STANFORD, Calif. — Six goals in the third quarter proved to be the difference as No. 10/9 Stanford picked up its 12th win of the season, earning a 14-8 win over #15/14 Clemson at Cagan stadium on Thursday afternoon. With the win, Stanford improves to 12-3 overall and 6-2 in the Atlantic Coast Conference while picking up its sixth ranked win of the season which is the most since the Cardinal earned five ranked wins in the 2018 campaign.
With a grudging affair having taken place in the first 30 minutes, Stanford displayed its offensive prowess to begin the third quarter and begin pushing the Tigers out of reach. Aliya Polisky - who tallied the game-opening goal with 6:36 left in the first quarter - continued her dominance on the eight-meter line, slotting home the first goal of the Stanford run with just 1:13 gone in third quarter. Two minutes later, Stanford took a 7-2 lead after back-to-back tallies from Rylee Bouvier and Ava Arceri to give Stanford the five-spot with just under 12 minutes left in the third.
Stanford continued the onslaught with three goals in under a six minute span as Arceri secured her hat trick at the 9:00 mark of the frame. Lindsey Devir followed with her first tally of the day before Polisky bookended the scoring with her 13th hat trick of season - and fourth-consecutive - to give Stanford a 10-2 lead heading into the fourth.
It was not all smooth sailing for either side, however, with just six goals coming out of two of the ACC’s top-four scoring offenses through the first 30 minutes. Following Polisky’s game-opening tally, Elise Murphy slotted her 15th goal of the season home to give Stanford a 2-0 lead that Clemson would later cut in half in the waning moments of the quarter. Much like the first quarter, Bouvier and Arceri opened the scoring for Stanford - this time with eight minutes left in the frame - before a late tally by the Tigers while a woman-down saw Stanford take a 4-2 lead into the break.
Entering the fourth quarter, and with caution thrown out of the window, Clemson began a slow climb to cut into the Stanford lead. However, following a quick Tigers tally to open the frame, Arceri nabbed her fourth of the contest before Clemson took two back from Stanford to make it 11-5 in favor of the hosts. Just moments after the Tigers’ fifth tally, the duo of Lexi Rodell and Martha Oakey connected to push the lead back to seven as Oakey claimed her team-leading 25th assist.
Clemson continued to battle into the waning stages of the afternoon but an Oakey tally from the eight-meter and a Devir tally with under a minute to play put the finishing touches on a statement 14-8 win.
Defensively, Lucy Pearson grabbed 13 saves on the day which was two shy of her season-high total of 15 that she set against Yale. Meanwhile, Stanford accumulated 14 caused turnovers against the Tigers with Olivia Rose leading the way with three to her account. The Cardinal defense also showed out, limiting Clemson to just two goals through the first half and holding the Tigers to their second-lowest goal total this season.
No. 10/9 Stanford is back in action for Senior Day on Sunday, April 13 as it hosts Denver at Cagan Stadium. Opening draw is slated for 1 p.m. PT.