STANFORD, Calif. — Fresh off a dramatic fourth-quarter comeback against No. 22/24 Duke on Sunday, No. 2 Stanford continues the season-long three-game homestand this weekend as the Cardinal host No. 11/12 Notre Dame on Saturday, March 14. Opening draw from Cagan Stadium is slated for 6 p.m. PT.
Opening Draw
No. 2 Stanford hits the midway mark of the campaign having started the three-game homestand on the front foot, dispelling the No. 22/24 Duke Blue Devils last Sunday in a thriller at Cagan Stadium, 11-10. The Cardinal, which clawed back from two separate four-goal deficits, earned its fifth Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) win of the season by outscoring the Blue Devils 5-1 in the final 21 minutes of action.
Offensively, Martha Oakey tallied a hat trick from the eight-meter hash while Annabel Frist snagged the eventual game-winning goal in the final two minutes, finishing off a feed from Aliya Polisky to put the Cardinal ahead for good. Defensively, Kate Bellissimo had a career performance for the Cardinal, earning eight caused turnovers during the game, breaking the Stanford single-game record for caused turnovers that was set in 2000. Lucy Pearson made a season-high 10 saves while the Cardinal went 5-for-5 on free position defense as the Cardinal once again held its opponents to 10 or fewer goals for the eighth-straight match to begin the season.
Aliya Polisky leads the Cardinal in scoring this season through the midway mark of the schedule, holding the team lead following a three-point outing against Duke on Sunday. Polisky currently holds a 23-12-35 line through eight games as she leads the team in goals (23) having scored in every game this season. Mallory Hasselbeck slots second in points with 31 after notching an assist in the win over Duke. Hasselbeck has earned 14 points in her last three games and has earned four or more points in three of the last four games. Offensively, Stanford has 14 players who have recorded a goal this season following Kaleigh Sommers’ tally against the Blue Devils.
Stanford ranks fourth in the ACC in assists per game, averaging 7.38 through eight games as Hasselbeck owns the lead in helpers with 16. Polisky ranks second in that regard with 12 on the campaign as 12 players have recorded an assist this season.
On the circle, Jordyn Case holds the team lead with 29 draw controls on the campaign after earning 11 across the last three games. Case tied her career high in draw controls in a single game for the third time in her career with seven in the win over Virginia. Annabel Frist slots second for the Cardinal along the circle with 24 draw controls after earning four against Duke. First currently sits 30 draw controls back from tying Genesis Lucero (2016-21) for the program record in draw controls as she has totalled 342 in her career. Rylee Bouvier has also done well on the circle as she sits third with 11 draw controls so far in eight games.
Defensively, Bouvier and Kate Bellissimo lead the Cardinal with both having earned ACC Defensive Player of the Week honors this season. Both players sit atop the team lead in caused turnovers with 17 so far on the campaign as Bellissimo - who was named ACC Player of the Week on Tuesday - broke a nearly 26-year-old record for caused turnovers in a game, breaking the previous record of five that had been tied 14 times since being set in 2000 with eight in the win over Duke. Bellissimo also holds the team lead in ground balls following a career-high seven in the win on Sunday while Sommers follows her in second with 17 this season.
In cage, Lucy Pearson owns an unblemished 8-0 record this season after notching a season-high 10 saves in the win over the Blue Devils on Sunday. Pearson holds a conference leading 6.46 goals-against average (min. 100 minutes played) coupled with a .442 save percentage. Heading into Saturday, Pearson ranks second all-time in goals-against average (8.90) and is sixth all-time in games played by a goalkeeper as she will tie Kara Rahaim for fifth all-time (50) with an appearance on Saturday. Pearson and the Stanford defense owns the third-best scoring defense in the nation, holding the opposition to an average of 7.00 goals-against. Also earning minutes, Ella Morton saw action in the win over USC in what was her third appearance in 2026. Morton has made two saves on 11 shots faced so far in 2026.