CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Coming off its first loss, the No. 9 Stanford women’s lacrosse team will attempt to emerge with a split of its two-game Eastern road trip when it plays at Harvard on Friday in a game broadcast live on ESPN3.com. Stanford (4-1) entered the week as the nation’s top scoring team, averaging 17.0 goals per game and nearly matched that in a 17-15 loss at No. 15 Penn State on Tuesday. Harvard (3-3) is 2-0 at home.
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The following is a closer look at Friday’s game:
Who: No. 9 Stanford (4-1) at Harvard (3-3)
When: Friday, 4 p.m. PT (7 p.m. ET)
Where: Soldiers Field Soccer/Lacrosse Stadium (artificial turf)
All-Time Series Record: Stanford leads, 4-3
Live Stats: Click here
TV: Live on ESPN3.com and the Ivy League Digital Network
Forecast: Cloudy, 38 degrees at opening draw.
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Road Trip: Stanford is on spring break and annually heads East during this stretch, going 2-0 on trips each of the past two years. The last time Stanford traveled to Harvard during the break, in 2012, the Cardinal lost both, to Brown and the Crimson. Stanford opened the trip Tuesday with a 17-15 loss at No. 15 Penn State. It was Stanford’s first game in 16 days after Dead Week and winter quarter finals. Previously, Stanford had played once in 22 days. Stanford held second-half leads over Penn State of 11-6 and 14-11 only to be outscored 6-1 down the stretch.
The Season So Far: Stanford opened at 4-0, its best start since beginning the 2011 season at 8-0. In that time, the Cardinal improved its No. 20 IWLCA national preseason ranking to No. 9. Stanford earned back-to-back victories over ranked teams, beating then-No. 12 Notre Dame at home and then-No. 10 Ohio State on the road, both by 12-10 scores, and followed with a 22-11 victory at Vanderbilt. Sophomore Kelsey Murray scored five against Ohio State, matching her total in the opener against Fresno State. Defensively, Adrienne Anderson guarded two of the nation’s top players, Notre Dame’s Cortney Fortunato and Ohio State’s Jackie Cifarelli, and held them to a combined one goal and two assists. Freshman Allie DaCar has stepped in at goalie and made that position a strength for the Cardinal, saving eight Notre Dame shots and nine from Ohio State.
Friday’s Opponent, Harvard: This will be the fourth top-20 opponent for Harvard (3-3), which is 0-3 in such games, but all three were by five goals or fewer -- 13-9 at No. 8 Virginia, 11-10 to No. 5 Syracuse, and 17-12 on Saturday against No. 13 Princeton, in Harvard’s most recent game. This is Harvard’s first home game against a ranked opponent. The Crimson is 2-0 at home. Sophomore Marisa Romeo scored 48 goals last season and already has 20, with six assists. She is 13th the nation in goals per game, with 3.33. Last year, Harvard went 9-7, including 4-3 in the Ivy League.
The Stanford-Harvard Series: Stanford leads the all-time series, 4-3. The Cardinal has won the past two matchups and four of the past five. Last year, Stanford won 14-10 at home. Meg Lentz scored four goals for Stanford and Marisa Romeo and Alexis Nicolia three apiece for Harvard, which trailed throughout the game. Harvard earned a 21-2 victory in 1995, Stanford’s first year with a varsity program. In games played at Stanford, the Cardinal leads 3-0. This is the fifth consecutive season the teams have played. In their only previous game in Cambridge, Harvard won, 10-4 in 2012.
Stanford in the Rankings:
IWLCA coaches: No. 9
Brine media poll: No. 9
Lacrosse Magazine: No. 10
Lax Power computer: No. 5
National stat rankings (with MPSF in parentheses) going into the week:
Team:
Scoring offense – 1, 17.00 (1).
Winning percentage – 1, 1.000 (1).
Scoring margin – 4, 7.50 (1)
Draw controls – 4, 15.50 (1)
Individual:
Points per game – 1, Kelsey Murray, 6.00 (1)
Goals per game – 5, Kelsey Murray, 3.75 (1)
18, Lucy Dikeou, 3.25 (3)
Assists per game – 6, Kelsey Murray, 2.25 (1)
Draw controls – 23, Kelly Myers, 4.00 (4)
Scoring Streak: Junior midfielder Lucy Dikeou has scored 36 goals in her past 13 games, including seven performances of three or more goals, including six against Vanderbilt. Last year, she joined Hannah Farr as the only Stanford players to be ranked among team’s top-five in goals, assists, points, ground balls, draw controls, and caused turnovers.
Fifth-Year Senior: Rachel Ozer of Moraga, California, became the first Bay Area native to play for Stanford, when she arrived in the 2011 season. Ozer is the only fifth-year senior on the team and ranks among Stanford’s top-10 statistical leaders in several catagories. She graduated in June with a degree in atmosphere and energy engineering, and now is co-terming to earn her masters in mechanical engineering. Ozer ranked among Stanford’s career leaders in these categories: free-position shots (81, second), assists (52, fifth), points (162, seventh), shots (236, 10th), and goals (110, ninth).
Ranked Opponents: Stanford is 2-1 against ranked teams.
Feb. 20: at No. 19 Stanford 12, No. 12 Notre Dame 10
Feb. 28: No. 15 Stanford 12, at No. 10 Ohio State 10
March 24: at No. 15 Penn State 17, No. 9 Stanford 15
Special situations: Here are Stanford’s records in certain situations:
• When scoring first: 3-1
• When the opponent scores first: 1-0
• In games it has trailed: 2-1
• In games it has trailed in the second half: 0-1
• When leading at halftime: 4-1
• When trailing at halftime: 0-0
• When tied at halftime: 0-0
• When leading with 10 minutes left: 4-1
• When trailing with 10 minutes left: 0-0
• When tied with 10 minutes left: 0-0
• In overtime: 0-0
• Largest deficit: Two goals (twice) -- 2-0 to Notre Dame, 25:23 left (first half); 17-15 to Penn State, 0:58 left (second half).
• Largest comeback: Trailed 2-0 to Notre Dame (first half); Won 12-10.
Stanford vs. the Ivy League: Stanford is 15-16 all-time against the Ivy League. Here is the breakdown, with Stanford’s win total listed first: Harvard (4-3), Brown (2-3), Columbia (1-1), Cornell (3-6), Dartmouth (1-2), Pennsylvania (3-1), Yale (1-0).