A Valiant Effort

ORONO, Maine – Stanford flipped the script in a strong second half in the America East Tournament quarterfinals, but Albany escaped with a 1-0 win on Maine's campus on Thursday afternoon.

Freshman Cara Sambeth, making just her third appearance in goal, made a career-best six saves to lead the defense, while five different Stanford players fired a shot on the offensive side. The Great Danes outshot the Cardinal by an 11-0 tally over the opening 30 minutes, but Stanford seized control for a 6-0 shots advantage in the second half. Albany made four saves to preserve the shutout.

Sambeth made four saves in the first quarter, and the deadlock held until the 24th minute when Albany pounced on a rebound to score the game's only goal. The Cardinal's best opportunity came in the third quarter, when Molly Redgrove found Haley Mossmer with a field-length pass, but Mossmer's shot was stopped by a sliding goalkeeper.

Lynn Vanderstichele and Rose Winter forced Albany into saves in the fourth quarter, but the Cardinal couldn't find the back of the cage to extend the contest to an extra frame.

The Cardinal finishes at 4-9 this season – an impressive mark considering the adversity it faced over the course of the season. The team extended its streak of qualifying for every America East Tournament since Stanford joined the conference.