Stanford looks to defend conference title this weekend
The No. 15 Stanford women’s lacrosse team came up big last weekend, taking down Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) foe UC-Davis 17-14 in its last game of the regular season. With the win, the Cardinal claimed the No. 2 seed in the MPSF Tournament, which will be held this weekend in Denver.
Against the Aggies, the Cardinal started out strong, scoring seven straight goals before Davis even got on the board. Senior Claire Hubbard had two goals and two assists during the 7-0 run and, for her efforts in the game, was named MPSF Player of the Week. The Cardinal’s opening dominance didn’t last, however, and the Aggies found some rhythm toward the end of the first half, scoring five goals and ending the period down 13-5.
In the second half, Davis turned the tables on Stanford, scoring nine goals and getting within three points of the Cardinal before the game finished. Stanford goalie Annie Read played a valuable role for the Cardinal, recording six saves in the second half alone to preserve the win.
Senior Dana Lindsay had a team-leading four goals in the win, while Hubbard finished with three goals and four assists. Junior Sarah Flynn also recorded a hat trick and redshirt junior Lauren Schmidt tallied two goals and two assists.
With the win, the Cardinal finished the MPSF with a 5-1 conference record — with the only loss coming to Denver on the road — and earned the No. 2 seed for the conference tournament, which starts today.
“I am very proud of our performance this season.” said sophomore defender Paige Farmakis. “We had high expectations and goals for ourselves and accomplished a lot of them. I was especially proud of us when we broke into the top 10.”
“Unfortunately we had some tough losses on the road, but overall I would say we are proud of what we’ve accomplished in the regular season and are geared up for the postseason,” Farmakis added.
To start the tournament, Stanford will take on No. 7 seed Fresno State, who finished the season with a 0-6 record in the MPSF. In the only regular season meeting between the two teams, the Cardinal excelled with a resounding 19-4 victory where seven players had at least two goals. Stanford remains focused, however, and knows it will need to play at its best to succeed.
“This weekend is really about us playing our game.” Farmakis said. “We’ve been just working on our offensive movement and a strong team defense. If we play as a team the whole time, I believe we will have a great weekend.”
While the Cardinal will be facing familiar foes, this is the postseason, and the stakes are somewhat higher now, as the winner of the MPSF Tournament earns an automatic bid to the play-in game for the NCAA Tournament. This is especially important to Stanford, as the team was left out of the tournament last year, despite winning the MPSF Tournament and defeating No. 3 Penn in its final game of the regular season.
This year, however, the Cardinal controls its own destiny, as the top team from the MPSF will advance to the tournament and play the Atlantic-10 champion Massachusetts Minutewomen in a play-in game.
“Having the automatic play in bid to the NCAA Tournament makes this weekend huge,” Farmakis said. “We have been training and working so hard since September for this. All that effort culminates into this tournament and it’s really important for us. We are just really excited to get out there and show everyone what we’re capable of.”
Stanford plays Fresno State in its opening round match at 12 p.m. today in Denver, with the winner playing in a semifinal tomorrow.