VILLANOVA, Pa. — Timely saves from Ella Morton provided a spark but a late comeback bid was stymied as the No. 2 Stanford women;s lacrosse team fell to Villanova on Saturday, 9-8. In the loss, Morton provided five saves while seven different Cardinal found the net to close out the two-game road swing.
Martha Oakey and Mallory Hasselbeck led the Cardinal with two points a piece while Kaleigh Sommers earned a career-high three caused turnovers in the contest. Stanford dominated the draw circle 11-6 to negate the second-best draw control team in the nation.
In a blustery affair in The Keystone State, Stanford dominated the early going but could not find the decisive finish to cap off its dominance on the draw circle. With neither side able to solve aggressive and pesky defenses through the first 10 minutes, Ava Arceri’s standalone tally from the eight-meter broke the scoring drought with less than five left in the frame. Rylee Bouvier doubled the Cardinal lead late in the quarter as Stanford earned a 2-0 lead through one quarter of action.
The pace ramped up in the second quarter, however, as the teams traded goals through the first 10 minutes. Lindsey Devir slotted home her lone goal of the day having finished off a feed from Martha Oakey to answer the Wildcats’ quarter-opening tally while Mallory Hasselbeck earned her first of the day off an Oakey helper to keep the Cardinal ahead 4-2.
MAL!!!
— Stanford Lacrosse (@StanfordWLax) March 28, 2026
Hasselbeck on the power-play to extend the lead!
2Q | 6:56 | STAN 4-2 NOVA pic.twitter.com/2je0aWRCzS
Villanova, though, capitalized in the latter stages of the quarter with a pair of tallies to end the half as the game went into the break deadlocked, 4-4.
The physicality also played a role in the Saturday affair with eight cards being dished out in the second half. Having garnered the first tally of the second half, Villanova increased its lead to three following an Ashlyn Hickey power-play tally and a goal from Mary Moore with five minutes gone in the third quarter.
Stanford, though, battled back from the three-goal deficit with a trio of tallies on its own. Hasselbeck earned her second of the day with some help from an Amanda Lawson feed before Elise Murphy showed her skills with a behind-the-back finish on the power play to bring the Cardinal within one. Jordyn Case finished the 3-0 scoring run for the Cardinal from the eight-meter hash as the Cardinal drew level with under four to go in the third.
MURPHY BTB ALERT!!!
— Stanford Lacrosse (@StanfordWLax) March 28, 2026
The feed from Frist and Elise wasted no time!
3Q | 7:21 | STAN 6-7 NOVA pic.twitter.com/V5v0lNQzyU
However, Villanova utilized the physicality to its advantage to go on a quick scoring run into the fourth quarter. Having extinguished a green card late in the third, the Wildcats tallied the final goal of the frame right after the shorthanded spell to reclaim a one-goal lead. Just moments after slotting the go-ahead goal, Villanova found themselves back on the power-play to end the quarter following an infraction from Annabel Frist. Just 28 seconds into the fourth, the Wildcats secured the two-goal advantage on the power-play.
The Cardinal, though, continued to fight as Lexi Rodell scored for the second-consecutive game, ripping home an eight-meter try to bring the Cardinal within one. In the waning stages, Stanford once again got timely help from its defense as Ella Morton stood tall with a point-blank save with less than four minutes remaining to give the Cardinal a spark. With multiple chances in the final minutes, the Cardinal rifled three more shots at cage but could not find the finishing touch as the Wildcats held on to the 9-8 win.
Stanford is back in action this weekend, hosting Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) opposition Louisville on Saturday, April 4 for Senior Day. Opening draw from Cagan Stadium is slated for 1 p.m.