April 6, 2011
Stanford, Calif. - No. 7 Stanford closes its home season with senior day on Friday, April 8, at 6pm. The Cardinal (11-1) will take on Denver (3-9) in a rematch of the MPSF Championship Game from a year ago, which Stanford won 11-10 in overtime.
The Cardinal is a perfect 3-0 in MPSF play thus far, while Denver is 1-0, meaning the winner of the game will take control in the conference race. Denver surprised Stanford last season, defeating them in Denver during the regular season to capture the regular season conference title. Stanford got its revenge in the final of the postseason tournament as Karen Nesbitt scored in the final seconds of overtime to give Stanford the dramatic win.
Friday's game will take on extra significance as it will be senior day. Ashley Aruffo, Sarah Flynn, Leslie Foard, Nesbitt, Annie Read, Maggie Sachs and Lauren Schmidt will be honored for their outstanding careers. The seniors have amassed a 52-19 record during their careers and have won three-straight conference tournament titles.
Stanford has won three-straight games after ending its eight-game winning streak to start the season with a loss at Vanderbilt. The Cardinal defeated Brown and California at home and Saint Mary's in Moraga as part of a busy week. Overall, Stanford has now won 21 straight games at Cagan Stadium dating back to 2009.
Sarah Flynn is coming off a big week, scoring 14 goals and being named MPSF Player of the Week. Flynn now has a team-leading 34 goals and 38 points. Leslie Foard is second on the team in scoring with 26 goals and 11 assists for 37 points. The Cardinal has a balanced attack overall, however, as the team ranks fourth in the nation with 16.0 goals per game. Nine players have scored at least 10 goals and 16 players have scored overall.
Defensively, the Cardinal is holding its opponent under 10 goals per game. Annie Read has 11 wins in goal and has made 70 saves.
Following the, Stanford will close out the season with three straight on the road. The Cardinal will finish MPSF play next week with Oregon and UC Davis, before traveling to Chicago to face No. 2 Northwestern to finish the regular season.
 The Cardinal seniors pose on photo day.  | |