STANFORD FALLS SHORT AGAINST NO. 4 NORTH CAROLINA

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Stanford answered No. 4 North Carolina goal for goal until the final minutes of a 13-10 loss in nonconference women’s lacrosse play on Sunday.

Three times the Cardinal fell behind, and three times Stanford rallied to tie on a goal by a Nesbitt sister – twice by Karen and once by Jamie. But North Carolina’s Jenn Russell broke a 9-9 tie with 21:31 left and the Tar Heels were able to control the pace and the ball the rest of the way, scoring three late unanswered goals.
“It was a great effort,” Stanford coach Amy Bokker said. “We fell behind, but we made good adjustments. We felt like we were in it the whole time.”

The Nesbitt sisters combined for four goals, with Karen Nesbitt getting two and completing a strong performance by winning three draw controls, causing three turnovers, and gathering three gound balls.

Stanford also got a strong defensive performance from Eleanor Foote, who filled in ably for captain Melissa Vogelsong, who was injured midway through the season,  and has continued to perform well.

Once North Carolina pulled ahead in the second half, it began to play a slow-down offense. However, No. 15 Stanford could remain patient defensively for only so long before going changing into a more aggressive scheme to force turnovers. With the defensive gambling, North Carolina (13-3) exploited Stanford with three answered goals in the final minutes to increase its lead.

“We really believe we can compete with teams in that Top 5 level,” Bokker said. “Hopefully, our confidence is up going into the conference tournament.

Stanford next plays in the seven-team Mountain Pacific Sports Federation tournament, to be held at Stanford’s Laird Q. Cagan Stadium April 23-26. The tournament determines the MPSF champion. Play begins Thursday with games at 1 p.m., 3:30 and 6. Stanford has won the event the past four years.

Stanford, the MPSF regular season champion at 6-0, gets a first-round bye and advances directly to Friday’s semifinal (6 p.m.) against the winner of the Denver-UC Davis first-round game. The championship is Sunday at 1 p.m.

North Carolina 13, Stanford 10
Stanford 5 5 – 10
North Carolina 7 6 – 13

S – Schmidt (2 goals, 1 assist), Karen Nesbitt (2-0), Sarah Flynn (2-0), Jamie Nesbitt (2-0), Leslie Foard (1-0), Amanda Schwab (1-0), Claire Hubbard (0-1), Dana Lindsay (0-1).

NC – Kristen Taylor (5-1), Jenn Russell (2-1), Megan Bosica (1-1), Laura Zimmerman (1-0), Corey Donohue (1-0), Kelly Taylor (1-0), Chelsea Parks (1-0), Katie Brooks (1-0), Becky Lynch (0-1).

Records – Stanford (10-4), North Carolina (13-3).

DAVIDSON, N.C. – The No. 15 Stanford women’s lacrosse team opened a two-game trip in North Carolina with a 19-4 rout of Davidson, getting scoring from a season-high 14 players in Friday’s nonconference contest.

Freshman Maria Fortino scored the first two goals of her collegiate career to tie Bess Siegfried, Sarah Flynn, Karen Nesbitt and Maggie Sachs for team goal-scoring honors.

Leslie Foard scored only 19 seconds into the game, off an assist from Flynn, to spark a flurry of 11 unanswered goals over the first 21 minutes for Stanford (10-3).

Goalkeeper Annie Read, ranked No. 11 in the country in goals-against average, lowered her average to 8.62 and was required to make only four saves behind a defense that compensated well for the loss of injured senior Maris Perlman, the reigning conference player of the week.

“Our defense made adjustments, and was very organized,” Stanford coach Amy Bokker said. “And the offense was able to put it in, which is something we’ve been working on.”

Co-captain Bess Siegfried played a large leadership role in defense and was pivotal to the team’s strong ball distribution. The defense also got boosts from the additions of Foard and Jamie Nesbitt, filling in for Perlman, and from the return of co-captain Melissa Vogelsong from injury.

Stanford is 4-0 in nonconference games against teams outside the Top 10 rankings. However, the Cardinal will be looking for its first victory against a Top 10 team in four tries when it plays Sunday at No. 4 North Carolina (12-3), which won at No. 5 Duke on Friday, 9-7.

A victory against a highly-ranked team would go far in helping secure an NCAA at-large bid should Stanford win the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation tournament (April 23-26) at home.

“I hope so,” Bokker said. “Overall, we have a pretty good strength of schedule. It would be nice to upset one of these Top 10 teams.”

Stanford 19, Davidson 4
Stanford 13 6 – 19
Davidson 1 3 – 4
S – Bess Siegfried (2 goals, 2 assists), Sarah Flynn (2-1), Karen Nesbitt (2-0), Maggie Sachs (2-0), Maria Fortino (2-0), Leslie Foard (1-2), Anna Boeri (1-1), Jamie Nesbitt (1-0), Julie Christy (1-0), Dana Lindsay (1-0), Lauren Schmidt (1-0), Ashley Aruffo (1-0), Amanda Schwab (1-0), Emilie Boeri (1-0), Claire Hubbard (0-1).
D – Anna Smith (2-0), Jen Crawford (1-0), Haley Hook (1-0).
Records – Stanford 10-3, Davidson 5-9.

For more information, contact:
David Kiefer
Assistant Media Relations Director
Stanford University
dkiefer@stanford.edu
(650) 759-0258, cell

STANFORD, Calif. – Dana Lindsay scored four goals Friday to help Stanford beat Denver, 17-10, and close within one victory of wrapping up the top seed in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation women’s lacrosse tournament.

The MPSF title is decided solely on the conference tournament, which will be held at Stanford April 23-26, and Stanford (8-3 overall) heads into Sunday’s MPSF regular-season finale against visiting California with a 5-0 record. The Cardinal would wrap up the No. 1 seed and a first-round bye with a victory.

Stanford, ranked No. 14 in the nation, fell behind 5-2 after the first eight minutes. But Lauren Schmidt scored the first of her three goals on a free-position shot and Stanford began an 8-1 run that lasted until early in the second half.

Denver (8-6, 2-2), the coaches’ preseason choice to win the MPSF, got three goals from Karen Morton but was without leading scorer Ali Flury.

Stanford 17, Denver 10
Denver    6 4 – 10
Stanford  9 8 – 17

D – Karen Morton (3 goals, 0 assists), Megan Carver (2-0), Kaiti Delaney (2-0), Lexi Sanders (2-0), Steph Coyne (1-4).

S – Dana Lindsay (4-0), Lauren Schmidt (3-1), Sarah Flynn (3-1), Claire Hubbard (2-1), Karen Nesbitt (2-0), Julie Christy (2-0), Amanda Schwab (1-0), Emilie Boeri (0-1), Bess Siegfried (0-1).

Records – Stanford 8-3, 5-0; Denver 8-6, 2-2.