PHILADELPHIA — No. 2 Stanford lacrosse wraps up the two-game road swing this Saturday, heading to The Keystone State for an afternoon battle against Villanova on March 28. Opening draw against the Wildcats from Villanova Stadium is slated for noon ET / 9 a.m. PT.
Opening Draw
Stanford heads into the Saturday matchup having suffered its first loss of the season in a thriller against No. 17/15 Boston College on Thursday night. The Cardinal, which fell behind 3-0 in the early going, used a 5-0 run to take a two-goal lead over the Eagles early in the second quarter. However, it was the hosts that made a late run in the half, scoring the four of the final five goals of the frame to take a one-goal lead into the halftime break. Stanford, though, retook the lead early in the third quarter before the hosts came back to go ahead. Amanda Lawson tallied late in the frame to tie the game into the fourth quarter. Though Stanford snagged timely goals, BC doubled up the Cardinal in quick succession in the fourth, taking a lead it never surrendered en route to a 13-11 win.
Offensively, the Cardinal had nine players record a goal for the second-consecutive game with Aliya Polisky leading the team with three points on the evening. Thursday’s matchup marked the sixth time in the last seven games that Stanford has had eight or more different goal-scorers and eighth time this season. Annabel Frist led the Cardinal on the draw circle with six on the evening to negate a potent draw control contingency for BC. Defensively, Olivia Rose led the Cardinal with three caused turnovers while Ella Morton made eight saves in her second start in cage.
Aliya Polisky leads the Cardinal in scoring through 11 games this season after posting three points in the game against Boston College. Polisky currently holds a 29-17-46 line this season and has scored in all but one game this season. Mallory Hasselbeck is second on the team in points this season and has recorded six games with four or more points this season. Stanford currently has 14 players who have tallied a goal this season while nine players have recorded 10 or more goals this campaign.
Stanford ranks fifth in the conference in assists per game, averaging 7.27 through 11 games with Hasselbeck posting a team-best 21 helpers this season. Polisky’s 17 on the season follows in second while 13 players have recorded an assist in 2026.
On the circle, Jordyn Case leads the team in draw controls with 43 on the season after tabbing three against BC following a career-high 8 against ASU. Annabel Frist is second on the team with 42 draw controls after leading the Cardinal with six in the game against Boston College. Frist has totalled 360 draw controls during her career and sits 12 draw controls away from tying Genesis Lucero (2016-21) for the program record in draw controls. Rylee Bouvier and Amanda Lawson sit tied for third with 16 a piece.
Defensively, Rylee Bouvier and Kate Bellissimo lead the Cardinal having both earned ACC Defensive Player of the Week honors in the campaign. Bouvier and Bellissimo sit atop the leaderboard with 21 and 22 caused turnovers, respectively, while Bellissimo owns the record for caused turnovers in a game with eight, breaking a 26-year record in the win over Duke. Bellissimo also owns the team lead in ground balls with 32 on the season while Kaleigh Sommers follows her in second with 22.
In cage, Lucy Pearson owns a perfect 9-0 record having last appeared against Notre Dame. Pearson, who made a season-high 10 saves in the win over Duke, owns a 7.00 goals-against average which leads the conference (min. 100 minutes played) coupled with a .427 save percentage. Pearson ranks second all-time in goals-against average (8.95) and slots fifth all-time in goalkeeping games played with her 50th appearance against the Irish. Pearson and the Cardinal defense owns the seventh-best scoring defense in the nation, holding the opposition to an average of 7.50 goals-against. Ella Morton has started the last two games for Stanford earning a 1-1 record. She currently holds an 11.12 goals-against average coupled with a .462 save percentage in five appearances this season. Morton made 14 saves on 25 shots faced, earning the most saves by a Stanford goalkeeper in their first collegiate start in program history in the win over ASU.