STANFORD, Calif. - No. 15 Stanford women's lacrosse fell to No. 23 Colorado in the Pac-12 opener at Cagan Stadium on Friday night, 20-13.
Stanford (4-2, 0-1 Pac-12) had its four-game winning streak snapped. The Cardinal also lost the conference opener to the Buffaloes last season, but rebounded to finish 8-2 in league play and earned a bye at the conference tournament where it won the Pac-12 title with a win over Colorado.
Sophomore Katherine Gjertsen tallied a career-high four goals and five points, while classmate Ali Baiocco also had five points (three goals, two assists). Gjertsen also had a team-high three ground balls along with juniors Kyra Pelton and Daniella McMahon, while seniors Julia Massaro and Genesis Lucero led the Cardinal with five and four draw controls, respectively. McMahon also added a team-high three caused turnovers.
Sophomore goalkeeper Trudie Grattan made a career-high 14 saves, the most for a Cardinal since Allie DaCar had 14 in the Pac-12 championship game win over Colorado last season.
How It Happened
Stanford scored the first two goals of the game. Sophomore Galen Lew and McMahon gave the Cardinal the two-goal lead within five minutes of the opening draw control.
Colorado (2-3, 1-0) answered back with four of the next five before senior Areta Buness tied the game at 4-4 with 16:43 left in the half.
However, the Buffaloes scored nine straight and the Cardinal could never overcome that run.
Colorado led 14-5 at the break. Stanford battled to within 15-10 with four straight goals -- capped by Hannah Dudley at the 13:46 mark.
But the visitors pulled away with the next three and Stanford never got closer than the final score.
Numbers
Colorado held an advantage in shots (38-33) and draw controls (18-17), while Stanford had a 23-21 edge in ground balls. The Buffaloes were 7-of-10 on free position attempts while Stanford converted just two of its 10 attempts. The Cardinal committed 13 turnovers in the first half and 19 for the game.
Next Up
Next up, the Cardinal welcomes former assistant coach Chelsea Gamble back to The Farm. The new head coach at Oregon brings the Ducks to Cagan on Sunday at 1 p.m.
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