Rylee BouvierRylee Bouvier
Cameron McClarren
Women's Lacrosse

Cardiac Cardinal Downs Notre Dame

No. 10/9 Stanford clinches ACC Postseason berth in comeback over No. 21 Notre Dame

Box Score

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — A four-goal fourth quarter put the finishing touches on a comeback win for No. 10/9 Stanford as the Cardinal took an 8-7 thriller over No. 21 Notre Dame on Arlotta Stadium on the road on Saturday afternoon. With the win, the Cardinal earned itself a berth in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Postseason Tournament in its inaugural season. 

With 11:11 left in the fourth quarter and down by two, Stanford’s Elise Murphy put the finishing touches on a feed from Martha Oakey to put the Cardinal within one goal of tying the Irish. It was the third opportunity on the afternoon for the Cardinal - who until that point had been trailing since the end of the first quarter - to draw level. 80 seconds later, Stanford did just that. 

The Cardinal opened the scoring in the matinee, striking twice in under 40 seconds to take an early 2-0 lead. Aliya Polisky grabbed her first of the day and 43rd of the campaign to open the scoring before Murphy grabbed her 13th of the season and first since a two-goal outing against Boston College to give Stanford a 2-0 lead five minutes into the first quarter. 

However, Notre Dame fired back in the final seven minutes of the frame to take a 4-2 lead into the break. Having tied the game with consecutive goals 16 seconds apart, the Irish fired home a shot with nothing left on the shot clock for their first lead of the afternoon before beating the clock again, sending home a shot at the death of the quarter to take a two-goal lead. 

For the next 30 minutes of game action, neither side was able to crack through the others’ defensive posture as the squads combined for four goals between the second and third quarter. 

Accounting for most of the defense on the Stanford side, Lucy Pearson accounted for four saves between the two quarters after stopping six through the first 15 minutes. Pearson eventually ended the afternoon with 10 saves. Elsewhere, the prowess of Stanford’s defense showed on the scoresheet with five players recording a caused turnover including Sophia Brindisi and Kate Bellissimo accounting for four and three caused turnovers, respectively. 

With Stanford entering the fourth quarter down by a pair, courtesy of a Jordyn Case free position goal with 12 minutes left in what was otherwise a gridlocked third quarter, the Cardinal took advantage on the eight-meter when the chances came. 

Just under three minutes into the fourth, Ava Arceri collected her lone goal of the afternoon, rifling home an eight-meter shot past Notre Dame’s Isabel Pithie to bring the Cardinal within one. After Notre Dame answered the Arceri tally a minute later, Murphy cut the deficit in half again, sending home a feed from Oakey to keep the Cardinal within reach. 39 seconds later, Stanford leveled the score with Polisky netting the hat trick from the eight-meter line, wiring a shot that hit both cage and twine to make it 7-7. 

Seizing the momentum, Stanford grabbed its final chance of the afternoon with an identity-laden 25 second possession. Having won the draw control following the Polisky tally, Stanford went to work offensively before an otherworldly play from Rylee Bouvier sent the Cardinal in front. 

With a high arching pass from Murphy, Bouvier rose above her defender and with one swoop fired a shot off the ground and into the net through contact that was believed to have given the Cardinal the lead but was initially waved off due to a dangerous follow through. However, after review, Bouvier’s goal stood as the call on the field was reversed and the Cardinal took its first lead since the first quarter. 

With a chance to clinch a postseason berth, Stanford locked down defensively, keeping the Irish off the board for the remainder of the game while the Cardinal offense rode out the clock in the final seconds to clinch a fifth conference win and earn postseason lacrosse for the first time in the ACC.