ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Coming off of a thrilling, 7-5 win over No. 19 Penn State on Friday, No. 6/5 Stanford lacrosse is back in action on Sunday, May 10, taking on the No. 7-seed Michigan Wolverines. Opening draw from the UM Lacrosse Stadium is slated for 1 p.m. ET / 10 a.m. PT.
Opening Draw
Stanford heads into Sunday afternoon following its second-straight NCAA First Round win, dispatching the No. 19 Penn State Nittany Lions in a defensive affair. Stanford, which jumped out early on the Nittany Lions with a two-goal cushion, tied the game twice in the first half before PSU took a one-goal lead into the halftime break. However, Stanford clamped down defensively, holding the Nittany Lions to 10 shots in the final frame with none of them finding the back of the cage while Stanford’s offense broke through for the final three goals of the game to secure the 7-5 win.
Aliya Polisky led the way for the Cardinal offense with her game-high three points via a 2-1-3 line that included her game-tying goal in the third quarter that pushed the scoreline even at 5-5. Like Polisky, Lindsey Devir earned a brace on the evening with her free-position tally in the fourth quarter standing as the game winner. Defensively, Stanford accumulated 11 caused turnovers with four players tallying two each. In cage, Lucy Pearson racked up nine saves while allowing five goals, her season low in a complete game.
Polisky, who was recently named a USA Lacrosse Third Team All-American, leads the Cardinal in scoring heading into Sunday’s matchup, racking up 73 points on the campaign while co-leading the team with 46 goals and posting a career-high 27 assists. Ava Arceri slots second in points with 57 on the season while joining Polisky for the team lead in goals with 46. Martha Oakey slots third with a career-high 54 points after posting career-high’s in goals (25) and assists (29) while Mallory Hasselbeck is the lone other Cardinal to have recorded 40+ points as she has posted a career-high 46 in her first season with Stanford. Eight players have recorded 20+ goals this season with Lindsey Devir becoming the latest member of the 20-goal club having snagged a brace in the game against PSU. In total, 11 players have recorded double-digit goals this season as Stanford is the lone team in DI women’s lacrosse to have more than nine players record double-digit goals.
Stanford ranks fourth in the conference in assists per game, averaging 7.79 through 20 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 entering the ACC Championship game. Polisky and Hasselbeck slot behind Oakey with 27 and 24 helpers apiece while six Cardinal have recorded double-digit assists entering Friday.
On the draw, Jordyn Case leads the Cardinal with 71 draw controls having earned five in the win over PSU on Friday while posting a season-high eight draw controls in the win over Virginia earlier this season. Annabel Frist slots second on the Cardinal with 70 draw controls having broken Stanford’s all-time draw control record of 372 that was set by Genesis Lucero (2016-21). Frist has tallied 388 draw controls during her career at Stanford which ranks eighth among active DI women’s lacrosse players and 26th across all divisions. Rylee Bouvier and Amanda Lawson follow behind with 30 and 28 draw controls, respectively.
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 in the regular season while Bellissimo sits close behind with 33 after grabbing two on Friday as both players rank top-10 all-time in single season caused turnovers. Bellissimo also leads the Cardinal in ground balls this season with 50 while junior Kaleigh Sommers has posted career numbers in her first season on defense with 40 ground balls and 27 caused turnovers after stellar performances leading into the postseason.
In cage, Lucy Pearson made her return to action in the ACC Tournament and has started the last four games for the Cardinal. Pearson holds an 12-1 record in 2026 and has posted a 7.64 goals-against average coupled with a .451 save percentage. Pearson has also appeared in 54 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. 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.