STANFORD, Calif. - No. 2 The Cardinal is at home again this weekend, hosting two of the top teams in the country. USC, who is tied with Stanford at No. 2 in the CWPA poll, comes to The Farm on Saturday, while No. 1 UCLA is at Avery Aquatic Center on Sunday.
The Card has beaten both teams this season, after a Los Angeles sweep on October 5-6.
HOME STRETCH » With only five games left in the 2024 season, the Cardinal sits at 15-2 (2-1). This weekend starts Stanford's second run through the MPSF, after going 2-1 in the initial matchups with each MPSF West team.
FAMILIAR FOES » Stanford is 2-1 against USC and UCLA this season, with the one loss coming in double overtime to USC outside of conference play.
TOP COMPETITION » Stanford already boasts nine top-10 wins on the season, including three top-four wins.
LEADING THE CARD » Riley Pittman has the team lead for both goals and assists, with 37 and 29, respectively. Pittman's assist total is good for the fourth-best in the MPSF.
SOREN TO NEW HEIGHTS » Soren Jensen is in the midst of a hot scoring streak - finding the back of the net 22 times in the last seven games. Jensen posted a career-best seven scores two weeks ago at No. 9 California.
FRESHMEN ON FIRE » The freshmen have been key contributors so far this season, with Ryan Ohl, Botond Balogh, Ben Forer and Will Schneider combining for 70 points (43 goals 27 assists) on the year.
STAUNCH DEFENSE » Stanford has done a great job limiting opponent attacks this season, allowing just 148 goals in 17 games, the fewest in the MPSF West at just 8.71 goals per game.
RECORD ON WATCH » Jackson Painter's 173 career goals with Stanford have him 11 goals shy of the 10th-most in program history. The last edit to the program's top-10 list was 2021.
VETERAN STANDOUTS » The Card returns three All America selections from 2023 in Painter, Pittman and Ethan Parrish. The trio extended a nearly-fifty-year run of Stanford landing multiple student-athletes on an All America team every year since 1975.
CARDINAL, WHITE AND BLUE » Four Cardinal products took home bronze with Team USA at this summer's Paris Olympic Games. Ben Hallock, Alex Bowen, Dylan Woodhead and Drew Holland were a part of the first Olympic medal since 2008, with Hallock serving as the team captain.