The Stanford women’s lacrosse team never led its NCAA first-round game on Friday, but rallied twice, only for Florida to pull away for a 15-10 victory at Fetzer Field.

Junior midfielder Lucy Dikeou scored five goals in a strong all-around performance typical of her play, helping No. 16 Stanford finish 15-3 and tie the school-record for fewest losses in a season.

Stanford cut a 9-4 halftime deficit to 9-8 on Dikeou’s fourth goal of the game, with 16:28 left. But No. 10 Florida (15-5) countered with five consecutive goals to distance itself in a matchup of the nation’s two highest-scoring teams.

Dikeou scored Stanford’s final goal, on a free-position shot, set up by her own open-field interception and length-of-the-field run. Dikeou had six groundballs, caused three turnovers, and had an assist and a draw control. She matched Florida’s Shannon Gilroy, one of five finalists for the Tewaaraton Award as collegiate lacrosse’s top player, as the game’s leading goal-scorer.

“You need big players to play big in big games,” Stanford coach Amy Bokker said. “Lucy definitely did that.”

Dikeou’s draw control early in the second half was her 64th of the season, breaking a school record she shared with former teammate Megan Lerner (2013). Also, Dikeou’s 48 goals tied Ozer’s 2013 total for the fourth-highest ever at Stanford.

Stanford fell behind 3-0 before Hannah Farr scored 11 minutes into the game and Dikeou followed with two more to tie it up, 3-3. But Florida broke open the defense with a flurry of four goals in only 27 seconds during a 5-0 run that put the Gators in front to stay.

Though Stanford entered the game as the national leader in draw controls, Florida dominated that category, 18-9. It was only the third time Stanford had lost the draw matchup all season.

Out of the second half draw, Dikeou picked up a groundball and made a half-field run into the fan, drawing defenders before making a quick pass to Mackenzie Tesei who caught and shot in one motion. Her goal sparked a Cardinal second-half surge. Moments later, Dikeou flat-out beat a defender one-on-one and tore across the crease to cut the deficit to 9-8. But Stanford would draw no closer.

“We came out of halftime with a good plan,” Bokker said. “Florida’s a really fast and athletic team and it was definitely hard to match that. I think we ran out of a little bit of gas because we had to play our higher pressure defense. We had debates on whether to stay in it or go back into the original defense, but we were finding success with it, so ultimately we decided to stay in it. It tired us out in the end.”

Thus ended the collegiate careers of six seniors – Farr, Kyle Fraser, Rachel Kalick, Meredith Kalinowski, Chinna O’Suji, and Emily Newstrom --- and graduate student Rachel Ozer. Farr was a four-time All-Mountain Pacific Sports Federation first-team selection, the 2014 conference player of the year, a two-sport starter (along with soccer), and a 2014 All-America. Kalinowski shared captain duties with Farr and junior Meg Lentz. Each senior made an impact far beyond their four-year resume of a 51-24 record, three NCAA appearances and two MPSF titles.

“I just commended them on their leadership,” Bokker said of her postgame message. “This group of seniors did a great job leading this team with motivation, with drive, with determination. I was really proud of our senior class. They really put the program in a good position for the future.”

With an early-second half goal, Ozer finished among Stanford’s all-time leaders in points (192, third), assists (65, third), and goals (127, sixth). The native of Moraga, California, graduated last spring with a degree in atmosphere and energy systems and will earn her master’s this summer in mechanical engineering. She was Stanford’s first Bay Area recruit on a team that now has five.

Now, it’s Ozer’s turn, along with the other seniors, to leave legacy for others to follow.

* * *

NCAA tournament

First round

In Chapel Hill, N.C.

Florida 15, Stanford 10

Florida 9 6 – 15

Stanford 4 6 – 10

Florida (goals-assists): Shannon Gilroy 5-2, Mollie Stevens 3-0, Nicole Graziano 2-2, Devon Schneider 2-0, Sammi Burgess 1-1, Carly Ross 1-0, Nora Barry 1-0. Totals 15-5.

Stanford: Lucy Dikeou 5-1, Mackenzie Tesei 2-0, Hannah Farr 1-2, Rachel Ozer 1-0, Alex Poplawski 1-0, Alexandra Crerend 0-1. Totals 10-4.

Records: Stanford 15-3, Florida 15-5.