Nearly 2,500 miles will separate the women’s lacrosse team and the Stanford campus this Saturday, as Stanford (9-5) ventures to Baltimore, Md. to face the Loyola Greyhounds (4-8). Ironically, many of the Cardinal will feel as at home as they ever have in their Stanford careers.

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Jon Casto

Nearly half of the Cardinal lacrosse squad hails from Maryland, where the team will face the Loyola Greyhounds this weekend.

Both Stanford’s leading scorer, junior attacker Sarah Bach, and Stanford’s leading stopper, freshman goalie Laura Shane, grew up in Baltimore, as did head coach Michelle Uhlfelder. From freshmen Shane, Katharine Fox, Bri Ned, Amanda Soto and Alicia Soto, to senior midfielder Kelsey Twist, to the sophomores and juniors in between, this Cardinal squad has a distinctive Maryland flavor up and down the lineup.

All told, 12 of the 25 Cardinal on the roster hail from the state of Maryland. With another eight Cardinal from the nearby states of Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York and Connecticut, 80 percent of the team stems from the East Coast area, and this Saturday’s contest places all but five Cardinal much closer to home than many of them ever expected.

“This weekend is special in so many ways,” said junior attacker Megan Burker, one of five Baltimore natives on the squad. “My dad has made it to all but three of my games at Stanford, which is huge, but now my grandparents can come, as can my high school coach and all my family from back home. Lots of the players feel the same way. I’ve been waiting to come to Baltimore my whole career, and my junior year, here we finally come!”

Although one might expect the team to divide along geographic lines, the players report the heavy Baltimore presence has not dominated the team chemistry.

“I actually think, although we have big group from Maryland, our team is one of most diverse lacrosse teams in Division I,” Burker said. “We have lots of girls from all over the country, from Texas to Seattle, and not many other teams can boast that.

“Also, the girls we do have from Baltimore were searching for something different in their college experience. There’s certainly no Baltimore clique. In fact, the girls that aren’t from Baltimore are special and we get to learn a lot from them. They bring something unique, something we wanted on our college team.”

Stanford hopes to put that team chemistry to work this Saturday, against a Loyola squad whose 4-8 record, while subpar, has come primarily against talented East Coast opponents.

“While Loyola has struggled a little bit this season, I think it would mean a lot for us to come out strong against them and play a big game as a team,” Burker said. “We lost to them the last two years, but have learned a lot from it. I think this year we’re definitely excited and hopeful we can have a strong game against them and beat them. I think it can be a big confidence booster, like our victories over Yale and Notre Dame were.”

Although Loyola will have the home-field advantage, Burker definitely feels comfortable with the trip that awaits her.

I think we’re kind of excited to go home,” added Burker, whose 31 points rank second on the team. “We’re certainly not at a loss because we’re traveling; we feel at home on this trip. I’ve played on this field countless times in camps and practices and just being familiar with the turf and the area is going to mean a lot.”