Stanford defeated Colorado 11-8 in the Pac-12 championship game Saturday, ending the conference’s seven-year run as the home for women’s lacrosse in the West as a four-time champion.
Jay Browne led the Cardinal with a goal and four assists. Eight different players scored for Stanford, which is leaving for the ACC after this year. With several traditional Pac-12 schools on the move for football reasons, the conference will no longer operate a women’s lacrosse league.
For at least one more week, however, Stanford will rep the Pac-12 proudly as its automatic qualifier in the NCAA tournament. It’s familiar territory for the Cardinal, who have played eight of the last 10 tournaments.
Stanford, which scored 20 goals in its Pac-12 semifinal win over Arizona State on Thursday, encountered stiffer opposition from Colorado. The Cardinal (13-4, 7-0) won despite securing just seven of 23 draws.
Still, they led largely from start to finish, using a 5-1 run spanning the second and third quarters to put away the Buffaloes.
Sarah Jacques and Aliya Polisky each scored two goals in the second half. Polisky’s second coming with 2:22 remaining in regulation after Colorado had pulled within two of Stanford.
Colorado (13-6, 5-2) resides squarely on the bubble, according to Jeremy Fallis’ latest bracket projection, which had the Buffs in the NCAA tournament as an at-large selection.
NCAA tournament selections will be announced Sunday on ESPNU.
