Denver (14-6, 5-1) traveled to face the Stanford Cardinal Friday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in Gainsville, Florida. The first-round game was a rematch following a Denver win, 14-9, April 13th in Stanford, California. In the first 30 minutes, it was a back-and-forth match that was dominated by defense. In the second half, it was a dominant Stanford offense and dormant Denver offense that propelled Stanford past DU, 10-4. Lauren Black and Eva Thomsen-Marr traded goals with the Cardinal in the first quarter to knot the score, 2-2. Lauren Black broke the tie, 3-2, to end the tight first quarter. Denver seemed to have the extra-step on the Cardinal but could never create separation.

Denver’s Pink Defense went to work in the second quarter as Caroline Bowers doubled-up the Cardinal, 4-2, midway through the second fifteen minutes. After 18 scoreless minutes, Lindsey Devir snapped the Stanford drought and Alyia Polisky scored the equalizer with less than a minute remaining in the first half. The squads went into the halftime break 4-4. DU Goalie

Denver’s offense disappeared in the third quarter as the Pioneers seemed to run out of gas. The Cardinal clogged up the front of the goal and pushed DU to the perimeter, stalling Denver’s offensive looks. The vaunted DU Pink Defense started to crumble as the Cardinal seized the momentum.

Early in the second half, following an unsuccessful man-up opportunity, Denver gave up a goal to Stanford’s Martha Oakey – three straight by the Cardinal, for a Stanford 5-4 lead. Denver turnovers and missed opportunities kept the Pioneers off the board in the quarter. Stanford’s Jordyn Case capped the third quarter scoring with a rocket past DU goaltender Emiia Bohi, four goals in a row for Stanford and a 6-4 lead.

Stanford got first blood to start the fourth quarter when Martha Oakey found an opening in the lower left of the cage, 7-4. The Cardinal seized full control of the game with a dunk on Bohi, 8-4. Bohi was pulled and in came goalie Lexi Gwaku. With under 11 minutes left, Ava Archeri quickly solved Gwaku and scored the dagger to all but sink Denver’s hopes of mounting a comeback. Stanford’s Polisky earned a hat trick to put Stanford into doube-digits, 10-4. as the Cardinal coasted to the win.

It was a stunning final 30 minutes as Stanford appeared to wear down DU on both ends of the field. Clearly, a rapidly improving Stanford team benefitted from playing in the ACC this season, the toughest conference in women’s lacrosse. As for Denver, it was a stunning defeat after downing the same Stanford team on the road only a month ago.