April 27, 2012
STANFORD, Calif. - Stanford's up and down season hit a high note at the right time as the Cardinal routed Denver, 14-9, in the semifinals for the MPSF Tournament. The Cardinal needed a win to keep its season alive and came through with one of its best performances of the year.
"We are really excited to get to play for the MPSF title," said head coach Amy Bokker. "Things came together tonight against a tough opponent and we are looking forward to Sunday and getting to play at home."
The Cardinal played inspired lacrosse for 60 minutes, getting contributions from just about everyone that saw the field. Third-seeded Stanford pulled off the minor upset over the second-seeded Pioneers and avenged its loss from the regular season.
"Denver is a really physical team," said Bokker. "I thought we handled it a lot better than last time we played them. We really had a lot of players step up tonight."
Stanford started fast, building a 4-1 lead in the opening 15:19 of the game. Emilie Boeri had a pair of goals, while Hannah Farr and Kyle Fraser added to the Stanford lead.
Denver responded to make it 4-3 with a pair of goals, but then Stanford went on a game-changing run to end the half. Beginning with 4:19 on the clock, Stanford scored six-straight goals to end the half and build a 10-3 lead at the break.
Meredith Kalinowski started things with her first goal, before Fraser scored twice and Farr scored again. The goals made it six in a row for the Cardinal freshmen that are blossoming into a formidable group. Boeri and Anna Kim scored in the final minute to complete Stanford's run and make things fairly comfortable at the break.
The Cardinal slowed things down in the second half, trading goals with Denver, but never letting the game get too close. Catherine Swanson got on the board and Kalinowski scored twice more to complete her hat trick.
Fraser also had a hat trick, while Boeri had four goals to push her team-leading total to 38. Twin sister Anna Boeri led the Cardinal with three assists, while Carolyn Bradley and Emilie Boeri also had helpers.
Lyndsey Munoz was again sensational in net, making six saves. Farr led the Cardinal with four draw controls, but Swanson had three to extend her team lead to 48. The senior needs just four more to tie the single-season draw control record of 52 set by Leslie Foard last year.
The Cardinal will now face Oregon in the MPSF Championship game on Sunday at 1pm back at Cagan Stadium. The Ducks went a perfect 7-0 in conference, including a 13-7 win over the Cardinal. Oregon moved on to the title game with a 14-11 win over California on Friday afternoon.