All Blues take a narrow win against Stanford
The first half saw soaked and missed tackles left and right. But what hurt Stanford most in the first half were the All Blues offloads and counter rucks. All Blues continuously got past the gain line and the Cardinal struggled to maintain possession and get the ball out of their half. The first half ended with the All Blues up 27 – 0.
In the second half, Stanford was far more urgent to realign, launch on defense and support on offense. The first try started from Aly Gleason ’13 calling for the quick line out in front of an unsuspecting All Blues. A few passes out wide and Sara Maurer ’16 grounded Stanford’s first try in the opposite corner within the same phase. A few minutes later, a quick tap on a penalty led to a second try, this time by Jamie Lawrence ’13. Building on the momentum, Stanford’s solid launches created a turnover ball that was quickly passed out wide. A phase later, Sasha Herbst de Cortina ’15 grounds a third try just near the posts. The All Blues were able to come back after putting several starters back on the field who were able to drive their way into Stanford’s half for a try. But the Cardinal came right back only a few minutes later with Raven Jackson-Stone ’13 grounding a try off a pick-and-go. All Blues struggled to keep their feet in the rucks and suffered several penalties that only added to Stanford’s momentum. Stanford’s final try was made on a quick tap off a penalty and four perfectly executed offloads that were beyond the tackler’s shoulders with support coming up just a pop pass away from the ball carrier. Caitlin Breen ’13 grounded the try near the posts, allowing for an easy conversion by Gleason. Stanford had driven their way up to a 29 – 32 game. But with only a try from taking the win, several starters were taken off to allow more Stanford players game time experience against a more experienced and physical opposition. All Blues were able to get a last try in just at the last few seconds.
Stanford vs. All Blues
Final Score: 29 – 37 (loss)
Tries scored by:
-Sara Maurer ’16
-Jamie Lawrence ’13
-Sasha Herbst de Cortina ’15
-Raven Jackson-Stone ’13
-Caitlin Breen ’13
Conversions made by:
-Aly Gleason (2)