SMITHFIELD, RI – Kicking off the final road trip of the regular season, Stanford struggled to find a rhythm offensively as they dropped a 2-0 bout to Bryant on Friday afternoon. With the loss, Stanford falls to 4-10 on the season with a 1-6 mark in conference play, while Bryant jumps to 7-9 on the year after the win.
Sophomore netminder Kendall Dowd posted a career-high seven saves in the game, besting her previous mark of six stops between the posts against UC-Davis and Michigan State earlier this season. Caroline Guden paced the team with a pair of offensive attacks in the contest, while Gemma Townsend, Haley Mossmer, and Maroussia Walckiers rounded out the shot takers for Stanford. Puja Nanjappa tallied her first career defensive save in the game.
An early offensive flurry from the Bulldogs proved to be the difference in the contest, as Bryant registered two goals off penalty corners within a six-minute span to jump out to a two-goal lead in half. Stanford came out of the half more aggressive in the second half and narrowed the gap in shots and penalty corners, but the Cardinal were left off the scoresheet for the fifth time this season.
Bryant led the way in shots with a 13-5 advantage in the contest, although the two teams stood even in the offensive attacks in the second half. Both programs secured five penalty corners on the night.
Looking ahead, the Cardinal closes out the regular season on Sunday at 10 a.m. PT as they take on another America East foe in No. 18 UMass Lowell.