STANFORD, Calif. – The No. 15 Stanford women’s lacrosse team plays its home conference opener Saturday when the Cardinal plays host to Saint Mary’s in a noon Mountain Pacific Sports Federation contest at Laird Q. Cagan Stadium. Stanford (5-1 overall, 1-0 MPSF) resumes action after a 12-day break between games, because of Dead Week and winter quarter finals. Stanford then will embark on its second East Coast trip of the month, traveling to Cornell and Notre Dame during spring break, before beginning the MPSF season in earnest.
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Game information
When: Saturday, noon
Who: Saint Mary’s (0-4, 0-2) at No. 15 Stanford (5-1, 1-0)
Where: Laird Q. Cagan Stadium; Stanford, Calif.
All-Time Series: Stanford leads, 26-0
Live Stats: Click here
Webcast: Click here
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Saturday’s Opponent, Saint Mary’s: This will be the first road game for the Gaels (0-4, 0-2), who opened with a 20-14 loss against Cal and haven’t finished closer in any game since. Saint Mary’s was picked ninth in the 10-team MPSF in a preseason vote of conference coaches. The Gaels went 2-6 in the MPSF and 4-9 last year. Junior midfielder Rachel Minarovich, now a senior, was an All-MPSF second-team choice last year. The Gaels’ leading scorer is Allie DeBruhl, who has 10 goals. Molly Kuptz recorded 2014 MPSF-highs of nine ground balls and five caused turnovers in a 17-8 loss to Robert Morris on Friday. Minarovich had seven draw controls in that game and 11 against Harvard.
The Stanford-Saint Mary’s Series: Stanford leads the all-time series, 26-0. Stanford’s next-highest number of victories without a loss against an opponent is 7-0 against Fresno State. Thirteen of those victories have been by 10 or more goals, including nine of 10 since 2006. However, from 2000-05, the teams regularly played close games, including Stanford’s 9-8 home victory on Feb. 24, 2001, in what remains the closest score in series history. Katharine Barnes’ hat trick helped Stanford erase an early 3-0 deficit in that game.
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In Review: Stanford is coming off back-to-back overtime road victories against ranked teams: 8-7 at then-No. 11 Towson on March 6, and 11-10 at No. 14 Georgetown on March 8. Stanford rallied from a 10-4 deficit against Georgetown by holding the Hoyas without a goal for the final 32 minutes. Goalie Lyndsey Munoz made a big save on an overtime free-position shot and had eight saves in that game, and nine against Towson, for 17 total saves of 34 shots faced in those two games. Munoz was named MPSF Defensive Player of the Week and national women’s player of the week by the Baltimore Sun. Hannah Farr, who scored the winner against Towson and caused and collected the turnover that led to the winning goal against Georgetown, was the MPSF Offensive Player of the Week.
Teewaraton Watch List: Stanford senior attack Rachel Ozer and sophomore midfielder Lucy Dikeou were named to the watch list for the Tewaaraton Award, the most prestigious annual honor in collegiate women’s lacrosse. Ozer and Dikeous were among 51 women on the list. Others have a chance to play their way on. The lists will be expanded on March 20 and April 10. The number will be cut to 25 on April 24. Five finalists will be announced on May 8 and invited to the awards ceremony May 29 in Washington, D.C. The addition of Dikeou brings the number of Stanford players on the list to eight since 2006. Lauren Schmidt ’10 and Laura Shane ’08 each were named to the list three times. Last year, Ozer, goalie Lyndsey Munoz and midfielder Anna Kim were named.
MPSF Preseason Poll: Stanford is the choice to win the MPSF, as determined by a vote of conference coaches. The Cardinal is the preseason favorite for the fifth consecutive year and seeks to win its ninth MPSF title in 10 years. Stanford received seven of 10 possible first-place votes, with 2013 regular-season champion Denver receiving two and USC, in only its second season, receiving one.
Coming Back: Stanford returned 11 of its 12 starters and 96 percent of its goals (260 of 272) from a 14-6 team that reached the second round of the NCAA tournament last year. Rachel Ozer and Anna Kim were IWLCA All-Region second-team players and among six Cardinal named to the All-MPSF team in 2013.
Ozer’s Scoring: With a team-high 12 goals this year, Rachel Ozer moves into 15th place on the program’s all-time career list, with 79 goals. Liz Piselli (2004-07) is next ahead of her, with 83. Ozer also is tied for No. 8 all-time in career assists (40) and is within two of breaking into Stanford’s top 15 in career points. Ozer has 119.
Poplawski's Streak: Freshman Alex Poplawski has not only started all six games of her brief collegiate career, but she has scored goals in each of them too. Poplawski, a 6-foot midfielder from Springfield, Pa., has eight goals and is tied for fourth on the team goal-scoring list.
On the Horizon: Stanford spends spring break on its second East Coast trip of the month, traveling to Cornell on Wednesday, March 25, and then playing at No. 6 Notre Dame on March 29. The Notre Dame game will be a rematch of Stanford’s 8-7 victory over the Irish in a 2013 NCAA first-round game in Evanston, Ill. Stanford will return home for MPSF games April 4 and April 6 against Denver and Colorado, respectively.