FRISCO, Texas – A second half rally fell short Saturday afternoon as the 12th-ranked Cardinal fell 12-8 to No. 10 Duke at The Star as part of the annual Patriot Cup.
The first half saw Duke (4-0) take charge to outdraw the Cardinal (1-2) 6-2, but Stanford hung tight as it kept pace with the Blue Devils on shots with both teams taking 10. Duke scored first, but Kelly Myers struck next for Stanford as the Cardinal and the Blue Devils traded off goals each minute for the next three minutes before each offense went silent until nearly the half.
With less than two minutes remaining, Duke's Maura Schwitter capitalized on a Cardinal foul to add another goal, but Areta Buness set up a wicked pass through the middle that Kelsey Murray brought down and ripped past the goalie to head into the half with Duke up 4-3.
In the second half the Blue Devils wasted no time as they scored less than a minute in, but Kelly Myers found Dillon Schoen to spark a spree of back-and-forth goals between the two teams. The Cardinal defense put in work with its backbone, Allie DaCar making four stops in the half. The Achilles heel for the Cardinal was the draw control with the Blue Devils winning 17 of the 22 in the game.
Stanford remained tenacious as it fought back from a Duke lead to tie it twice in the half, but in the end the Blue Devils pulled away with four straight goals to close out the 12-8 final score.
The Cardinal will resume MPSF action on Tuesday as it travels to Saint Mary's for a 3 p.m. tilt against the Gaels in Moraga, Calif.