By Laura Anderson on October 20, 2017

Coming off a split last weekend, No. 17 Stanford field hockey (8-6, 2-1 America East) will travel to take on No. 23 Pacific (6-7, 2-2) before returning to the Farm after nine straight road matches to play No. 36 Cal Berkeley (8-6, 3-1).

The Cardinal won seven consecutive games before going 1-4 in their last five, including two tough losses in overtime at No. 24 Ohio State and No. 21 Rutgers. But with three conferences matches left in the regular season, Stanford has a chance to take over the top spot in the America East Conference West Division heading into postseason play. The Cardinal currently sit at second in the division behind the Golden Bears.

Stanford has won its past two matches against Pacific. Earlier this season, the teams met for a rematch of the America East Championship game and the Cardinal squeaked out a 1-0 victory, the same margin by which they claimed the conference title. With similar playing styles and tight defense, Stanford will need top goal-scorer freshman attacker Corinne Zanolli and the offense to make the difference in the game.

Stanford and Cal are tied 53-53-5 all-time in their rivalry games, with the Golden Bears picking up the most recent win last weekend on their home turf. Cal scored twice in the first half of that matchup and won by a final score of 4-2. The four goals were the most Stanford has given up in a game this season. Cal will be a tough test, and the Cardinal will rely on sophomore goalkeeper Kelsey Bing to step up against the Bears offense. With a win against Cal the Cardinal can reclaim the top spot in the conference.

Friday’s match against Pacific will begin at 3 p.m. Stanford will return home against Cal on Sunday also at 3 p.m., with the match being streamed live on Pac-12 Networks.

Contact Laura Anderson at lauraand ‘at’ stanford.edu.