STANFORD, Calif. — Having secured another trip to the NCAA postseason, No. 10/9 Stanford is back in action this weekend, traveling to Gainesville, Fla. to take on #22 Denver in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday, May 9. Opening draw from Donald R. Dizney Stadium is slated for 7 p.m. ET.
SEVENS
No. 10/9 Stanford (14-5, 7-2 ACC) heads into the tournament having made it to the semifinals of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Women’s Lacrosse Championship two weeks ago, earning a quarterfinal win over the No. 6 seed Syracuse Orange on April 23 before falling to the No. 2 seed Boston College Eagles two days later. Against #17 Syracuse, the Cardinal utilized a 10-2 run in the second half to earn a decisive 15-10 win over the Orange. Against #2 Boston College, the Cardinal earned a 3-2 lead nearing the end of the first quarter to put the Eagles on the backfoot. However, a 7-1 run leading into the half gave BC a lead they never surrendered as the Cardinal could not entertain the comeback, falling 16-9 in its first-ever trip to the ACC postseason. For their efforts, Rylee Bouvier and Kate Bellissimo were named to the All-ACC Tournament team following the championship game.
The Cardinal heads into the tournament looking to advance past the opening weekend for the first time in program history. Stanford, which is now making its 13th appearance in the NCAA Tournament, has earned three wins in the tournament (2010, 2013, 2016) and is looking to claim its first postseason win in The Sunshine State in its third trip. Against the four-team pod, the Cardinal holds a winning record against the Pioneers in what will be the 38th meeting between the two teams - and second this season - while looking to earn its first win against the No. 4-seeded Florida Gators who currently own a 2-0 record over the Cardinal. Stanford could also face Mercer for the first time ever should it beat Florida in the first round.
Stanford has been ranked in both the IWLCA and ILWomen.com Poll every week this season and ranked inside the top 10 in all both polls nine times this season. Stanford earned a program high in the IWLCA Poll on March 24 having been slotted in at No. 4. Prior to this season, Stanford’s highest ranking came in the 2012 preseason poll where the Cardinal was ranked sixth while Stanford’s No. 4 ranking is the highest ranking of any West Coast program since 2017 (No. 3 USC, IWLCA Week One Poll, Feb. 20, 2017).
Aliya Polisky continues to hold the team lead in goals, setting a new career-high with 59 goals this season following seven goals in the ACC Tournament a week ago. Polisky tied her career high with her 53rd against Cal before potting four goals in the win over #17 Syracuse. Polisky, who has a career-high 15 hat tricks this season - started the campaign with six-consecutive hat tricks and has recorded a hat trick in six of the last eight games for the Cardinal including a five-goal outing against No. 4 Yale in what was the second highest win in program history for Stanford. Polisky’s 75 points also leads the Cardinal in that regard as the sophomore currently ranks fourth in the conference in goals and sixth in points. Ava Arceri sits second in goals with 52 on the year and has scored in every game this season for the Cardinal while Rylee Bouvier had a seven-game point-streak snapped in the loss to BC after accruing 23 of her 35 total points across that span.
Elsewhere offensively, Martha Oakey leads the Cardinal in assists after grabbing three of her 27 assists in the win over the Irish before nabbing one against Syracuse two weeks ago. Her 27 assists ranks 11th all-time in program history, surpassing Ali Baiocco’s 24 assists in the 2021 campaign while setting a new high for single-season assists by a true freshman. Sophomore Elise Murphy sits behind Oakey with 26 assists and has had two separate point-streaks of five games or more this season with her longest coming through the first nine games of the campaign.
Stanford contains one of the strongest defensive corps in the country placing 11th in the nation in scoring defense, holding opposing teams to 9.26 goals per game. Leading the charge is junior goalkeeper Lucy Pearson who boasts a 9.56 goals-against average and .459 save percentage, both of which rank fifth in the conference. Pearson’s goals-against average sits at 13th best in the nation.
Elsewhere defensively, Stanford sits third in the ACC and top-25 nationally in ground balls per game (18.05) and 22nd in the country in caused turnovers per game (10.00) with Olivia Rose and Rylee Bouvier earning 28 and 26 caused turnovers, respectively. Olivia Rose’s 49 ground balls lead the way for Stanford in that regard as she currently slots second in the conference in ground balls per game (2.58) while her 1.47 caused turnovers per game is good for 7th in the ACC. On the draw, Stanford is led by Amanda Lawson, Dakota Uy, Arceri, and Jordyn Case who have all accumulated 45 or more draw controls this season.