STANFORD, Calif. – Kelsey Murray is now the most prolific scorer in Stanford lacrosse history.
The fifth-year senior became the program's all-time leading scorer with a hat trick, and led the 24th-ranked Cardinal to a 21-11 victory over Harvard at Cagan Stadium on Friday night.
Murray added two assists and finished with five points to extend her point streak to 58 games. Junior Areta Buness had four goals, while seniors Dillon Schoen and Maggie Nick each had a hat trick. Daniella McMahon and Julia Massaro led the Cardinal with three ground balls a piece, while Massaro also had a team-high five draw controls.
Stanford (1-2) jumped out to a 9-1 lead in just over 12 minutes. Murray's first tally was the record-setter. She scored a free position goal at the 23:05 mark to give the Cardinal a 6-1 lead. It was the 146th of her career, passing Sarah Flynn (2008-11) on Stanford's all-time career goals list.
Congrats Kelsey! ?? #GoStanford pic.twitter.com/LLMpmyPXqU
— Stanford W Lacrosse (@StanfordWLax) February 24, 2018
It was an 11-2 lead around the midway point of the first half, but Harvard (1-1) scored five of the next six goals to close to within 11-7 at the break.
The Cardinal regained control with eight of the first nine goals of the second half, including the first five. When Genesis Lucero assisted Buness with 21:20 remaining, Stanford led 16-7.
The lead was as many as 11 when freshman Taylor Scornavacco made it 19-8 with 14:32 to play.
Senior Sandy Smith and sophomore Julia Persche capped the scoring for the Cardinal with their first goals of the season.
Stanford out-shot the Crimson, 40-18, and held a 16-13 edge in ground balls and 23-10 advantage on draw controls. The Cardinal was 11-for-11 on clear attempts and forced 14 Crimson turnovers, to just six Cardinal miscues.
Next week, Stanford heads East. The Cardinal makes the coast-to-coast trip to North Carolina, and will take on Duke on March 2 at noon PT, and Elon on March 4 at 9 a.m. PT.
#GoStanford