No. 19 Stanford lacrosse (7-3, 1-0 MPSF) traveled cross-country during last week’s break to square off against Ivy League rivals Harvard (6-4) and Yale (7-5), splitting the East Coast road trip by dropping the second 15-12 to the Yale Bulldogs on Saturday after earning a walk-off victory in the Cardinal’s first match 10-9 against the Crimson.
The Cardinal entered a tough contest on the road against Harvard and eventually needed to rally from a four-goal deficit with only 20 minutes left in the matchup to leave Cambridge victorious. Stanford’s late-game heroics — in which the Cardinal scored five unanswered — was capped by senior attacker Elizabeth Cusick’s game-winner with two seconds left on the clock.
After the five unanswered in the final stretch of the match, Harvard still showed fight when the Crimson evened the match out at nine with only 25 seconds left on the clock after a goal from Harvard’s senior Maeve McMahon.
Cusick’s game-clinching goal continued the jam-packed final minute and started from a key forced turnover for the Cardinal from junior midfielder Dillon Schoen with only 13 seconds left. The ball then found its way to the stud Stanford goal-scorer who blasted home a shot past the Harvard goalkeeper to bring another Cardinal victory.
Cusick starred for the Cardinal throughout the night, however, as the senior notched four total against the Crimson. On the weekend, the attacker scored a total of seven goals — leading the Cardinal both nights on the trip — and overtook teammate Kelsey Murray for the team lead in the goal category, netting 26 on the season.
In the second leg of the road trip against Yale, Stanford once again dug themselves from a second-half deficit to the Bulldogs, yet ultimately couldn’t replicate their successes in Cambridge and fell into a heavily-competitive contest after two clutch goals from Yale’s team leader, senior attacker Tess McEvoy.
The Cardinal hit the road on a high, extending a five-game winning streak to six against Harvard behind solid defense before cutting the streak against the Bulldogs. Stanford hits the road once again, this time to Boulder, Colorado, to take on the No. 6 Buffs (11-1, 3-0) on Friday.
Contact Lorenzo Rosas at enzor9 ‘at’ stanford.edu.