DENVER – In an early showdown between Mountain Pacific Sports Federation women’s lacrosse powers, Stanford routed Denver, 14-7, on Friday.
No. 13 Stanford rebounded after a difficult 15-7 home loss to unranked Cornell on Tuesday. But in the three days since, Stanford regrouped against the defending MPSF champ, blasting to a 10-1 lead and building it to 14-2 in the second half.
Mackenzie Tesei, a junior, scored a career-high four goals and had an assist to lead the Cardinal (6-2 overall, 2-0 in the MPSF). The result ends a two-game losing streak to the Pioneers and sets up the Cardinal well heading into a Sunday clash at Colorado.
Kelly Myers scored only 36 seconds into the game and Lucy Dikeou, playing in her hometown, scored the first of her three goals shortly after. The Cardinal built a 4-0 lead and held Denver (6-3, 1-1) scoreless for the first 11 minutes.
After the first Pioneer goal, Stanford countered with a 6-0 run, sparked by Dikeou.
Among the statistical highlights for Stanford were five groundbballs by Rachel Ozer and four each from Alexandra Crerend and Adrienne Anderson. The Cardinal won more draw controls and were 11-for-11 in clears.
Stanford next plays at Colorado on Sunday at 11 a.m. PT in a game televised on the Pac-12 Networks.
* * *
Stanford 10 4 – 14
Denver 2 5 -- 7
Stanford (goals-assists): Mackenzie Tesei 4-1, Lucy Dikeou 3-1, Alexandra Crerend 2-0, Kelly Myers 2-0, Rachel Ozer 1-2, Hannah Farr 1-1, Alex Poplawski 1-1. Totals 14-6.
Denver: Rachael Dillon 3-0, Nicole Martindale 2-0, Katherine Fischer 1-0, Kiki Boone 1-0. Totals 7-1.
Records: Stanford 6-2, 2-0; Denver 6-3, 1-1.
