STANFORD, Calif. — Coming off a decisive 17-5 win over Bay-Area rivals, Cal, last week, No. 11/9 Stanford is back in action in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Women’s Lacrosse Championship as the No. 2-seeded Cardinal squares off against the No. 7-seed in Boston College on Wednesday, April 22. Opening draw against the No. 12 Eagles from American Legion Memorial Stadium in Charlotte, N.C., is slated for 5 p.m. ET/ 2 p.m. PT.
Opening Draw
Stanford heads into the quarterfinals of the ACC Tournament having secured the No. 2 seed with its eighth conference win of the season, dispatching the Cal Golden Bears 17-5 in Thursday’s regular season finale. Stanford jumped out to a 5-2 advantage through the first quarter and never looked back, turning in an 11-0 run in the final 45 minutes of the game while the Cardinal defense pitched a shutout of 37:11 elapsed game time.
Against the Golden Bears, Stanford earned its 11th game with eight or more different goalscorers (10-1 record) while Martha Oakey had a career-outing with seven points to lead all scorers. Oakey tied teammate Ava Arceri with four goals on the evening while leading all Cardinal with three helpers as the sophomore tied her career-high in goals. Defensively, Kaleigh Sommers nabbed a career-high five caused turnovers while the Cardinal forced 13 of the Golden Bears’ 17 turnovers on the evening. Ella Morton racked up 11 saves on the evening as she earned her fourth win of the season.
Aliya Polisky leads the Cardinal in scoring heading into the ACC quarterfinal matchup, tallying 62 points on the campaign as she sits tied for the team lead in goals (39) while claiming a career-high 23 assists. Ava Arceri slots second in points with 50 on the season with her 39 goals sharing the top spot alongside Polisky. Martha Oakey and Mallory Hasselbeck both join the 40+ point club as both Cardinal have also tallied 20+ helpers this season. Five players have recorded 20+ goals this season with Annabel Frist last tallying twice in the game against Elon. In total, 10 players have recorded double-digit goals this season.
Stanford ranks fourth in the conference in assists per game, averaging 8.06 through 16 games as Oakey leads the Cardinal with 26 on the season. Oakey slots two assists shy of tying her career-high of 28 that she set in her freshman season while her 48 points is two behind her career-high for a single season. Oakey has recorded an assist in eight-straight contests. Polisky and Hasselbeck slot behind Oakey with 23 and 21 helpers apiece while six Cardinal have recorded double-digit assists entering Wednesday.
On the draw, Annabel Frist leads the Cardinal with 66 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 384 draw controls during her career at Stanford which ranks eighth among active DI women’s lacrosse players and 22nd across all divisions. Jordyn Case slots second with 61 draw controls on the season having picked up a career-high eight in the win over Virginia earlier this season. Rylee Bouvier and Amanda Lawson follow behind with 26 and 25 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 30 caused turnovers after accumulating three against the Tar Heels while Bellissimo sits close behind with 28 as both players rank top-10 all-time in single season caused turnovers. Bellissimo also leads the Cardinal in ground balls this season with 40 while junior Kaleigh Sommers has posted career numbers in her first season on defense with 33 ground balls and 21 caused turnovers after a career-outing against Cal.
In cage, Ella Morton has seen the last seven starts in goal for the Cardinal, posting a 4-3 record in that time. Morton holds a 9.58 goals-against average coupled with a .438 save percentage while earning a career-high 53 saves in 10 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.