No. 21 Stanford field hockey (8-4, 1-0 America East) prepares for a match against their cross-bay rival competitor, No. 26 Cal (3-8, 0-1 America East), at Berkeley on Friday at 4 p.m. PST. Having conquered a tough road test with No. 6 Michigan last weekend in Iowa City (score of 4-2), with Nina Randolph, Phoebe Crosthwaite, Corinne Zanolli and Emma Christus all making stellar goals, the Cardinal ended their colossal eight-game winning streak – their longest winning streak since securing 12 consecutive games in 2014 – last Sunday with their first loss in over a month against No. 10 Iowa (score of 0-3).

Led by sophomore attacker Corinne Zanolli, who is currently tied for third in the country with 16 goals (surpassing her total last year), three game-winners and six assists, earning her conference and national offensive player of the week honors, the Cardinal has maintained a strong offensive line with freshmen Lily Croddick, Fenella Scutt each scoring their first career goals against UC Davis earlier this season.

Junior goalkeeper Kelsey Bing, having been named American East Player of the Week twice, with 63 saves and a 1.32 goals-per-game average, leads the Cardinal defensively. Recording 10 saves against No. 6 Michigan, when the Cardinal defeated its highest-ranked opponent since Stanford beat No. 5 Duke (score of 3-2) in 2015.

Stanford has held a winning advantage over Cal over the last five seasons, winning nine out of the 11 matchups against the Golden Bears, summing up to a goal total of 20-6 against California over the last 10 years.

Losing five straight matches leading up to Friday’s game, including a 1-2 loss against Pacific in their America East conference opener, Cal is in for a rough ride as Stanford, harnessing their fiery Cardinal spirit, looks to start another winning streak Friday at 4 p.m. in Berkeley on Pac-12 Networks.

 

Contact Asia Zhang at asiaz’at’stanford.edu.