Sept. 9, 2009

Media Guide | Statistics

Northwestern Wildcats (4-1) - Thursday, Sept. 10 - Evanston, IL - 1 p.m. PT

VCU Rams (3-0) - Saturday, Sept. 12 - Iowa City, IA - 5 p.m. PT

No. 17 Iowa Hawkeyes (1-3) - Sunday, Sept. 13 - Iowa City, IA - 5 p.m. PT

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STANFORD, Calif.- After posting three straight victories at home to begin the season, Stanford (3-0) embarks on its first road trip of the year with three matches over a four-day stretch beginning Thursday.

It's time for the Cardinal to get acclimated with life on the road. Of the 14 games remaining in the regular season, 11 will be played away from the friendly confines of the Varsity Turf, where Stanford has pieced together a six-match winning streak dating back to last season.

This week's matches are critical for Stanford in its push for national recognition. Thanks to its undefeated start, the Cardinal is receiving 48 votes in the latest edition of the top-20 and stands just three spots shy of cracking the national rankings for the first time since 2007.

A solid road trip will likely result in that top-20 ranking for Stanford, as it will face three difficult opponents. Thursday's foe, Northwestern, is 4-1 and currently one spot shy of the top-20 with 71 votes. The Cardinal then takes on VCU, receiving 19 votes after a 3-0 start, in a neutral site game to be played in Iowa City. Finally, Stanford faces its first top-20 program of the year in No. 17 Iowa. The Hawkeyes are only 1-3 but two of those losses came against No. 2 North Carolina and No. 3 Wake Forest.

But it's been smooth sailing for Stanford so far. Through the first three games, the Cardinal has tallied more goals (11-2), shots (65-23) and penalty corner attempts (27-10) than its opponents. Seven different players have scored at least once and the offense figures to get an even bigger boost once senior Midori Uehara, last year's leading scorer with 11 goals, gets on track.

Sophomore Alessandra Moss has been outstanding in goal and was named the NorPac Defensive Player of the Week. Moss made 15 saves over two games last week, including a 1-0 shutout of Northeastern on Sept. 4. Moss, who sports a 0.67 GAA with 18 saves on the year, has now earned four NorPac Player of the Week honors in her brief career.