STANFORD, Calif. – Stanford found itself on the opposite end of yet another close contest in their return to Varsity Turf on Friday afternoon, as the Cardinal fell to UC Davis, 2-1. The loss drops Stanford to 2-7 on the season, while the Aggies claim their second victory of the year to jump to 2-8.
"I don't think we showed up for each other today. I think there was a complacency in our team that I have not seen before," head coach Roz Ellis said. "Kudos to UC Davis, they absolutely showed up wanted to win and they worked their tail off to get it done. Our team allowed them to take the wind out of our sails and I think we deserved the loss."
Ella Ganocy was the Cardinal's lone goal scorer on the day as she found the back of the net for the first time in her career. Stanford tallied nine different shooters in the game, as Maroussia Walckiers paced the Cardinal with four offensive attacks, followed by Haley Mossmer with three shots. Kendall Dowd snagged six saves in the net in 56 minutes of work.
Stanford held a narrow 16-15 shot advantage, while the Aggies lead the way in penalty corners with a 5-2 mark.
After a scoreless first half of play, UC Davis got on the board first in the third quarter, taking advantage of a flurry of shots as the Aggies buried the third attack of the sequence. Stanford responded just before the end of the frame, as Ganocy cleaned up the rebound off a Mossmer shot that dribbled out of the reach of the Aggie goalkeeper.
Two minutes into the fourth quarter, UC Davis would reclaim the lead on a textbook penalty corner and would carry that advantage to the final whistle. The Cardinal pulled Dowd from the home net with just under four minutes, and narrowly found the equalizer with an extra attacker late as a Mossmer shot rattled the far side post before the Aggies defense cleared it out of the offensive zone.
Stanford now prepares for a doubleheader against Cal next weekend as they travel to Berkeley on Friday at 4 p.m. PT before welcoming the Golden Bears to Varsity Turf on Sunday at noon PT. Sunday's contest will act as the program's Senior Day and will be broadcast on Pac-12 Network.