For the second straight year, the No. 5 Stanford women’s soccer team just could not make it happen in the Sweet 16. The Cardinal was bounced from the NCAA Tournament’s third round after losing 2-0 to No. 24 Connecticut at home last Friday.

Stanford (15-3-5) advanced to the second weekend of play by walloping Sacramento State 7-0 in the first round before edging archrival Cal on penalty kicks after a 1-1 draw two days later.

But the supply of goals went dry by the time the Huskies came to town. Just like last year’s Sweet 16 defeat — a shootout loss to Clemson that was also at home — Stanford out-shot its opponent but could not ripple the back of the net with any of its 12 shots (five on goal). Sophomore forward Kelley O’Hara nearly opened the scoring with less than 15 minutes to go in the first half, forcing a tough save from Connecticut goalie Stephanie Labbe, but the period ended knotted at zero.

Stanford’s fortune went sour just five minutes into the second half. One of the Cardinal’s major problems this season has been turnovers on its own side of the pitch, and that issue reared its head at the worst time. Huskies midfielder Meghan Schnur picked off the ball from Stanford and hit Meghan Cunningham near the goal. Cunningham beat senior goalkeeper Erica Holland to give the Huskies a 1-0 lead they would never relinquish.

The Cardinal pushed forward to try to find an equalizer but met with firm resistance from the Connecticut back line before the Huskies iced the game with just over 20 minutes left.

The parallels between last year’s and this year’s Sweet 16 exits are many. Once again, Stanford dominated the game offensively and defensively — Holland was forced into only one save — but could not convert when it needed to.

Goals were not hard to come by the previous weekend during opening round play. The Cardinal roared into postseason play with guns blazing, needing all of 37 seconds to find the back of the net. Freshman forward Christen Press hit the first of two goals on a swerving shot just after the kickoff, and O’Hara gave Stanford a 2-0 lead just seven minutes later, turning in a cross from fellow sophomore forward Ali Riley.

The match calmed down a bit from that point, but Stanford went on to add goals from seniors Lizzy George and Mimi Yuhas (her first of the season), sophomore Kristin Stannard, and Press’s second with a Sacramento State own-goal before the 7-0 rout was over.

Stanford’s second-round game was far more dramatic. Stannard scored her second goal in two games just over a half-hour in, firing home a cross from Riley on the right side. Cal came out with purpose in the second half, though, and finally broke through the Cardinal’s defensive shield with less than two minutes to go. Freshman Alex Morgan, the Bears’ leading scorer, headed home a free kick to send the game to overtime, which ended scoreless.

That meant penalty kicks for the Pac-10 rivals. Both teams made the interesting decision to switch goalkeepers for the shootout, and it paid off for Stanford. Junior Alex Gamble made two saves, on the first and last Cal PKs, and the Cardinal converted seven opportunities to win the shootout, 7-6, and preserve the season.

After having its season ended by Connecticut, Stanford finished the year with a record of 15-3-5.