The No. 15 Stanford women’s lacrosse team hosted two ranked teams last weekend, learning some lessons in an 18-11 loss to top-ranked Northwestern and finding success in an 11-10 overtime victory over No. 19 Ohio State.

Against the No. 1 Wildcats on Friday, the Cardinal showed that it is able to hang with the top teams in the nation. This game and the team’s performance are especially important after last season, when the Card was left out of the NCAA Tournament after not receiving an at-large bid. Although the MPSF has an automatic bid this year, Stanford still wants to show it is capable of competing with the powerhouses from the East.

The Card certainly showed a lot of fight against the Wildcats, and, although the final score tells a slightly different story, Stanford was within reach of Northwestern for most of the game.

“I enjoyed playing the No. 1 team in the country because it showed us (and everyone else) that we can compete at the top level,” said sophomore defender Catherine Swanson. “The game was within 2-3 goals for a majority of the time, and we even tied the game up at one point.”

The Cardinal got off to a slow start in the match, tying the Wildcats at one apiece before three Northwestern goals put the team down 4-1. However, Stanford was able to hold even with the Cats for the rest of the half and entered halftime down 9-6. In the second half, the Cardinal showed flashes of brilliance as it engineered a four-goal comeback, including two by senior midfielder Julie Christie, to tie it up at 10 all.

“We were confident in our skill and remained calm and just kept fighting and didn’t give up,” said junior midfielder Leslie Foard of the Cardinal’s ability to erase deficits, something it was forced to do against Ohio State as well. “It helps that we have a really well-rounded, talented team with a lot of people who can make big plays and contribute, so if one person is off, there is always someone else able to step up.”

However, once the Cardinal tied things up, Northwestern took control and showed why it has won the last five national titles. Led by senior Katrina Dowd, who had five total goals, the Northwestern offense unleashed a flurry of scoring on the Card, increasing its lead to 14-10 before freshman midfielder Carolyn Bradley scored for the Card to make it 14-11. Northwestern ended the game with four more goals to make the final score 18-11 and secure the win, although the Card certainly got something out of the experience.

“Playing Northwestern was awesome,” Foard said. “The game made us better and [made us] realize what we have to fix in order to win [those] kind of games, but also that game showed us we are able to play with the best teams in the country.”

On Sunday, the Cardinal was again challenged by one of the top teams in the country, and this time it came away with a victory.

Against the Buckeyes, the Cardinal once again found itself down by three goals early before scoring four goals to enter half time down 6-4. In the second half, the Cardinal came out firing with senior attacker Claire Hubbard and Swanson scoring to cut the Ohio State lead to one. However, the Buckeyes came right back and quickly scored twice to go up by three again with less than 10 minutes to go. But, once again, the Cardinal showed its toughness and resolve, scoring three goals before the five-minute mark to tie the game up at nine and eventually send it into overtime.

In the first overtime period, the Cardinal used its momentum to jump out to an early two-goal lead, but Ohio State would not go away. In the second overtime, the Buckeyes scored early, but were unable to get past keeper Annie Read to get the tying goal.

Up next, the Card will try to continue its success against Davidson and No. 13 Vanderbilt at home.

“For next weekend, we just need to be consistent,” Foard said. “We are really talented, and this past weekend we demonstrated great moments, so we just need to play with that intensity and domination for the entire game. We need to go out and own the entire game.”

The Cardinal will relish the chance to prove itself yet again this weekend and hopes to channel its momentum into some positive results.

The game against Davidson will start at 4 p.m. this Thursday, while the Vanderbilt match begins at 1 p.m. on Sunday. Both matches will take place at Laird Q. Cagan Stadium.