April 14, 2011
Live StatsWebstream (subscription required)
Stanford, Calif. - No. 7 Stanford travels to Eugene on Friday, April 15, for a crucial MPSF showdown with Oregon. The Cardinal and the Ducks are the only two remaining undefeated teams in conference and the matchup will go a long way towards deciding the 2011 MPSF regular season champion.
Stanford (12-1, 4-0 MPSF) is 6-1 all-time against Oregon (6-6, 3-0 MPSF), including defeating the Ducks in its last four matchups. The Ducks last beat Stanford in Eugene to open the 2007 season. The last time Stanford traveled to Eugene was 2009 with the Cardinal coming away with a 17-5 victory.
The Cardinal has won four in a row and would clinch at least a tie for the MPSF regular season title with a win over Oregon. A win would also give Stanford the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament because Stanford would hold the head-to-head edge over other potential one-loss teams, Denver and Oregon.
Stanford continues to be one of the top scoring teams in the nation, averaging 16.00 goals per game. Sarah Flynn leads the Cardinal with 38 goals and is now just eight goals shy of tying Megan Burker for the all-time Stanford lead. Leslie Foard has chipped in 27 goals and 13 assists, while Lauren Schmidt has 22 goals and 10 assists.
Defensively, the Cardinal are allowing just 9.38 goals per game as Annie Read has been terrific in goal, making 82 saves on the season and being credited for all 12 wins.
Oregon is led by Alex Breiner who is the reigning MPSF Player of the Week. Breiner has 26 goals and 16 assists on the season and also leads the Ducks with 32 draw controls. Salliebeth Finnegan and Caroline Federighi have split time in goal for Oregon, combing to hold opponents to 9.84 goals per game.
Friday's game will be the first of three road games to finish the regular season for Stanford. The Cardinal will travel to UC Davis on Wednesday, April 20, and close the season at No. 2 Northwestern on Sunday, April 24.