Danielle Spencer guided the Cardinal to two conference trophies and an 11th NCAA tournament appearance during the 2022 season. The season features plenty of broken records, incredible individual efforts, and growth from a young Stanford team that looks primed to continue making postseason runs in the future.
NON-CONFERENCE TESTS
Stanford began the season with four of the first five contests on the road against tough competition. The first road trip featured the 2021 national runner-up no. 3 Syracuse and Albany before facing no. 15 Denver at home in a rematch of Stanford's 2021 NCAA tournament first round game. The Cardinal headed east again for the next two games, facing Richmond and no. 13 Virginia to round out the round trip. The Cardinal went 1-4 over the stretch, falling from its no. 13 ranking to unranked. Ashley Humphrey quickly solidified her importance for the Stanford offense during the opening road trips, leading the team in points in four of the first five games and setting a Stanford record for assists in a game against Albany with eight.
FOUR GAME WIN STREAK
Following the challenging start to the season, Stanford rattled off four straight wins which included three conference matchups. The fourth game of the streak featured a home game against no. 15 USC. Stanford was victorious, making the 15-14 OT win its first top 25 success on the season. Kara Rahaim was critical in the win, making 19 saves on the day including two in the over time period. Ali Baiocco was instrumental in the resurgence of the Cardinal offense during this stretch of games, powering the team to 15 goals or more in eight straight contests after reaching that mark just once in the first five games.
Flashback Friday to Kara Rahaim's 1??9?? save performance in the 15-14 OT victory against USC this season ??
— Stanford Lacrosse (@StanfordWLax) June 3, 2022
She made two saves in OT including this one before Ashley Humphrey bagged the game winner! ??#GoStanford pic.twitter.com/CYKlLt6LYY
SEASON SWEEP
The Cardinal took down USC in Los Angeles to complete the season sweep of the Trojans. The 23 goals scored by the Cardinal were the most USC has conceded in program history, and the most goals Stanford has scored in a single game since 2015. Ali Baiocco scored eight times in LA, tying her own Stanford record for goals in a game, with three of her strikes coming from free position attempts. Her eight goals also tied the mark for goals scored against USC by a single player in a game. The win pushed Stanford to the top of the Pac-12 standings with one conference game remaining.
REGULAR SEASON TITLE
Stanford crossed the bay for the last regular season game of the season to face California. After defeating the Bears 20-8 at home earlier in the season, the Cardinal needed another win to secure the Pac-12 regular season championship. Ali Baiocco and Ashley Humphrey shared the offensive burden, as the senior fired in six goals and the freshman dished six assists to power the team to an 18-11 victory and the first trophy of the season. The Cardinal shared the regular season crown with USC due to tied conference records, but Stanford held the tiebreaker from the two regular season wins over the Trojans.
Our weekend was pretty good, how was yours? ??????#GoStanford pic.twitter.com/U5VS5xMJbh
— Stanford Lacrosse (@StanfordWLax) April 25, 2022
PAC-12 TOURNAMENT TITLE
After securing the top seed and a first round bye in the tournament, Stanford faced off against Oregon in Tempe, Arizona. The Cardinal dismantled the Ducks, winning 21-9. In the final, Stanford took on the hosts, ASU. After splitting the regular season series and dropping the second game against the Sun Devils, Stanford came out firing against the Devils. Annabel Frist led all scorers on the day with six strikes in the 18-12 win. Ashley Humphrey broke her own record for assists in a game, bagging nine assists in the championship contest. Ailish Kelly was named the Pac-12 Tournament MVP for her impact over the two wins, scoring eight goals and adding an assist. Kara Rahaim, Ashley Humphrey, Ailish Kelly, and Annabel Frist were all named to the Pac-12 All-Tournament Team.
NCAA TOURNAMENT BERTH
The Cardinal made its 11th NCAA tournament appearance to close out the season, facing Jacksonville in the first round. Ashley Humphrey had four assists in the game, officially sealing her place in the NCAA record book. Humphrey needed three assists to set a new NCAA record, and she recorded four to bring her total assists in a season to 88. She ended with a 4.63 assists per game average as well, another NCAA season record. Humphrey averaged nearly 0.4 assists more assists per game than the previous mark. Stanford ultimately fell to the dolphins, wrapping up its season in Gainesville, Florida.
??????'?? ?????? ???? ?? ???????? ??
— Stanford Lacrosse (@StanfordWLax) May 14, 2022
Ashley broke not one, but TWO NCAA records today ??
And she's just getting started on The Farm ??#GoStanford pic.twitter.com/NZroaQEr5G
MORE RECORDS
The Cardinal knocked off plenty of program records on the season. Along with her records for assists in a season (88), Humphrey also set the mark for points in a game against Albany (12), points in a season (124), and moved into second place in career assists after just one season for Stanford. Ali Baiocco set a new Stanford record for goals in a season (62), career points (316), career goals (229), and career shots (460). Galen Lew featured in the draw this season for the first time in her career and immediately made an impact. She recorded 68 draw controls, good for the fifth-most in a single season. She also had 10 in a single game, the eighth-most in one contest. Kara Rahaim collected 53 ground balls throughout 2022, the sixth-most in a single season for the Cardinal.
POSTSEASON ACCOLADES
Stanford claimed plenty of awards from the 2022 season. Ali Baiocco was named the Pac-12 Attacker of the Year, Ashley Humphrey earned Pac-12 Freshman of the Year, and Kara Rahaim took home Pac-12 Goalkeeper of the Year. That trio, along with Ailish Kelly, Annabel Frist, and Galen Lew garnered All-Pac-12 honors. Ashley Humphrey and Ali Baiocco were also lauded as Inside Lacrosse Media All-Americans, with Humphrey taking third team honors and Baiocco claiming Honorable Mention. Humphrey was also selected as an IWLCA All-American.
???????? ???? ?????? ???????????????????? ??
— Stanford Lacrosse (@StanfordWLax) May 4, 2022
Three individual Pac-12 awards for Stanford women's lacrosse!
Ali Baiocco ?? Attacker of the Year
Kara Rahaim ?? Goalkeeper of the Year
Ashley Humphrey ?? Freshman of the Year#GoStanford pic.twitter.com/bmaTae45Fv