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Women's Lacrosse

May Madness Begins

No. 23 Stanford (13-5, 7-3 Pac-12) vs. No. 7 Notre Dame (13-4, 5-2 ACC) 
Friday, May 10 • 5 p.m. PT • Martin Stadium • Evanston, Ill.
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STANFORD, Calif. - No. 23 Stanford women's lacrosse will open its ninth NCAA Tournament against No. 7 Notre Dame on Friday at 5 p.m. PT in Evanston, Illinois. 

If Stanford wins, the Cardinal will advance to take on No. 4 Northwestern on Sunday at 11 a.m. PT at Martin Stadium.
 

MATCHUPS

  • Stanford is 7-10 all-time against the Irish, but the two teams have split the last eight meetings since 2009. Notre Dame won most recent matchup, 13-9, in the 2016 season opener.
  • The two programs have met once before in the NCAA Tournament—six years ago on the same date in the same location. The Cardinal earned the program's first NCAA win, 8-7, when Hannah Farr scored the game-winning goal on a free-position shot with four seconds left.
  • If Stanford advances, it will be the program's 11th meeting with Northwestern. The Wildcats have won nine of the previous 10, including the latest encounter, 15-8, in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on May 12, 2013. The lone win, 9-5, was on April 11, 2003 in Evanston.


ABOUT NOTRE DAME

  • 2019 marks the 13th trip to the NCAA Tournament for the Irish and seventh berth in eight seasons under Coach Halfpenny.
  • The 13 wins Notre Dame collected in the regular season matched the 2012 and 2006 Irish squads for the most regular-season wins in program history, and the five ACC wins were the most the Irish have earned since joining the conference in 2014.
  • Notre Dame also knocked off four opponents ranked in the top-25 of the Intercollegiate Women's Lacrosse Coaches Association Poll, including a road win over fifth-ranked Virginia on March 16th and the program's first-ever win over #4 North Carolina on March 31st.
  • Entering the NCAA Tournament, the Irish lead the ACC in scoring defense, caused turnovers per game, ground balls per game, free position percentage and shots on goal per game. They also rank second nationally with a draw control percentage of 63.5%.


NCAA NOTABLES

  • This is Stanford's ninth NCAA appearance. Now in its 25th year as a program, Stanford made one NCAA Tournament in the 14 years prior to head coach Amy Bokker, but has now made eight appearances in her 11 years at the helm. This is the fourth time Stanford has reached the NCAA Tournament in back-to-back years (all under Coach Bokker). 
  • Stanford is 2-8 all-time in the NCAA Tournament play.
  • Stanford has reached the second round twice with wins against Notre Dame (8-7 on May 10, 2013 in Evanston, Ill.) and James Madison (9-8 on May 13, 2016 in Los Angeles). 
  • Stanford played seven games against NCAA tourney teams this year and went 2-5 with wins at then-No. 10 Stony Brook, 15-12, on March 3, and at then No. 22 Colorado, 13-12, on April 12.
     

SEASON NOTABLES

  • Stanford is three seconds away from being 15-2 this season. Three of Stanford's five losses came at the buzzer. The Cardinal scored the potential game-tying goal in the season opener against Denver but it was ruled to cross the goal line after the buzzer. The Cardinal also scored the potential game-tying goal with one second left at USC on March 25, but it was disallowed as a dangerous follow through. On March 31, Stanford lost to the Trojans in the third overtime.
  • Stanford's only losses this season were to ranked teams—at the buzzer in the season opener against now-No. 17 Denver, twice against No. 21 Colorado, in the final second at No. 13 USC, and in overtime against the Trojans. 
  • Stanford's 15-12 victory at then-No. 10 Stony Brook on March 3 was the program's first road victory over a top 10 opponent since Feb. 28, 2015 at No. 10 Ohio State (12-10). It also halted Stony Brook's 33-game home winning streak at LaValle Stadium, which dated back to 2016.
  • Stanford has won at least four straight games in all 11 seasons under head coach Amy Bokker.
  • Head Coach Amy Bokker won her 150th career game at Stanford with a 17-6 victory over rival Cal in the regular season finale on April 19. 
  • Stanford is 7-2 away from The Farm this season, including two wins over ranked opponents.


PAC-12 LEADERS

  • Half the Pac-12 teams reached the NCAA Tournament, with a conference-record three teams in the field, including Colorado and USC -- second-only to the ACC (5) and Big Ten (4). 
  • Stanford led the Pac-12 with six all-league selections, led by first team honorees, Baiocco and Massaro.
  • Stanford leads the conference with 14.1 goals per game, 6.8 assists per game and 21.0 points per game. » The Cardinal also leads the Pac-12 with 15.8 draw controls per game and .436 shooting percentage.
  • Ali Baiocco leads the league with 71 points and is second with 50 goals. She also ranks second in the conference with 28 assists.
  • Baiocco is the fourth player in school history with 50 goals in a season and is seven behind the school record (Kelsey Murray, 2017). She is also just two goals away from 100 in her Cardinal career. In addition, Baiocco's 78 points this year are 11 behind the school record set by Kelsey Murray last season.


