STANFORD, Calif. -- Though the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation women’s lacrosse season remains in the early stages, Stanford is among only three schools to still be undefeated in conference play. If Stanford can get through this week unscathed -- against Oregon (9-4, 3-2) and Saint Mary’s (0-11, 0-5) -- the Cardinal could face a pivotal home weekend (April 17 and 19) against the other two undefeated teams, San Diego State and USC, for control of the MPSF race.
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The following is a closer look at Thursday’s game:
Who: No. 15 Stanford (7-2, 3-0) vs. Oregon (9-4, 3-2)
When: Thursday, 7 p.m.
Where: Laird Q. Cagan Stadium
All-Time Series Record: Stanford leads, 10-3
Live Stats: Click here
TV: Live on Pac-12 Networks (Leah Secondo, Kara Lentz on the call)
Twitter: @stanfordwlax
Admission: Free
Parking: Free anywhere on campus after 4 p.m.
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Who: Stanford vs. Saint Mary’s (0-11, 0-5)
When: Sunday, noon
Where: Saint Mary’s Stadium
All-Time Series Record: Stanford leads, 27-0
Live Stats: Look for links at GoStanford.com
Twitter: @stanfordwlax
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Week in Review: Stanford rebounded from a tough 15-7 home loss to Cornell on Tuesday to close the nonconference season with a 14-7 rout of Denver only three days later. The Cardinal regrouped and emerged with greater energy in tearing to a 10-1 first-half lead on the home-field of Denver, the defending MPSF champ, and built the lead to 14-2 in the second half. Mackenzie Tesei scored a career-high four goals and had an assist and the Cardinal seniors earned their first victory at Denver after three losses. Stanford followed with a 16-14 victory at Colorado on Sunday in a game that featured seven ties and five lead changes. Sophomore Alex Poplawski scored a career-high five goals and Stanford forced 17 saves from Colorado goalie Paige Soenksen.
Thursday’s Opponent, Oregon: The Ducks have completed their home season and play their final four regular-season games on the road. Oregon (9-4, 3-2), sitting fifth in the MPSF, will need to likely earn a split to clinch a berth in the six-team conference tournament. After facing Stanford, the Ducks play at UC Davis (1-9, 0-2) on Sunday and then embark on the Colorado trip. Oregon was picked fourth in the MPSF in a preseason vote of conference coaches. The Ducks are coming off an 18-8 victory over Cal on Sunday in a game delayed 1 hour, 22 minutes by hail. Hayley Milner (5 goals) and Olivia Pyne (4) combined for nine goals. Freshman Cambi Cukar has 30 assists, and is fourth in the nation (total and with 2.31 per game).
The Stanford-Oregon Series: Stanford leads the all-time series, 10-4, following a 15-7 road victory in 2014 that was fueled by a four-goal performance from Lucy Dikeou. Her most spectacular score was a half-field run after controlling the second half draw, only nine seconds into the half, completing a 5-0 Cardinal run that broke a 2-2 tie. They met in two MPSF tournament finals with Stanford winning, 12-10, in 2011 and Oregon winning, 13-10, in 2012. In their past two matchups, Stanford has outscored the Ducks, 30-15, including a 15-8 triumph at home in 2013 with Rachel Ozer scoring four goals.
Stanford in the Rankings:
IWLCA coaches: No. 15 (from No. 13 last week)
Brine media poll: No. 15 (from No. 11)
Lacrosse Magazine: No. 20 (from No. 15)
Lax Power computer: No. 12 (from No. 7)
RPI: No. 9
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National stat rankings (with MPSF in parentheses) going into the week:
Team:
Scoring offense – 5th, 15.00 (1st).
Draw controls – 5th, 15.11 (1st)
Winning percentage – 14th, .778 (1st).
Scoring margin – 22nd, 3.78 (3rd)
Individual:
Draw controls – 55th, Kelly Myers, 3.22 (6th)
83rd, Lucy Dikeou, 2.78 (9th)
Goals-Against Average – 69th, Allie DaCar, 11.40 (6th)
Goals per game – 72nd, Lucy Dikeou, 2.33 (7th)
The Season So Far: Stanford opened at 4-0, its best start since going 8-0 to start the 2011 season. The Cardinal improved its No. 20 IWLCA national preseason ranking to No. 9 while earning back-to-back victories over 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. Kelsey Murray scored five against Ohio State and in the 22-7 opening victory against Fresno State. However, the Cardinal lost two of its next three to drop back to No. 15, but are perfect in MPSF play.
Winningest Coach: On March 8 with a 22-11 victory at Vanderbilt, Amy Bokker became the winningest coach in Stanford lacrosse history. Bokker, in her seventh season, achieved her 85th victory (she is now 88-35, .710) to surpass her predecessor, Michele Uhlfelder. who went 84-46 (.646) from 2001-08. There have been six head coaches in the history of the varsity program, which began in 1995. Before that, women’s lacrosse was played at the club level at Stanford.
The Breakaway: Alexandra Crerend has emerged as an impact player this season, in her scoring and in the draw. A junior, Crerend has started the past two games -- her first starts in her two seasons at Stanford (she scored 14 goals as a Brown freshman) -- and scored five goals along with an assist in victories over Denver and Colorado. With the score tied, 13-13, Crerend made the play of the game, intercepting a pass at midfield, and sprinting downfield to score a breakaway go-ahead goal with 14:07 left. Crerend followed with a free-position goal for a 15-13 lead.
Sunday’s Opponent, Saint Mary’s: The Gaels (0-11, 0-5) are struggling. Saint Mary’s hasn’t finished within six goals of any opponent, or within 12 in any conference game. SMC has a 12-game losing streak overall and is searching for its first MPSF victory since 2013. However, the Gaels have players among the national leaders in statistical categories. Megan Armes is 15th in the country and first in the MPSF in caused turnovers, with 1.91 per game. Sydney Pinello is 12th in the nation in groundballs and second in the conference, with 3.00 per game.
The Stanford-Saint Mary’s Series: Stanford leads the all-time series, 27-0. A year ago, Stanford won 16-4 at home in a conference home opener, with Hannah Farr scoring three goals. Stanford’s next-highest number of victories without a loss against an opponent is 8-0 against Fresno State. Fourteen of those victories have been by 10 or more goals, including 10 or 11 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.
Special situations: Stanford’s records in certain situations:
• When scoring first: 5-1
• When the opponent scores first: 2-1
• In games it has trailed: 4-2
• In games it has trailed in the second half: 2-2
• When leading at halftime: 5-1
• When trailing at halftime: 1-1
• When tied at halftime: 1-0
• When leading with 10 minutes left: 7-1
• When trailing with 10 minutes left: 0-1
• When tied with 10 minutes left: 0-0
• In overtime: 0-0
• Largest deficit: Nine goals -- 15-6 to Cornell, in second half.
• Largest comeback: Trailed 8-5 to Colorado in first half, won 16-14.
Player of the Week: Stanford freshman midfielder Kelly Myers is the reigning MPSF Rookie of the Week for the second time this season. Myers, a native of Alexandria, Virginia, scored a career-high three goals, had a ground ball and caused a turnover in a 16-14 victory at Colorado on Sunday. It helped Stanford to a sweep of Colorado schools over the weekend. During three games altogether, Myers totaled six goals, five draw controls, four caused turnovers and three groundballs. She had two goals, two draw controls and caused two turnovers in a 14-7 victory at Denver, and had three draws and a goal against Cornell, in a loss.
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: Goals (115, seventh), assists (54, fifth), points (169, sixth), shots (246, ninth), and free-position shots (57, seventh).