Sept. 28, 2010

at UC Davis Aggies (3-4, 0-3 NorPac)
Date: Saturday, Oct. 2
Site: Davis, CA
Time: 3 p.m. PT

STANFORD, Calif.- One day after taking down its highest nationally-ranked opponent in nine years, Stanford moved up to two spots to No. 16 in this week's edition of the Kookaburra/NFHCA National Coaches Poll.

In what figured to be Stanford's most difficult stretch of the year, the Cardinal started its road trip by giving No. 1 North Carolina a serious scare during a 2-1 loss and followed that with a 4-2 victory over No. 8 Wake Forest the following day. North Carolina and Wake Forest have combined to win five of the last eight national championships.

Stanford has now spent a school-record 14 consecutive weeks in the national rankings dating back to Sept. 18, 2009.

The road split puts Stanford at 6-3 overall with seven games remaining in the regular season. Additionally, the Cardinal moved up to No. 19 in the latest RPI report.

Meanwhile, Alessandra Moss was named the NorPac West Division Defensive Player of the Week for her performance against North Carolina. Moss made a season-best eight saves and was a big reason Stanford was able to hang around in the contest and hold the Tar Heels below their season scoring average of 4.25 goals per game. It was the second NorPac Player of the Week honor this year for Moss, who also was recognized two weeks ago. Stephanie Byrne and Jaimee Erickson have also been honored by the conference this year.

Stanford now shifts its focus back to league play, traveling to UC Davis on Saturday, Oct. 2, for its next match. The Cardinal sports a 2-1 NorPac record, trailing West Division leader California at 4-0.

UC Davis (3-4, 0-3 NorPac) saw its three-game winning streak come to an end over the weekend in a 4-3 overtime loss to California. After posting a 3-15 record last season in its transition year to Division I, the Aggies have continued to make progress in 2010.

Saturday's tilt will be the second of the year between Stanford and UC Davis, with the Cardinal collecting a 3-1 win at home back on Sept. 3 despite holding overwhelming advantages in shots (25-3) and penalty corners (11-2). Stanford swept last year's season series against UC Davis, outscoring the Aggies by a combined 16-2 margin.