RICHMOND, Va. - Stanford fought hard, but was unable to finish the comeback attempt against Richmond on Friday, falling by a score of 11-10. The Cardinal moves to 1-3 on the season while Richmond improves to 4-0.
After a back and forth first period that saw both teams jump out to a one goal lead, Richmond took a 3-2 advantage into the first break. Caitlin Chicoski and Ailish Kelly recorded the first goals for Stanford, both coming from free position attempts.
Annabel Frist scored the two goals for the Cardinal in the second period, but it was the Spiders who took control offensively, extending their lead to 7-3 following Frist's first goal. Late in the quarter, Stanford's leading goal-scorer notched her second of the quarter, the fourth Stanford goal with just two seconds left in the period.
In her first action of the season, fifth-year senior Ali Baiocco provided an offensive boost for the Cardinal. She provided three assists throughout the game, including one to Frist to close out the first half. She led the team in points during the game with three.
The Cardinal gathered momentum at the end of the first half and found four unanswered goals from the end of the second period into the third. Sarah Jaques brought the firepower to start the second half, scoring within a minute of play resuming.
The freshman wasn't finished yet, as she scored another goal to bring Stanford within one of Richmond, with 9:34 left to play in the period. Caitlin Chicoski netted her second goal of the game and Stanford had effectively erased the four goal deficit.
Richmond was able to halt the Stanford offensive output when they earned a man-up opportunity and scored to regain a one goal lead. The contest was tight heading into the final period, at 8-7.
Nearly six minutes into the final quarter, Liana McDonnell netted her first goal of the season to draw the Cardinal level once again at 8-8. Richmond was able to answer again, this time finding three goals to extend the lead to 11-8.
With 1:23 left to play, Annabel Frist grabbed her fifth draw control of the game and helped spur the Stanford offense once again. Ali Baiocco assisted Ailish Kelly and then Katy Gilbert back to back within 16 seconds of game time to bring the Cardinal within one with 54 seconds to play.
Stanford was unable to find another equalizer, however. The game ended 11-10 in favor of the spiders.
The Cardinal held the edge in draw controls, recording 14 to Richmond's 11. Annabel Frist and Ailish Kelly led the way, each recording five on the day.
Anna Griffith put in work on the defensive end, gathering four ground balls to lead the Cardinal to a total of 16 during the match. Kara Rahaim saved 10 attempts in goal during her third complete game of the season.
Six Cardinal finished with at least two points in the game, including Ashley Humphrey who has recorded at least two assists in each game this season.
Stanford will finish the road on Sunday against No. 13 Virginia at 8 a.m. PT.