On a day meant to honor Notre Dame’s seniors, Stanford seniors ended up celebrating the night. In a defensive, back-and-forth affair on Notre Dame’s Senior Day at Arlotta Stadium, No. 10 Stanford women’s lacrosse (11-3, 5-2 ACC) defeated No. 21 Notre Dame 8-7 (6-7, 1-6 ACC) in a late-game surge from the Cardinal. Despite their lowest-scoring outing this season, the Cardinal relied on a stout defensive effort to earn the victory in comeback fashion.
“It was really not pretty,” said head coach Danielle Spencer. “But at the same time, I’m really proud of our toughness and resilience. If our offense wasn’t playing well, our defense had their back, and we were able to make stops and do enough to get the win.”
After four and a half minutes of scoreless action, Stanford was first to get on the board. Capitalizing on two point blank saves from junior goalkeeper Lucy Pearson, redshirt sophomore attack Aliya Polisky continued her impressive season campaign by giving the Cardinal their first score. Less than a minute later, sophomore attack Elise Murphy followed up with another goal.
Notre Dame responded with its own pair of quick goals three minutes later, needing just 16 seconds of the clock to even the score at 2-2. With the momentum, the Fighting Irish stifled Stanford’s offensive attack, allowing only one shot for the remainder of the first quarter.
The Irish opened the second quarter with another goal, extending their run of five unanswered scores. But with 5:54 remaining in the period, Polisky took matters into her own hands and scored on a counterattack, putting Stanford back on the board after a 19-minute scoring drought. With no additional scores, Notre Dame held on to 5-3 advantage entering halftime.
“We really just needed to stay calm and trust our preparation,” Spencer said about her message to the team during the break. “We just needed to trust our game plan, keep shooting, and keep playing lacrosse.”
Notre Dame scored immediately to begin the third quarter, extending their lead to 6-3. Redshirt junior attack Jordyn Case responded minutes later for Stanford, rifling a shot off the crossbar and in the cage.
Nearly 15 minutes of game time ensued with zero scoring, as both teams put together stellar defensive efforts. But after two fouls called on the Fighting Irish, the Cardinal capitalized being up two players and cut the lead 6-5 thanks to a goal from sophomore attack Ava Arceri, her 35th of the season.
Notre Dame then received its own power play, and sophomore midfield Kathryn Morrissey’s second goal of the day extended her team’s lead to two scores. But facing a multigoal deficit with single-digit minutes to play, the Cardinal did not exhibit concerns.
“When we’re down by a little bit, our perseverance and determination is unmatched,” said redshirt junior midfield Maddigan Miller.
Freshman attack Martha Oakey found a cutting Murphy to cut the deficit to one with 9:51 to play, igniting what would be the game-defining stretch for the Cardinal. Capitalizing on a free position foul shortly after, Polisky rocketed a shot to the top shelf, earning herself a hat trick and tying the score at 7-7. With full momentum, Stanford took the lead just 25 seconds later. Murphy found junior midfield Rylee Bouvier, who elevated to corral the pass and slip it past Notre Dame’s goalie while still airborne.
Having scored three goals in just over a minute of game time, the Cardinal held an 8-7 lead with 8:47 to play and never relinquished it. Despite a few opportunities for Notre Dame to equalize, Stanford’s defensive force was in full effect as they allowed the Fighting Irish to only get two shots off for the remainder of the game.
The comeback victory marks Stanford’s fourth game this season that has been decided by one goal, with the Cardinal prevailing in three of them.
“ That’s what it’s gonna be like in the postseason,” Spencer said about the close game. “So, we have to learn how to win one-goal games, and we need to learn how to battle back.”
With the victory, Stanford clinched its spot in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Tournament, which includes the top eight teams in the conference. After its final road trip, the Cardinal will head back to the West Coast for the final three contests of the regular season.
“ It’ll be really great to go back and be home for the next two weeks,” Spencer said. “The players just need to take care of their bodies, and luckily, we’ve got really great support staff. We do a lot behind the scenes to help them recover from travel and games.”
Up next, Stanford hosts Clemson (11-4, 5-2 ACC) on Thursday, who will enter the contest on a five-game winning streak. Postseason seeding is on the line as the Cardinal and Tigers sit neck and neck in conference standings, both in a three-way tie for third place with Duke (11-3, 5-2 ACC).
The game is scheduled for 3 p.m. PT on Thursday at Cagan Stadium.