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 4Â 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 8Â 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.