It seems that every day is game day on the Farm and this weekend is no exception. It’s an exciting and important weekend for Stanford sports, as the Farm will host key Pac-12 matchups on the field, on the court and in the pool. The Cardinal has five teams ranked in the top 25 in the nation, looking to help Stanford earn its 20th consecutive Director’s Cup for the 2013-14 season.
The most talked about game of the weekend is the Saturday evening football matchup, where No. 5 Stanford (4-0) will look to take down No. 15 Washington. But that won’t be close to the first game to take place.
The men’s soccer team (5-1-1) will kick off the weekend Thursday at 7 p.m. in its Pac-12 opener against No. 3 Washington. The team will look to extend its five game win streak — the longest streak the program has held since winning six in a row in September 2009 — and take down the Huskies with the dominant offense and consistent defense it has shown thus far. Pac-12 player of the week, freshman forward Jordan Morris, will be the player to watch; he scored both goals against UC-Santa Barbara last Friday. Men’s soccer will then finish up the weekend on Sunday at 3 p.m. against Oregon State.
No. 2 women’s soccer has an equally eventful weekend as it challenges Arizona on Friday afternoon at 4 p.m. in its conference home opener and then looks forward to Arizona State on Sunday evening. After extending its Pac-12 win streak to 43 on Saturday evening in the Pac-12 opener against Colorado, the four-time defending Pac-12 champions will look to continue the success shown thus far. Freshman goalie Jane Campbell was named Pac-12 defensive player of the week and will seek to add another win to the team’s 8-0-1 record.
Also taking the field this weekend is the No. 11 Stanford field hockey team, who, after a demanding weekend on the East Coast, will look to re-establish dominance at home on Friday evening against Pacific at 6 p.m. The Cardinal will travel away from the Farm to UC-Davis later in the weekend for a Sunday matchup.
The Avery Aquatic Center will see its first action this season from the men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams as well as the men’s water polo team, as both kick-off their first home games of the season.
It will be the first meet of the season for No. 7 men’s swimming and diving as it attempts to bounce back from a disappointing finish to the 2012-13 season with a strong opener against UC-Santa Cruz at 2 p.m. on Friday. That meet will be preceded by the No. 4 women’s team opening Pac-12 play on Thursday against Washington State. The women easily beat San Jose State away in its season opener 138-100.
No. 3 men’s water polo (6-1) opened the season in early September, but will finally return to Avery Aquatic Center for the first time since last season. The Cardinal looks to impress at home against Santa Clara on Saturday evening at 5 p.m.
For Stanford sports fans there is a smorgasbord of games to attend starting Thursday with men’s soccer and women’s swimming and diving, continuing with women’s soccer then field hockey on Friday. Fans can go straight from Avery after watching men’s water polo to Stanford Stadium to watch football fight for redemption against Washington. The weekend concludes with men’s and women’s soccer on Sunday afternoon and evening.
Contact Lucy Svoboda at lsvoboda ‘at’ stanford.edu