March 15, 2007

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This Week
The Stanford University women's lacrosse team takes the week off after a season-long three game homestand. The Cardinal went 1-2 in the homestand falling to UConn and then-No. 7 James Madison before rebounding for a 10-9 win over Colgate, snapping a four-game losing streak. This week, Stanford preps for an East Coast road swing featuring three games in six days at Virginia Tech, Maryland and Vanderbilt.

On the Horizon
The Cardinal hit the road next week for a three game East Coast road trip. Stanford will play three games over the course of six days, traveling to three states on the trip. Virginia Tech plays host to the Cardinal on March 25 to kick off the trip. Next, the team travels to College Park, MD on March 28 to face the Terrapins before heading to Nashville, TN to take on No. 16 Vanderbilt on March 31. Following the road swing, the Cardinal comes home to host No. 15 Denver.

So Far This Season
The Cardinal began the 2007 season on the road at Oregon on February 10. For the first time since the 2000 season, Stanford opened the season with a loss, dropping a 10-6 decision to the Ducks. The Cardinal bounced back with a 22-6 rout of Saint Mary's to earn their first win of the season and first league victory on February 16. Stanford followed the win with a 14-8 loss to No. 2 Duke and a tought 12-11 double overtime loss at Notre Dame. The losing streak continued when the Cardinal returned home, dropping a 16-10 decision to UConn and a 10-9 decision to James Madison before breaking out of the losing streak last week with a 10-9 win over Colgate. The Cardinal have had two players named MPSF Player of the Week this season in freshman midfielder Lauren Schmidt and junior goalkeeper Laura Shane. Shane currently leads the MPSF in saves.

Shane Brings Home MPSF Weekly Honor
Stanford junior goalkeeper Laura Shane was named MPSF Co-Player of the Week on Tuesday for her performances last week. The Baltimore native combined for 28 saves last week, facing 60 total shots in helping the Cardinal to a 1-1 record. Shane picked up 17 saves in a 10-9 win over Colgate on Sunday, snapping a four-game Stanford losing streak. She also collected 11 stoppers in a near upset of fifth-ranked James Madison on Friday. The Cardinal eventually fell 10-9 to the Dukes. For the week, Shane registered a .622 save percentage and added five ground balls. Her 12.14 saves per game currently lead the MPSF. Shane's 85 saves this season bring her career total to 494, the most in Stanford history.

Topping the Charts
As the all-time leader in goalkeeper minutes played and save percentage, Laura Shane is no stranger to broken records. Entering the season, Shane needed to make just 51 saves to become the new career saves leader at Stanford. With her fifth save of the game in the loss to UConn, Shane broke the saves record of 459 previously held by Stephanie Tuerk and set from 1997-99. A Baltimore native, Shane went on to make 11 saves against the Huskies and has since pushed her career saves number to 494, collecting 28 combined saves against No. 7 James Madison and Colgate. Shane is also just one game away from breaking Stanford's career games played record of 43 for goalkeepers.

Stepping Up
Sophomore attack Bis Fries and junior midfielder Megan McClain each had an outstanding homestand over the past two weeks. The two combined for 14 total points, with McClain scoring at least once in each of the three games. Fries had her biggest game in her first start of the season against No. 7 James Madison, scoring three times and assisting on one goal in the close loss. McClain posted three goals of her own against JMU and two more in the win over Colgate. McClain and Fries are now Stanford's third and fifth leading scorers, respectively.

First Timers
With the loss of attackers Megan Burker and Sarah Bach and midfielder Nyerr Parham to graduation last year, there was plenty of room for the Cardinal's 11 freshmen, all of whom are attackers and midfielders, to step up and contribute immediately. With team scoring leader Lauren Schmidt stepping up as an everyday starter and several other newcomers becoming valuable subtitutions, the Cardinal freshman are making their presence felt this year. Including Lauren Schmidt's 14 goals and 17 points, Stanford freshmen have contributed 28 goals, 10 assists and 21 draw controls through the first seven games of the season.

Conference Domination
Even with the season opening loss to Oregon, Head Coach Michele Uhlfelder (73-39, .652) has led Stanford on a streak of overwhelming conference domination. Including the defeat at Oregon and win over Saint Mary's, Uhlfelder has lost just two regular season conference matches and has garnered five conference championships. Since joining the MPSF in 2003, the team has captured every regular season title and three tournament championships. Notably, Stanford has faced California in three of four MPSF Tournament championship games, claiming victory in two out of three. The MPSF is a young and growing west coast conference. Last season marked the first time that Cal has not reached the tournament championship game since Stanford joined the conference. In 2006, the Cardinal defeated Denver 12-6 to take home the tournament title. With the addition of Oregon in 2005, the conference expanded to six schools: Stanford, California, UC Davis, Saint Mary's, Oregon and Denver.

Moving On Up
Although it is early in the season, a few Stanford players are already moving up the ranks in the Cardinal career record book. Senior midfielder Liz Piselli's two assists this season give her 24 in her career, moving her into sole possession of eighth place all-time. Piselli is just 14 assists away from reaching the top five in that category, while her 71 career draw controls rank fourth all-time. Junior goalkeeper Laura Shane notched her 43rd career game against Colgate, putting her just one game played away from breaking the Stanford goalkeepers record. Shane also holds the Cardinal record for minutes played in goal at 2492:50.