SENIOR SUMMERS

  • Four Stanford seniors have led the Cardinal to 55 victories, including the inaugural Pac-12 Tournament championship last season, and three NCAA tournament appearances. Here are their future plans:
  • Areta Buness: is coterming to get her Master's in Biology, focusing on environmental microbiology. She spent the summer doing environmental engineering research at Stanford, including sulfate-reducing bacteria in the gut microbiome that serve as biomarkers of inflammation.
  • Genesis Lucero: will play lacrosse for a fifth year while completing a Masters in biomechanical engineering. She will also be working with Pediatric Regenerative Medicine at Stanford conducting studies in tissue regeneration and medical devices. After Stanford, she plans on attending medical school to pursue a career as a trauma surgeon while also working to develop innovated biomedical devices. 
  • Julia Massaro: will graduate with a degree in management science and engineering, and will soon be working in management consulting for the Boston Consulting Group. 
  • Monika Sivilli: will be participating in a Stanford SENSA fellowship at Real Industry, a nonprofit that mentors university students in the arts and technology industry. 

DRAW CONTROL RECORDS

  • » Senior Julia Massaro has set the program's draw control records for a game, season and career this year. 
    » On April 14, Massaro's 18 draw controls at Oregon broke the program's single-game standard, which she previously set at 11 at Cal in 2018. 
    » In the same game at Oregon on April 14, Massaro broke her own single-season record for draw controls, which was 86 in 2018. At the Pac-12 Tournament, she becaome the first player in school history to surpass 100 draw controls in a season, and has 101 entering the NCAA Tournament.
    » On March 23 at Arizona State, Massaro surpassed the program's 14-year-old career draw controls record of 161 held by Kelsey Twist (2002-05). Massaro is the first player in school history to win more than 200 draw controls (222 entering the Pac-12 Tournament).
    » Senior Genesis Lucero also passed Kelsey Twist's old career record with her 162nd career draw control on March 29 against Arizona State. Lucero has 196 in her Stanford career.
    » The duo of Massaro and Lucero have combined for more than 410 draw controls since stepping on campus together in the Fall of 2015.


PLAYER OF THE WEEK FIRSTS

  • Sophomore goalkeeper Trudie Grattan became the first player to win three Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Week awards in a season and career on March 25. Grattan also won on Feb. 25 and March 4.
  • Grattan was the first Pac-12 goalkeeper to win the weekly Pac-12 award in back-to-back weeks—just the second player (any position) to win two straight defensive honors. 
  • Stanford swept the Pac-12 Player of the Week awards for the second time this year and fifth time in the two-year history of the awards on April 15. Sophomore Ali Baiocco and senior Julia Massaro won offensive and defensive recognition, respectively.
  • Baiocco was also named the Brine/US Lacrosse National Player fo the Week on March 5.


TEAM USA VISIT

  • Stanford hosted Team USA at the US Lacrosse Spring Premiere, Jan. 25-27. 
  • The event featured the U.S. women's national team and U19 team as well as the English National Team, the Japanese developmental team, Fresno State University and the defending Pac-12 tournament champion Stanford Cardinal.
  • Stanford played an exhibition against Team USA and the U19 team. In two quarters against the U19 squad and four quarters against the national team, the Cardinal fell 19-14. 
  • Stanford assistant coach Kristen Carr played for Team USA, as well as former Stanford assistant Caylee Waters.


PICKED TO REPEAT 

  • Defending champion Stanford was picked to finish first in the Pac-12 Preseason Coaches Poll, and finished third in the regular season standings behind USC and Colorado.
  • The Cardinal earned five of the six first-place votes and totaled 25 points. Colorado earned the other first-place vote and was picked second with 21 points. USC was selected to finish third (17 points) followed by Oregon (13 points), Cal (8) and Arizona State (6). 
  • Last season, the Cardinal was picked to finish third in the conference and then posted the second-most wins in school history (15-5), which included an 8-2 record in the inaugural Pac-12 regular season, where they finished second and went on to win the first Pac-12 Tournament.


SCHEDULE NOTABLES

  • Stanford played nine of its 16 regular season games at home, including four of its six non-conference contests.
  • Stanford played four games against NCAA Tournament teams from last season and seven games against ranked teams (2-5).
  • Stanford had five TV games this season, all on Pac-12 Networks.


INAUGURAL PAC-12 SEASON

  • 2018 marked the first season in Pac-12 history. The conference consists of Cal, Arizona State, USC, Oregon, Colorado and the Cardinal. Each team played each other home and away for a total of 10 conference games. 
  • Stanford played in the first-ever Pac-12 game at Colorado on March 9. Then-sophomore Daniella McMahon won the conference's opening draw control, but the 18th-ranked Cardinal lost a seven-goal first-half lead and fell to the 19th-ranked Buffaloes, 18-16.
  • In the first-ever Pac-12 game at Cagan Stadium, Stanford knocked off arch rival Cal, 21-5, on March 17.
  • Stanford finished the first-ever Pac-12 regular season in second place with an 8-2 conference record. Both losses came to first-place Colorado. 
  • Stanford won the first-ever Pac-12 Tournament and earned the conference's first automatic NCAA berth. As the No. 2 seed, the Cardinal defeated third-seeded USC, 15-14, in the semifinal on Friday, April 27, and then knocked off host and top-seed Colorado, 15-6, to claim the title on Sunday, April 29, 2018.
  • Stanford was one of two Pac-12 schools to qualify for the 2018 NCAA Tournament (Colorado). 


LAST TIME OUT

  • Third-seeded Stanford defeated sixth-seeded Oregon, 17-6, in the first round of the Pac-12 Tournament on April 25 at Pape Field. Genesis Lucero's 10 draw controls were the third-most in school history, while Katherin Gjertsen matched a career-high with six points and four goals. 
  • One night later, Stanford fell to second-seeded Colorado, 16-9, in the Pac-12 semifinals.


UP NEXT

  • The NCAA Quarterfinals are set for May 18-19.