EVANSTON, Ill. – No. 24 Stanford fell to No. 6 Northwestern on Sunday by a score of 25-18. The Cardinal took an early lead in the first half, and despite a hard-fought battle, could stop the Wildcats' second-half surge.
Stanford scored goals from seven different players and Ali Baiocco tied her career-high of six goals in a game. Jacie Lemos had nine draw controls, followed by Genesis Lucero with seven. Goalkeeper Trudie Grattan had five saves.
After Northwestern got off to a quick 2-0 lead, Stanford scored seven-straight goals to go up 7-2. Baiocco scored twice in under a minute, followed by Mikaela Watson, Jacie Lemos, Jay Browne, and two from Katherine Gjertsen.
Northwestern proceeded to score twice, before Galen Lew scored her first of the day to make it 8-4. The Wildcats scored another two, but Baiocco scored again to get the hat trick, and Lemos scored her second of the day. With Stanford up 10-6, Northwestern went on a run, scoring four-straight heading into the half.
At halftime, the game was tied at 10 apiece. Baiocco and Browne each scored within the first two minutes of the second half to give Stanford a 12-10 lead, but the Cardinal could not hang on to the lead for long. Northwestern scored seven-straight to make it 17-12.
Kelleigh Keating recorded her first goal of the season, followed by another from Baiocco to cut Northwestern's lead to three.
The Wildcats scored another seven-straight to take a 10 goal lead (24-14). Stanford fought back by scoring four-straight, two from Gjertsen and one each from Lew and Baiocco, to make it 24-18.
Northwestern scored one more to bring the final score to 25-18.
The Cardinal held the advantage in shots (29-36) and ground balls (14-11), while the Wildcats held the advantage in free position shots (9-6), assists (8-4), shots on goal (30-26) and draw controls (23-21).
Stanford (2-3, 0-0 Pac-12) returns to action next Friday, March 6 at 3:00 p.m. when it travels to No. 11 USC in Los Angeles.
