May 12, 2013
EVANSTON, Ill. - The Stanford women's lacrosse team's historic season came to a close Saturday afternoon as it fell to Northwestern, 15-8, in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Stanford (14-6) was unable to overcome a 7-1 scoring run and a 12-2 draw control advantage by Northwestern (18-2) in the second half.
Julia Burns led Stanford with three goals, while five Cardinal added a goal apiece. Rachel Ozer tied Burns with a team-best three points on a goal and two assists.
"I was really proud of the team's effort throughout the entire game," head coach Amy Bokker said. "Northwestern is a great opponent and reigning national champions so we knew we were going to have our work cut out for us."
After a first half that saw Stanford and Northwestern trade the first six goals of the game, Northwestern took control in the second, fueled by its draw control advantage. The Wildcats maintained a majority of the possession in the second and Stanford was forced to spread its defense to challenge for control.
The Wildcats outscored the Cardinal, 9-4, and held a 15-7 shot advantage in the second half. Northwestern finished the game with 29 shots to Stanford's 15.
Despite its time of possession being limited, Stanford continued to battle and pulled within 13-8 with 6:19 to play after Julia Burns scored her second and third goals of the game. However, Northwestern continued to control a majority of the possession and added two more goals to close the game.
After a somewhat slow start to the game by both teams, Stanford and Northwestern traded a series of goals in a span of 12:36 and found themselves tied 3-3.
Kyle Fraser opened the scoring for Stanford after Ozer caused a turnover and delivered a great feed. Ozer followed her assist with a free-position goal - her first goal at Lakeside Field in three matches this season.
Meg Lentz capped the series with her first goal on the day after a terrific spin move to get past her defender. Lucy Dikeou followed Lentz's goal 45 seconds later with one of her own to give Stanford a 4-3 lead - its first on the day.
However, Northwestern responded with a 3-0 scoring run to close out the first half. Alyssa Leonard scored twice in 53 seconds to get the Wildcats going, and Taylor Thornton scored her second on the day to give Northwestern a 6-4 lead going into halftime.
Despite the loss, Stanford's 2013 season contained a number of highlights as the team won its first NCAA Tournament game in program history and its eighth Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Tournament championship in nine years.
The Cardinal will say goodbye to seniors Elizabeth Adam and Carolyn Bradley, but will look to utilize the experience gained by this season's 19 underclassmen and talented junior class.