STANFORD, Calif. - The continued expansion and explosion of west coast lacrosse played a major role in the 2017 season as the Cardinal played its final season in the MPSF Conference before entering the Pac-12 Conference starting in the 2018 season.
Stanford proved again that is has taken huge steps in not only becoming a prominent program as well as being a catalyst in the foundation of making the Pac-12 Conference a force to be reckoned with in its inaugural season.
The Cardinal faced a grueling schedule throughout the season, facing a potent Denver team and the 10th-ranked Duke Blue Devils in only its second and third games of the year. From there Stanford went on a six-game win streak with key victories over Ohio State, Michigan, William & Mary, UConn and culminating the streak with a last-second thrilling win over Harvard on the road.
Heading into the MPSF Tournament the Cardinal cruised past California in the opening round, before meeting head-first with Colorado, who would finish the season ranked 16th in the NCAA. In a down-to-the-wire game that saw Kelsey Murray score twice in less than 10 seconds in the final minute, the Cardinal fell 14-13 to the Buffalo, missing an appearance in a conference championship final for the first time in nearly two decades, snapping a 19-year streak.
Stanford finished the year with its loss to Colorado in the MPSF semifinals, while also finishing ranked in the top-25 in seven categories in the NCAA: caused turnovers per game (11th), scoring offense (12th), shots per game (12th), shots on goal per game (14th), scoring margin (17th), point per game (18th) and win percentage (24th).
Kelsey Murray was dominant throughout the season as she continues to shatter nearly every offensive career-record. On April 23 in a 19-8 Stanford win over SDSU, Murray became Stanford's career leader in points with a year left of eligibility. Her current 225 career points will look to chip into NCAA record books in 2018.
In addition, Murray is currently holding a 55-game streak of collecting a point, which dates back to March 7, 2014 against Towson. Murray also has 142 career goals – which places her third all-time in program history and needs only four to become Stanford's all-time leader. The redshirt junior also holds 83 career assists, placing her only six behind claiming the all-time record, which sets up Murray for a huge senior campaign next year.
The Cardinal also had four honored by the MPSF this season with Murray and Madison O'Leary being named to the All-MPSF first team and Elizabeth Cusick and Dillon Schoen taking second team honors.
Murray and O'Leary added two more honors with both being named to the IWLCA All-West/Midwest Region second team.
Stanford also asserted its academic prominence as it tied with Oregon for a conference-best 14 members being named to the MPSF All-Academic team. For the last three years, the Cardinal has tied or led the conference in MPSF All-Academic selections.
The Cardinal not only led in its work on the field and in the classroom, but also in the community. It launched a One Love Week campaign supporting the One Love Foundation and created a PSA used nationally. Charlotte Ward was also honored for all her work in helping promote education and action in ending relationship violence. One Love honored Ward in May with the Campus Unsung Hero Award.
