Another pair of games, another pair of matchups against ranked opponents and another pair of opportunities to assert itself as one of the top teams in the nation.

No. 9 Stanford field hockey (8-3, 1-1 America East) will take a brief hiatus from conference play this weekend when it travels to play two top-20 opponents, No. 14 Northwestern (9-4, 2-2 Big Ten) and No. 16 Michigan (9-3, 3-1 Big Ten).

After dropping two games in a row — the first in its America East opener against an unranked Cal in overtime and the second a comeback that fell just short against No. 1 UConn — the Cardinal have won their past two games, 1-0 and 2-1 respectively.

Three different players (senior attacker Lauren Becker, junior midfielder Fran Tew and senior defender Jessica Chisholm) scored the three goals from those last two games, a testament to the well-balanced attacking effort the Cardinal have relied upon this season and will have to call on this weekend.

While Chisholm and senior midfielder Maddie Secco lead the team’s goal-scoring efforts, each having scored five goals, Becker and Tew have combined for seven goals of their own.

And those four aren’t the only ones rounding out Stanford’s offense: in fact, six other players have scored at least one goal on the season, including two game-winners.

Leading Stanford on the defensive front is junior goalie Dulcie Davies, who despite allowing 14 goals over the past 11 games still maintains a .818 save percentage, second-best in the country behind goalie Nina Klein of No. 1 UConn.

The Wildcats and Wolverines mark the fifth and sixth ranked teams that Stanford has faced this season, with the team going 2-2 against the first four.

Northwestern will host Stanford coming off a 4-0 win against Iowa, a team Stanford beat earlier this season by a one-point margin. The Wildcats and Cardinal have shared several of the same opponents this season: Both lost to UConn and beat UC Davis, while Stanford defeated Indiana and Duke, both games that Northwestern dropped.

The Cardinal will have to find a way to contain midfielder/forward Isabel Flens, who is tied for sixth in the nation for most goals. The junior has 11 goals and 4 assists, but she is not the only one who can score: Midfielder Dominique Masters, also a junior, is second on the team with 9 goals — nearly double what Stanford’s goal-scoring leaders can boast — while senior midfielder Carolin Troncelliti and freshman midfielder/forward Eva van Agt have also scored 8 apiece.

The Wolverines match up a bit differently than the Wildcats: While Michigan has several offensive threats — most notably Shannon Scavelli, who leads the team with 6 goals this season — its biggest asset is its goal-tending.

Sophomore Sam Swenson has been excellent in the goal this season, only having allowed 12 goals over the season and posting a .94 goals against average, which leads the Big Ten and is good for fourth-best in the nation. As the Cardinal may not be able to build a lead with Swenson in the goal, they will have to bunker down defensively to counteract any offensive struggles.

The Cardinal will take on Northwestern on Friday, Oct. 9 at 1 p.m. and Michigan on Sunday, Oct. 11 at 10 a.m. Both games will be hosted at Northwestern in Evanston, Ill.

Contact Alexa Philippou at aphil723 ‘at’ stanford.edu.