Field hockey begins conference play at Cal

The No. 13 Stanford field hockey team will kick off its conference season at California today, with the Pac-12 Network on hand for the noon contest between the two NorPac West Division foes. It will be the first of five road games in 17 days for the Cardinal and the first of two meetings between the Bay Area rivals, which are the only teams in the conference who have not yet begun NorPac play.

A season ago, Stanford won both of its games against the Bears–who were ranked No. 12 both times–by identical 3-2 scores.

Stanford (6-4) went 2-3 against top-25 opponents in its tough, season-opening stretch, losing to a pair of No. 1 teams (Maryland and North Carolina). It should have an easier time in conference play, as it is the only ranked team in the NorPac.

Softball announces schedule

Stanford softball released its 2013 schedule on Wednesday, looking to build on its 40-19 campaign from 2012 and hoping to make its 16th straight NCAA tournament appearance.

After three exhibition doubleheaders this fall, Stanford’s season will start at the Kajikawa Classic in Tempe on Feb. 7 against Bradley. The next weekend, it will host Cal State-Northridge, Cal State-Bakersfield and UC-Davis at the Stanford Nike Invitational

The Cardinal will begin Pac-12 play at Oregon on March 23 and later host UCLA, Arizona State, Utah and Arizona in conference play. It will close out the regular season against the Wildcats the weekend of May 9-11.

–Joseph Beyda