ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- No. 8 Northwestern struck first, but a late goal by No. 7 Stanford was the difference as the Wildcats saw their six-game winning streak come to an end Friday night in a 2-1 neutral-site loss at Ocker Field.
The top-10 battle lived up to its billing as two of the top defenses in the nation made it difficult on the offenses.
It didn't take the Wildcats long to get on the board as Caroline Troncelliti tipped in the first shot of the match at 3:30 to give NU the early advantage. Ann Arbor native Kelsey Thompson was credited with the assist on the play. The goal was Troncelliti's ninth of the season, tying her with Isabel Flens for the team lead.
Stanford entered the contest ranked second in the nation with an impressive 0.60 goals-against average while goalkeeper Dulcie Davies ranked first with a .849 save percentage.
The Cardinal evened the score just under six minutes later when Hannah Thiemann converted on a penalty corner attempt off assists from Maddie Secco and Kelsey Harbin.
Just when it looked as though the offenses might have their way, the touted defenses took over.
After the early score, Northwestern managed just two more shots the remainder of the half while Stanford had five shots over the opening 35 minutes of play. All three of the Wildcats' shots were on goal.
The Wildcats had a great chance to regain the lead 12 minutes into the second stanza when they earned their second penalty corner of the half, but Davies made consecutive saves on shots by Lena Phillips and Lisa McCarthy to keep the game tied.
Stanford threatened in the 54th minute, but Maddy Carpenter made a save and the Wildcats fought off consecutive penalty corners by the Cardinal.
The decisive goal eventually came with just 7:18 remaining when Secco tallied an unassisted goal to give Stanford its first lead of the game.
A yellow card on the Wildcats with two minutes remaining put NU down a player, but the Wildcats pulled Carpenter from goal to bring on an extra attacker. The pressure paid off as Northwestern earned a penalty corner with just over a minute left, but Flens' shot was saved by Davies and Stanford managed to hold on for the hard-fought win.
Stanford finished with slim advantages of 10-9 in shots and 7-5 in penalty corners with Davies making six saves to two for Carpenter.
Northwestern continues its weekend in Michigan on Sunday as it travels to Mount Pleasant to face Central Michigan. The contest is slated to get underway at 11 a.m. Central time.