April 7, 2005
No. 3 Stanford (12-4, 5-2), coming off a 14-2 victory over Pacific (10-12, 2-6) last weekend at home, will travel south to Arizona and San Diego this weekend to challenge the No. 17 Arizona State Sun Devils (6-12, 2-5 MPSF) and the No. 11 San Diego State Aztecs (10-11, 2-7 MPSF).
The Cardinal will play Arizona State at noon on Saturday. The Sun Devils took a jump in the rankings after last weekend when they upset No. 10 Santa Barbara with an 8-7 win in overtime. "Arizona State has been playing very well at home. They play solid defense, have been getting good goaltending, and run a dynamic offense," commented Stanford Head Coach John Tanner.
The Sun Devils' goalie, a freshman, recorded a team-record 22 saves against UCSB last weekend. Tanner noted that "Any team wanting to beat them needs to finish its scoring chances and play good individual defense."
On Sunday, Stanford will face San Diego State at noon. The Aztecs graduated a couple of their top players from last year, but are still ranked a respectable 12th nationally. "They can score from anywhere in the front court offense, and they defend very well. This game will present some fun challenges for us," said Tanner.
Look for Cardinal offensive experts Nancy El-Sakkary, Hannah Luber, Katie Hansen, and Christina Hewko to be formidable this weekend. Defensively, the Cardinal will rely heavily on Kelty Luber, junior Laurel Champion, sophomore Alison Gregorka, and standout goalie Meridith McColl.
Stanford will be back home at Avery Aquatic Center next weekend for a game against No. 1 UCLA (22-0, 7-0) at 7 p.m. Friday April 15th. The Cardinal will then challenge No. 14 UC Davis Sunday April 17th, at 1 p.m., also at Avery Aquatic Center.
The Cardinal then have their last regular season match April 22nd against No. 9 San Jose State at Avery Aquatic Center at 6 p.m., where seniors Hannah and Kelty Luber will play in their final home game.