CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- There's was a feeling of quiet confidence surrounding the Stanford women's lacrosse team as it made final preparations for the NCAA tournament, which begins Friday against Florida at 5 p.m. ET (2 p.m. PT).
The No. 16 Cardinal (15-2) began the trip by sharing a charter plane with USC, the team it beat in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation tournanent final a few days earlier. USC was to play at Duke, fewer than 10 miles from the North Carolina campus where Stanford plays.
The unlikely partnership worked well, with Stanford flying from San Jose to LAX, and then to Raleigh-Durham, arriving at close to midnight ET.
On Friday, the team gathered at 8:45 to shake out their legs with a walk led by performance specialist Lesley Moser on neighborhood streets behind its Chapel Hill hotel.
The weather was warm, but not too humid. That was contrast to last year's first-round game at Notre Dame, against Duke. Stanford spent about 90 minutes in training before heading back to the hotel.
That evening, they were greeted by the Stanford men's tennis team, set to play an NCAA match at Duke on Friday.
This is Stanford's fifth NCAA trip in six years. The Cardinal intends to make it a long one.