April 5, 2007
What's Ahead:
-Friday April 6th at No. 6 UC-Irvine, 5:00 PM
-Saturday April 7th at No. 14 Long Beach State, 12:00 PM
The Cardinal:
After a 12-day layoff, the Cardinal return to the site of their Irvine Tournament win last month to take on the UC Irvine Anteaters on April 6, followed by another road matchup at Long Beach State on April 7. Stanford defeated another ranked team in No. 18 Princeton as well as wins over unranked Maryland and Santa Clara in their last games on March 24-25. Stanford outscored those three opponents 54-10 to extend their winning streak to 15 games. The Cardinal's record is now 17-1 and a perfect 6-0 in MPSF conference play.
Streaking Stanford:
Stanford has now scored in double figures in each their last seven games and nine of their last 10. Katie Hansen has now scored in eight games in a row and Lauren Silver has scored in all 18 games for Stanford. This week the Cardinal face two southern California opponents in No. 6 UC Irvine on Friday, and No. 14 Long Beach State on Sunday.
Past Meetings:
Last season Stanford played UC-Irvine twice, resulting in a 5-2 home victory and a 10-4 victory at Irvine. In the lone meeting with Long Beach State last season, Stanford beat the 49ers 8-5 at the Avery Aquatics Center.
Gregorka competes for Team USA:
Alison Gregorka was in Australia last week for the FINA Championships and competed with Team USA. She score two go-ahead goals and handed out six assists in the tournament. Stanford alum Brenda Villa (03') also helped Team USA to the World Championship by scoring 11 goals in the tournament. This was only the second time Team USA has captured the World Championship in competition.
Silver and Hansen top duo:
Lauren Silver continued her torrid scoring streak by contributing 10 goals in the last three games for the Cardinal. In the three game home stand, Silver increased her team-leading scoring total to 44 goals, and was tied for third in the MPSF in scoring. Katie Hansen has also increased her goal total to 41 goals on the season, good for ninth in the MPSF and making her and Silver the second-best duo in the MPSF contributing 4.72 goals a game collectively.
McColl the stopper:
After McColl's stingy defense in the net two weeks ago, she is now third in the MPSF, allowing only 5.09 goals per game. This mark is only topped by San Diego State's Sarah Kilgore at 5.04 and USC's Anae Tumua, who only allows 3.10 goals per game.
As a team:
Stanford is third in the MPSF in goals per game at 12.94, sitting only behind No. 2 UCLA and No. 3 USC who score 15.45 and 13.65 goals a game respectively. The Cardinal defense has also been rising in the rankings after allowing only 10 goals in its past three games. Stanford is now second in fewest goals allowed per game, allowing only 5.50 goals per game.
About UC Irvine:
UC Irvine enters the match with a 15-6 record coupled with a five game winning streak and holders of the number six ranking nationally. Irvine is led by senior 2MD Jackie Prine who has scored 30 goals on the season for the Anteaters which places her 16th in the MPSF at 1.74 goals per game. Senior Robyn Kaake is second on the team in goals scored with 27 and sophomore Gianni Rossi is third with 26. Rounding out their top four scorers is sophomore Julia Fancher, who has 22 goals on the season. In the goal for UC Irvine is junior Lauren Machanis who has tallied 155 saves on the season, which is sixth on the MPSF leaderboard.
About Long Beach State:
Long Beach State comes into the game with a 6-12 overall record and a 2-5 record in MPSF conference play. While Long Beach enters the games with a seven game losing streak, it has four capable scorers on the roster. Senior driver Christina Wensman who has scored 22 goals on the year and has tallied 19 assists leads the 49ers. The 49ers are led by Cecila and Marina Canetti who have scored 21 goals each. Senior Megan Winchell has also found the net 20 times for the 49ers and goalkeeper Kim Hayes has stopped 95 shots.
Coach John Tanner:
Stanford head coach John Tanner is 7-0 lifetime against UC Irvine and 14-2 in his career against the Long Beach State 49ers.
What's Next:
After the two games in southern California, Stanford returns home to play the No. 2 ranked UCLA Bruins on Saturday April 14th at 1:00PM. A match against UCSB will follow on Sunday April 15th at 1:00PM. Both games will take place at the Avery Aquatics Center.