Late Goal The Difference

DURHAM, N.H. - No. 16 Stanford suffered its first loss of the season on Thursday in a 3-2 neutral-site loss to Maine.

Kicking off a three-match, four-day road swing, Stanford (7-1, 5-1 America East) held a pair of one-goal leads before Maine (6-3, 6-1 America East) scored the game-winner with less than two minutes remaining.

Both teams finished with 11 shot attempts while Maine held a 4-3 edge in penalty corners in the evenly-fought game, which presented an opportunity for the Cardinal to clinch a berth in next week's America East Championship.

The Black Bears responded quickly after the Cardinal's scoring chances. After Juli Porto found the cage following an assist from Corinne Zanolli at the 2:32 mark, Maine's Brooke Sulinski countered three minutes later to make it 1-1.

Midway through the third period, Zanolli scored her 12th goal of the season off a penalty corner with assists from Megan Frost and Sarah Johnson. However, Maine answered seven minutes later when Julia Ross scored unassisted.

The game-winner came at the 58:19 mark when Chloe Walton beat keeper Hannah Santos, who finished with four saves.

Stanford's road trip resumes Friday at UMass Lowell in a 10 a.m. PT tilt.