury. The sophomore scored four goals for the second-straight game, but was just one of three with four goals. Emilie Boeri and Hannah Farr also accomplished the feat.
Stanford and UC Davis played an exciting first half, highlighted by prolific scoring from both squads. The Cardinal built as much as a four-goal lead, but Davis came back to cut it to one by the half. Stanford led 12-11 at the break as the teams combined for 23 goals, despite only taking a combined 32 shots.
In the second half, the Aggies took over early, scoring five-straight goals. UC Davis had built a 16-12 lead, but Stanford would not go down so easily. Emilie Boeri scored a the 21:33 mark to break the Davis string, but the Aggies came right back to regain the four-goal lead.
This is when the Cardinal decided to go on a run of its own. Stanford scored six-straight goals to come all the way back and build a lead of its own.
Farr, Kim and Boeri each finished off their four-goal nights, while Emily Newstrom and Anna Boeri also had big goals. It was Farr that scored the tying goal at the 9:49 mark, while Emilie Boeri put Stanford ahead for good at the 4:35 mark.
Davis scored a late goal to make things interesting, but Stanford held on for the one-goal victory.
The Cardinal won 20 of 39 draw controls and outshot UC Davis 31-28 for the game. Lyndsey Munoz made seven big saves, as the Cardinal needed each one of them.
Stanford will travel to California on Friday with the No. 3 seed in the MPSF Tournament at stake. Cal is currently in third, but Stanford could overtake the Golden Bears by winning its final two games. Following the Cal game on Friday, Stanford will return to Cagan Stadium for the season finale and Senior Day on Sunday at 1pm.