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Women's Lacrosse

No. 7 Stanford Bests No. 4 Yale For Second-Highest Win in Program History

No. 7/8 Cardinal holds strong for highest win at Cagan and extends home win-streak to DI best 20 games

Box Score

STANFORD, Calif. — Lucy Pearson’s career-high 15th save in the final minute clinched the second-highest ranked win in program history for the Stanford women’s lacrosse team as the No. 7/8 Cardinal took down previously undefeated No. 4 Yale, 11-10, at Cagan Stadium on Sunday afternoon. 

With the win, the Cardinal secured its second-highest ranked win in program history, it’s highest ranked win at Cagan Stadium and first win against a top-five opponent since 2011 when the No. 13 Cardinal defeated No. 5 Syracuse, 11-10, at Cagan. Saturday’s win also marked Stanford’s 20th-consecutive win at Cagan Stadium, which now stands as the longest active streak in Division I women’s lacrosse. 

Pearson, who faced a total of 34 shots against the Bulldogs on the afternoon, was poised in both the first and final few minutes of Sunday’s contest as the goalkeeper was called into action just three minutes into regulation as a shot fromSky Carrasquillo found its way past the junior but was eventually negated due to a dangerous follow through. 

Having weathered the initial storm from Yale, Stanford pounced on the Bulldog turnover as Aliya Polisky grabbed two goals in 23 seconds - including one on the man-up opportunity - to give the Cardinal an early lead five minutes into the game. Lindsey Devir and Ava Arceri tacked on goals inside the final six minutes before a late Yale run to end the quarter dwindled the Stanford lead to 4-2. 

Arceri was the lone goal scorer in the second quarter for the Cardinal as the sophomore tallied her 27th of the season to restore the three-goal lead five minutes into the period. Yale answered back to end the half with the momentum, tallying twice off the stick of Carrasquillo to make the deficit manageable for the Bulldogs heading into the break. 

Having withstood the barrage from the Bulldogs - in part due to Pearson’s nine first-half saves - Stanford pulled away from the visitors following their efforts to knot the game at six. Polisky, who tallied the hat trick goal to begin the third quarter, propelled the Cardinal to a 5-0 run that spanned 5:06 during the third quarter to extend the lead to a game-high five-goal spread. 

Lexi Rodell kickstarted the siege with a man-up tally for her 11th of the season, finishing off a feed from Maddigan Miller to give Stanford back the lead. The Cardinal then tacked on two more goals within 30 seconds of each other as Bouvier chased in a Martha Oakey feed while Polisky knotted her fourth on the afternoon on a solo bid from just inside the eight-meter. Oakey grabbed her lone goal of the afternoon to polish off the scoring run as Stanford ran out to an 11-6 lead near the end of the third quarter. 

Stanford then relied on its defensive prowess for the rest of the afternoon, holding the Bulldogs at bay even though the visitors tallied three in the period.

Having closed the gap to a one-goal affair with eight minutes left, both sides were able to dispel the others' extended offensive zone time in the waning stages. The Cardinal, which had given up the lone three goals in the fourth quarter, found its best opportunity to cash in during the quarter after Pearson stymied the Bulldogs with her 13th save of the afternoon. However, Yale survived three free position attempts from the Cardinal while a Polisky shot also grazed the post to keep the Bulldogs within reach. 

Approaching the final minute, the Bulldogs reclaimed possession off a shot that glanced wide of the net to get one final attempt at tying the game. With exactly a minute left, Yale had its best opportunity with Fallon Vaughan - who at that point had recorded the previous two Yale goals to get within striking distance - crashing toward the goal. 

However, Pearson was not to be beaten as the Cardinal goalkeeper got her stick down to close the bottom corner and give Stanford possession. With dogged determination from freshman Amanda Lawson, Oakey and the Cardinal defensive corps, Stanford grabbed its final clear of the afternoon and worked into the corner to run out the clock and secure its highest-ever ranked win at Cagan Stadium.