STANFORD, Calif. — Fresh off a definitive 19-6 win over Elon on Sunday, No. 10/8 Stanford lacrosse is back home for the final time in the regular season as the Cardinal host the California Golden Bears on Thursday, April 16. Opening draw from Cagan Stadium is slated for 6 p.m.
Opening Draw
Stanford heads into the regular season finale having split a two-game road trip in The Tar Heel State, falling to No. 2 North Carolina, 18-9 on Friday night before taking down Elon, 19-6 in Sunday’s road trip finale. Against the Tar Heels, Stanford stymied the defending national champions early on to take a 2-1 lead through the first quarter. However, UNC’s free-position offense took charge in the second quarter amassing a 7-5 lead at the half that the Tar Heels never surrendered, claiming an eventual 18-9 win. Against Elon, however, Stanford’s early 3-1 lead ballooned into a 9-2 advantage through the first quarter before the Cardinal held serve in the final 45 minutes, edging out the Phoenix 10-5 in that span to claim the 19-6 win.
Over the weekend, Stanford had six different goal-scorers against the Tar Heels while nine Cardinal tallied in the win over Elon including the first collegiate goals from Ella Thomforde and Mae Flanagan. Aliya Polisky led the Cardinal with seven goals across the two-game stretch while Peep Williams had a career-day against the Phoenix with two goals and five assists, leading the Cardinal with seven points. Annabel Frist broke Stanford’s all-time career draw control record with her 373rd career draw control in the game against UNC as she now owns 381 career draw controls.
Aliya Polisky leads the Cardinal in scoring entering the regular season finale having tallied 59 points on the campaign by virtue of a team-leading 38 goals and a career-high 21 assists. Ava Arceri slots second in points with 46 on the campaign with 35 goals while Mallory Hasselbeck and Martha Oakey tie for third with 41 points as the quartet of Cardinal who own 40+ points this season. Hasselbeck owns a 20-21-41 line while Annabel Frist joined the 20-goal club with her third-consecutive two-goal game against Elon. In total, nine players have recorded double-digit goals this season.
Stanford ranks fifth in the conference in assists per game, averaging 7.93 through 15 games this season with Oakey leading the charge with 23 helpers this season. Oakey has posted an assist in seven-straight contests including a career-high five helpers in the win over Louisville. Hasselbeck and Polisky slot behind Oakey with 21 helpers apiece as six Cardinal have recorded double-digit assist totals entering Thursday.
On the draw, Annabel Frist leads the Cardinal with 63 draw controls after grabbing 11 across the two-game slate in North Carolina where she broke Stanford’s all-time draw control record of 372 that was set by Genesis Lucero (2016-21). Frist has tallied 381 draw controls during her career at Stanford which ranks eighth among active DI women’s lacrosse players and 20th across all divisions. Jordyn Case slots second with 54 draw controls on the season having picked up a career-high eight in the win over Virginia earlier this season. Amanda Lawson and Rylee Bouvier follow behind with 24 and 23 draw controls, respectively.
Stanford continues to rank near the top of the nation with Rylee Bouvier and Kate Bellissimo leading the charge for the Cardinal. Bouvier leads the team with 29 caused turnovers after accumulating three against the Tar Heels while Bellissimo sits close behind with 27 as both players rank top-10 all-time in single season caused turnovers. Bellissimo also leads the Cardinal in ground balls this season with 37 while junior Kaleigh Sommers has posted career numbers in her first season on defense with 28 ground balls and 16 caused turnovers.
In cage, Ella Morton has seen the last six starts in goal for the Cardinal, posting a 3-3 record in that time. Morton holds a 10.34 goals-against average coupled with a .400 save percentage while earning a career-high 42 saves in nine appearances. Lucy Pearson started the first nine games of the season, boasting a 9-0 record with her last appearance coming in the win over Notre Dame. Pearson holds a 7.00 goals-against average coupled with a .427 save percentage on 155 shots faced this season. Pearson has appeared in 50 games during her Stanford career which is fifth-most all-time while recording the second-best goals-against average in program history at 8.95.