After Friday’s 20-8 win over Cal, Stanford lacrosse (3-4, 1-0 Pac-12) traveled to Health Stadium for a landslide 21-9 victory against UC Davis (3-2, 0-0 MPSF).
Although they were favored to win, the Cardinal appeared on their heels early in the first period. Controlling the opening draw, Davis jumped out to a short-lived, one-goal lead less than a minute into the game. Not long after, Stanford forced Davis turnovers, leading to goals from senior midfielder Caitlin Chicoski and sophomore midfielder Katy Gilbert.
With both teams playing aggressively, fouling soon became an issue for both sides. In the first quarter alone, the Aggies and the Cardinal received a combined seven fouls. In addition, an early yellow card on senior defender Natalie Bond gave Davis a free position and shot opportunity to tie the game. However, junior goalkeeper Kara Rahaim preserved Stanford’s lead.
Late in the first period, the Cardinal also had an unsuccessful free position shot, but redshirt freshman attacker Ashley Humphrey picked up the ground ball for an assist to sophomore midfielder Ailish Kelly. Just four minutes later, fifth year attacker Ali Baiocco put the Cardinal ahead by four goals, assisting Kelly and following with a goal of her own. To finish the first period, Davis and Stanford split two free position goals.
The second period began with numerous errors from Davis. Using one of the errors to her advantage, fifth year attacker Galen Lew scored Stanford’s seventh goal, forcing an Aggie timeout.
Out of the timeout, Stanford did not relent. After a draw control by senior defender Mackenzie Chapman, Baiocco scored her second goal, giving the Cardinal a 8-2 lead.
Over the next 10 minutes, Davis and Stanford’s goalkeepers and defenders battled to clear shots and pick up ground balls with the exception of junior attacker Jay Browne’s assist to Baiocco. After their second timeout, the Aggies struck back with several saves from goalkeeper Ashley Laing and two back-to-back goals from Lauren Hart. Unaffected, Chicoski scored unassisted with 19 seconds left in the half to reclaim Stanford’s momentum.
In the third period, the Aggies nearly matched the Cardinal point-for-point. Within the first 40 seconds, Stanford and Davis each scored following successful draw controls. After Baiocco scored on a free position shot, Davis answered with impressive ball control outside the circle to find two open shots, scoring its sixth and seventh goals of the afternoon back-to-back. However, Stanford, with its athleticism, outlasted the Aggies.
After Gilbert scored a free position goal, Lew found the upper corner of the Davis net, taking a hit in the process. Not shaken, Humphrey assisted redshirt freshman attacker Sarah Jaques and Lew in Stanford’s final two goals of the period.
The fourth period began with three Davis turnovers caused by sophomore defender Emma Capanna, senior defender Maggie Bellaschi and Chapman. Using Chapman’s pickup, Baiocco scored her sixth goal of the game. Quickly responding, the Aggies drew control and scored their eighth goal. Two minutes later, Browne battled back, assisted by Lew. After a few feeble comeback attempts from Davis and with just under three minutes left in the game, Kelly broke the season record, ending the game 21-9.
Though the Cardinal were clearly favored to beat unranked UC Davis, the game held importance for Baiocco. After being named the pre-season offensive player of the year, Baiocco had to nurse a knee injury for the beginning of Stanford’s spring season. However, her outstanding offensive performances Friday and Sunday made one thing clear: she’s back and better than ever.
Stanford’s wins over Cal and Davis foreshadow an exciting season to come. For their second conference game, the Cardinal will return home to play Arizona State (3-2, 2-0 Pac-12) at 4 p.m. PT in Cagan Stadium on Friday.