Courtesy: Stanford Athletics
LOS ANGELES – An incredible second half rally saw six unanswered Stanford goals fall just shy Friday afternoon as the ninth-ranked Cardinal fell 10-9 to fifth-ranked and undefeated USC at the L.A. Memorial Coliseum.
The first half saw USC (16-0, 8-0 MPSF) come out to dominate, outdrawing the Cardinal 7-5, while superseding Stanford in shots and ground balls. The outlook was promising as Stanford struck first in the half as Elizabeth Cusick buried a free position shot, but four unanswered USC goals changed the script rapidly.
Stanford (12-3, 7-1 MPSF) fought back with two goals from Alex Poplawski and Elizabeth Cusick, but the Women of Troy overpowered the Cardinal in the half closing it out with four goals to head into the break up 8-3.
The second half spelled out a different story though as two USC goals looked to foreshadow the demise of the Cardinal. A timeout with just over 18 minutes remaining flipped the script completely for Stanford, who returned to form with six unanswered goals, two from Dillon Schoen alone, to put heat on USC by pulling it to 10-9 with 3 minutes remaining.
In the half, the Cardinal outshot USC while pulling in seven to the Women of Troy's two ground balls. Stanford had a chance at the equalizer in the last minute of play, but a costly turnover proved to be end of Stanford's rally that saw its 18 game MPSF win streak come to an end.
The Cardinal travels next to San Diego State to close out its 2016 regular season. Game time is set for noon PT in San Diego, Calif.