May 15, 2010
STANFORD, Calif.- Head coach Lesley Irvine has announced the 2010 Stanford field hockey schedule, which features four contests against NCAA Tournament squads from a year ago, including defending national champion North Carolina.
The 16-game regular-season schedule includes five contests to be played at the Varsity Turf, including the home opener on Sept. 3 against UC Davis.
For the first time in 10 years, Stanford will be opening its season on the road. The Cardinal will travel to Pacific on Aug. 27 in a match that also kicks off NorPac play for both teams. Stanford captured the NorPac West Division title last year with a 5-1 mark.
After hosting Michigan State on Sept. 6, Stanford heads to the Midwest for three straight contests. The Cardinal faces Kent State, then takes on Iowa and Robert Morris in neutral site matches that will also be played in Kent, Ohio.
The first of two games against rival California is scheduled for Sept. 19, but then it's back on the road for three more matches. Included in that stretch are key matchups against defending national champion North Carolina and Wake Forest, another NCAA Tournament participant from one year ago that advanced to the second round.
Stanford welcomes Harvard to The Farm on Oct. 8 for a night match before another three-game East Coast road swing. This time around, the Cardinal battles Syracuse and Rutgers in neutral site games before concluding the trip with Northeastern on Oct. 18.
Conference games against Pacific and California during the final week of October round out the slate.
This year's NorPac Championship will be hosted Davidson during Nov. 4-6 in Davidson, N.C.
Stanford (17-5, 5-1 NorPac) enjoyed its best season in program history in 2009, establishing a school record with 17 victories. The Cardinal captured the NorPac Tournament championship for the third straight season and remained a fixture in the national rankings for more than two months. Stanford won its second NCAA Play-In game in three seasons and reached the NCAA Tournament for the ninth time in school history. Stanford's record-setting season was due in large part to its high-powered offense, as the Cardinal established single-season school records in goals (87), assists (60), points (234) and shots (410).