Soon after North Carolina upset undefeated Boston College for the ACC title, second-seeded Stanford upset top-seeded Colorado 15-6 for the inaugural Pac-12 crown on the Buffaloes’ home turf.

"It's awesome," Stanford coach Amy Bokker said. "I thought our team just played so empowered and with so much energy. They really connected out on the field and they came ready to play. I am just really proud of our team all together.”

First-ever #Pac12LAX tourney champs!

Go crazy, @StanfordWLaxpic.twitter.com/kyTQtoMwti

— Pac-12 Network (@Pac12Network) April 29, 2018

The hosts were the favorites entering Sunday’s matchup, having beaten the Cardinal twice during the regular season, first 18-16 on March 9 in Boulder, Colo., and then 11-10 in overtime in Stanford.

But the tides quickly changed.

Midway through the first half, Stanford led 4-1 with a three-goal run sparked by back-to-back goals from Taylor Scornavacco.

Carly Cox scored Colorado’s second goal to come within two, but then the Cardinal exploded for a seven-goal spurt spanning both halves thanks to a hat trick from Ali Baiocco, who sparked the run.  

The Buffs’ offensive leader Darby Kiernan scored at the 26:26 mark in the second period, but they still trailed 11-3. Stanford responded less than four minutes later with four straight scores to go up by 12 with an even 13 minutes remaining on the clock.

Colorado had one last push in the final 11:02 with a three-goal run of its own, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the cushion Stanford secured.

The Cardinal was led by four points apiece from Baiocco, Galen Lew and Kelsey Murray. Areta Buness also added a hat trick, while goalie Allie DaCar, the tournament MVP, made 14 saves in the win, which earns Stanford an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament in May.

"They were inspired," Bokker said. "This was a goal of ours all season. I think they were really focused and our defense was amazing. They just play so disciplined. I can't say enough about their play and Allie coming up huge with all those saves. It really all just came together."

All the highlights that led to the trophy raise#GoStanford pic.twitter.com/tE2lOr4OBu

— Stanford WLAX (@StanfordWLax) April 29, 2018

However, Colorado is unsure of its chances to advance to the postseason.

"The only thing guaranteed is if we had won today," said Buffs coach Ann Elliott. "I think hopefully we've done a good enough job over the season of building a great resume to be able to get an at-large bid, but there is a lot of lacrosse to be played in the next week in different conferences and we'll see where we end up."

Selection Sunday is one week from today, when the NCAA selection committee makes the toughest decisions on seeding and at-large bids following conference tournament results.

"We got frustrated, we did dumb things and we weren't tough enough to battle back against a team that's very tough and battles,” Elliott added. “So if we're fortunate enough next Sunday for someone to give us an opportunity to continue to play, we have to get better and we have to take advantage of that, but it's not going to be easy. … We're going to practice assuming we can extend our season.”

2018 Pac-12 All-Tournament Team:

Sophie Castillo, Colorado
Eliza Christman, California
Allie DaCar, Stanford (Pac-12 Tournament MVP)
Jackie Gilbert, USC
Darby Kiernan, Colorado
Julia Lisella, Colorado
Daniella McMahon, Stanford
Natalie Modly, Oregon
Kelsey Murray, Stanford (Pac-12 Scholar-Athlete of the Year)
Kelly Myers, Stanford
Brittany Read, Oregon
Lydia Sutton, USC
Maria Villanti, Arizona State

Nike/US Lacrosse Division I Top 20 Scoreboard

No. 5 North Carolina 14, No. 2 Boston College 11
No. 14 Stanford 15, No. 11 Colorado 6

Complete Scoreboard