No. 12 Stanford (4-2)
UMass Lowell (4-4) | Thurs. • 12 p.m. (PT) • Live Stream • Live Stats
New Hampshire (3-4) | Fri. • 3 p.m. (PT) • Live Stream • Live Stats
Maine (5-2) | Sun. • 9 a.m. (PT) - at UNH
Social • Facebook.com/StanfordFieldHockey | Twitter » @StanfordFH
Instagram » stanfordfieldhockey
STANFORD, Calif. - The No. 12 Cardinal will take to the road again this week as it sets to travel east for three games against conference opponents UMass Lowell, New Hampshire and Maine.
Last Time Out:
The Cardinal opened conference play last week, taking on No. 24 Pacific at Varsity Turf. The game proved to be a closely-contested match-up with Kelsey Bing making seven clutch saves, two in one-on-one situations as she tallied her eighth career shutout in a 1-0 win.
Corinne Zanolli and Kristina Bassi teamed up on offense for the game-winning goal as Zanolli nutmeged an opponent on the sideline before crossing a pass that Bassi would collect and deposit in the cage off a rebound. The win pushed Stanford's win streak to four and the Cardinal will look this weekend to claim its first road win of the year.
On Tap - UMass Lowell Riverhawks:
The Riverhawks will enter into Thursday's match-up with a 4-4 record and a 2-2 record at home at Cushing Field. Key wins for UML this season have come against Colgate, Miami (OH), Ball State and Georgetown. The Riverhawks took a 2-1 win over the Hoyas at home in a shootout before going on their current three-game losing streak.
Players to watch are Belgian sophomore Anouk Lalande, who leads UML with seven goals and an assist this season. In the cage, the Riverhawks have another international product in sophomore Eva Berkhout of the Netherlands. Berkhout has posted a .757 save percentage with 53 saves on the year. Stanford has only met UML once in its history - a 3-2 win in last season's America East quarterfinals.
On Tap - New Hampshire Wildcats:
UNH will head into the weekend with a 3-4 record while also riding a three-game losing streak, but the Wildcats are no slouch splitting a two-game series with No. 17 Iowa - winning 3-2 in overtime before dropping a 7-1 contest. Another opponent the Cardinal has in common with UNH is the Harvard Crimson who topped the Wildcats 3-0 on Sunday, September 17.
Leading offensively for UNH is junior Katie Audino with three goals and three assists as well as putting all five of her shots this season on target. The Wildcats have two goalies in regular rotation, but junior Kelsey Rudert has taken the majority of the decisions for UNH with a .516 save percentage. With head coach Tara Danielson leading the Cardinal, Stanford holds a 2-1 record over UNH.
On Tap - Maine Black Bears:
Maine will enter into this week with a 5-2 record and will face Northeastern on Friday before taking on the Cardinal on Sunday at UNH in a neutral site match-up. The Black Bears have had their own four-game win streak this season, which was snapped by Cornell on Sunday, September 10.
Stanford and the Black Bears have a bit of a chippy history as the last meeting between the two was in the America East Tournament semifinals where Maine knocked Stanford out with a 2-1 overtime win in 2015. Prior to that Stanford had only met Maine on one other instance with Danielson at the helm with a 1-0 win at... you guessed it UNH - the scene for this year's match-up.
Youth Movement:
The Cardinal roster boasts a combination of both experienced upperclassmen and hungry freshmen and sophomore classes. In Stanford's six games four freshmen have started with rookie and Max Preps top-10 recruit Corinne Zanolli leading the offense with three goals and two assists for eight points.
To Be the Best You Need to Play the Best:
Danielson is notorious for having one of the hardest schedules in the NCAA - with this year being no different. Right out of the gate the Cardinal's first six opponents this season are all ranked in the top-25. The Cardinal's two losses have both come top-15 ranked teams including No. 1 UConn and No. 14 Northwestern. An updated RPI released this week has Stanford ranked sixth in the NCAA.