CHARLOTTE, N.C. — With a thrilling, 13-12 win in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Semifinals on Friday evening, No. 11/9 Stanford lacrosse looks for its first ACC title as the Cardinal takes on the No. 1-seeded North Carolina Tar Heels on Sunday, April 26. Opening draw from American Legion Memorial Stadium is slated for noon ET / 9 a.m. PT.
Opening Draw
Stanford heads into Sunday’s championship game having earned a thrilling comeback win over the No. 3-seeded Clemson Tigers on Friday. The Cardinal utilized its scoring prowess in the first half, closing a one-goal deficit through the first quarter with a 4-1 run in the second quarter to take a two-goal lead into the halftime break. In the second half, a late surge from the Tigers saw the Cardinal down by two with four minutes left in regulation. However, the Cardinal, which fell behind by two goals twice in the contest - including late regulation - utilized a 3-0 scoring run in the final 2:52 to earn its first-ever berth in the ACC title game.
Against the Tigers, Stanford had seven different players record a goal including Peep Williams who snagged her first-career hat trick with the eventual game-winning behind-the-back goal with 33.5 seconds to go. Williams tied with Aliya Polisky for the team lead with four points on the evening with the latter notching two goals and two assists. Lexi Rodell grabbed a career-high six draw controls including one late in the fourth quarter to fuel the comeback while Lucy Pearson grabbed six saves including one on the final stages of regulation to move her record to 11-0 this season.
Aliya Polisky leads the Cardinal in scoring heading into Sunday's championship game, tallying 70 points on the campaign as she leads the team in goals (44) while claiming a career-high 26 assists. Ava Arceri slots second in points with 54 on the season with her 43 goals slotting just behind Polisky. Martha Oakey and Mallory Hasselbeck both join the 40+ point club as both Cardinal have also tallied 20+ helpers this season. Six players have recorded 20+ goals this season with Jordyn Case becoming the latest member of the 20-goal club having tallied for the third-straight contest in the win over Clemson. In total, 11 players have recorded double-digit goals this season with Peep Williams grabbing 11 on the campaign following her hat trick.
Stanford ranks fifth in the conference in assists per game, averaging 7.50 through 18 games as Oakey leads the Cardinal with 29 on the season. Oakey set a new single-season high of 29 assists following the win over Clemson while setting a new season-high in points with 54 having recorded an assist in 10-straight contests. Polisky and Hasselbeck slot behind Oakey with 26 and 23 helpers apiece while six Cardinal have recorded double-digit assists entering Friday.
On the draw, Annabel Frist leads the Cardinal with 69 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 387 draw controls during her career at Stanford which ranks eighth among active DI women’s lacrosse players and 23rd across all divisions. Jordyn Case slots second with 65 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 27 draw controls apiece.
Stanford continues to rank near the top of the nation defensively with Rylee Bouvier and Kate Bellissimo leading the charge for the Cardinal. Bouvier leads the team with 34 caused turnovers after accumulating three against the Tar Heels while Bellissimo sits close behind with 30 as both players rank top-10 all-time in single season caused turnovers. Bellissimo also leads the Cardinal in ground balls this season with 45 while junior Kaleigh Sommers has posted career numbers in her first season on defense with 36 ground balls and 22 caused turnovers after a career-outing against Cal.
In cage, Lucy Pearson made her return in the matchup against BC and kept her perfect record with the win over Clemson as she owns an 11-0 record in 2026. Pearson holds a 7.48 goals-against average coupled with a .439 save percentage this season. Pearson has appeared in 52 games during her Stanford career which is fifth-most all-time while recording the third-best goals-against average in program history at 8.97. Ella Morton has seen seven starts in goal for the Cardinal, posting a 4-3 record. Morton holds a 9.58 goals-against average coupled with a .438 save percentage while earning a career-high 53 saves in 10 appearances.