CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - No. 13 Stanford dropped a hard-fought 1-0 overtime decision to No. 6 Duke on Saturday afternoon in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament.
The Blue Devils (13-6), who held a 14-6 shot advantage, tapped home the game-winner with two minutes remaining in the first overtime.
Six different Cardinal players registered a shot attempt while senior goalkeeper Dulcie Davies made six saves.
Making its 14th NCAA Tournament appearance and sixth over the last seven seasons, Stanford (13-7) was looking for its second win of the year against Duke. The Cardinal edged the Blue Devils 3-2 in overtime at the Varsity Turf back on Aug. 30.
The first half saw Duke put pressure on the Cardinal as they collected four penalty corners, but the Cardinal defense proved its strength with Davies collecting four saves to keep the Blue Devils at bay. Duke put up seven shots in the half to Stanford’s one, with the Cardinal still holding strong after two green cards to head into the half tied 0-0.
The second half kept the same pace, this time with Duke only putting up five shots, while the Cardinal rustled up three. The Blue Devils were also awarded four penalty corners to keep Stanford’s defense on guard, but Davies kept Stanford flawless adding two more saves to her tally to send the game into overtime still scoreless.
The Cardinal came out strong in their seventh overtime appearance on the season, cranking a shot at Duke that found the goal, but was overturned as the shot was ruled outside the scoring area when it was last touched. Duke took advantage of the opportunity scrapping for two more penalty corners, one finally paying off as Aileen Johnson connected with Ashley Kristen for a tip in goal to end the tournament run for the Cardinal.
The loss concludes the 2015 season, the Cardinal will jump back into action in 2016 with a strong core of 16 letterwinners returning.
