STANFORD, Calif. – The top-ranked Cardinal dug itself out of an early three-goal hole, but was unable to complete the comeback against No. 3 UCLA, dropping Saturday afternoon's contest 10-9.
Stanford (17-2, 4-1) suffered its second loss of the year and first since Feb. 26. It had won six straight. The Cardinal concludes its regular season at home next Saturday at 1 p.m. against No. 15 San Jose State (9-16, 0-4). UCLA (19-1, 5-0) is the lone remaining unbeaten in the MPSF and wraps up its regular season against No. 2 USC (26-1, 4-1) on the same date and at the same time. The Trojans handed the Bruins their only loss of the season on Feb. 25 (10-9).
In a game that featured four ties but zero lead changes, UCLA came out firing and went up 3-0 after three minutes behind goals from Alexa Tielman (7:11), Alys Williams (5:51) and Rachel Fattal (5:09).
Kodi Hill was excluded early in Stanford's possession after it went down three and Jamie Neushul got her team on the board with one of her two 6-on-5 scores of the opening quarter (4:36). Shannon Cleary fired one through the hands of Carlee Kapana (3:49) to pull the Cardinal within one, 3-2, before Maddie Musselman executed a lob to push UCLA in front by a pair (1:44). Musselman was sent off at the other end of the pool after her score and Neushul capitalized again for Stanford (1:15).
Makenzie Fischer slipped a skip shot near side past Kapana (6:56) to begin the second, tie things for the first time and begin a seesaw battle over the next 15 minutes.
UCLA's second power play opportunity resulted in Williams' second goal at 5:03, but Dani Jackovich equalized from two meters less than 30 seconds later.
The Bruins went up again on a goal from Bronte Halligan late in the period (1:31) and Jordan Raney answered early in the third (7:11) to knot things 6-6. A strike from Hill nudged the Bruins back in front (5:06) before Kat Klass rose and fired as the shot clock wound down around the 3:30 mark. Klass rattled the cage and the teams were level at 7-7.
Hill took over down the stretch of the third frame, whipping in two more from distance at 1:15 and with seven seconds remaining to give UCLA a 9-7 advantage heading into the fourth.
Stanford couldn't climb back from the two-goal deficit in the final period. The Cardinal scored twice on the power play, with Fischer (6:07) and Klass (3:36) shouldering the load, but UCLA responded.
The Bruins answered Fischer's goal with one from Musselman at 5:33 to go up 10-8. After Klass' strike made it 10-9, Stanford used two timeouts in the final three minutes in an attempt to draw up the equalizer, but was rebuffed both times. The Cardinal took over for its final possession with 17 seconds left and had its chance from Klass field blocked and sent wide of the cage.
No. 1 Stanford vs. No. 3 UCLA
April 15, 2017 • Stanford, Calif.
UCLA 4 – 2 – 3 – 1 = 10
STAN 3 – 2 – 2 – 2 = 9
Stanford Goals: Makenzie Fischer 2, Kat Klass 2, Jamie Neushul 2, Shannon Cleary, Dani Jackovich, Jordan Raney
Stanford Saves: Gabby Stone 8
UCLA Goals: Kodi Hill 3, Maddie Musselman 2, Alys Williams 2, Rachel Fattal, Bronte Halligan, Alexa Tielmann
UCLA Saves: Carlee Kapana 8
