When Stanford travels to Colorado on Friday, two teams on similar paths will play in the historic first game of the Pac-12.

Both had tough starts to their seasons that had them a combined 1-4 two weeks into the year, but last weekend, both represented the Pac-12 well with statement wins over teams from more established conferences.

No. 20 Colorado was 2-2 with losses to No. 4 Florida and No. 14 Northwestern when it hammered then-No. 15 Virginia Tech, 18-3, Sunday to improve to 3-2.

“They’re very similar to us,” said Stanford coach Amy Bokker. “They played some tough competition early. I think they were figuring themselves out and have a bunch of new players on both ends of the field, and they just annihilated Virginia Tech. So they clearly have a good groove right now.”

Stanford is receiving votes for the Top 20, too. The Cardinal, who opened the season with losses to Denver and No. 1 Stony Brook, rebounded to engulf No. 16 Duke, 15-5, last Friday and then pound Elon, 17-10, Sunday, both on the road to jump to 3-2.

“I think Stanford is playing well now, and they’re playing well on the road which is not easy to do,” said Colorado coach Ann Elliott. “We know it’s going to be a tough battle."

Colorado and Stanford are looking to sustain momentum as they enter Pac-12 action.

Both teams have changed a lot since their last meeting, a 14-13 Colorado win in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation tournament semifinals last spring. Colorado graduated 14 players who had helped start its varsity program. Stanford didn’t graduate as many starters, but has looked to some young contributors early.

“It’s hard when you lose so many people,” Elliott said. “On the field, losing their production and leadership, it’s hard. Even though a lot of the players on the field are older, for four years, we had the same players playing in the same positions and they understand their role and understood what they were supposed to do. Now, we’re asking someone to do that that hasn’t had to do that the last three years. It takes time. I’m excited about where we’re at. We knew it would be tough.”

It was made even tougher with a tragedy off the field. Colorado senior attacker Julia Sarcona died in a car accident on Jan. 13, just 10 days before the start of preseason practices.

“I think it’s been difficult for us,” Elliott said. “It’s an everyday thing. We have good days and bad days. I don’t think that’s going to change throughout the season. At the same time, I think our group is really motivated to work hard and be successful on the field for Julia and her family and ourselves because of the goals they had coming into the season.”

Elliott and her coaching staff have been trying to balance pushing the team to its potential while being sensitive to the needs of a grieving team. 

“Our team stuff outside of practice is a lot different definitely,” Elliott said. “It’s a lot more together which is also a good thing. They’re over at the house a lot, whether it’s for a meal or to watch a movie or whatever it is. We just want to make sure they’re comforted and that they can communicate with our staff. Everyone has been really supportive of us. It’s nice to know you have people you can rely on and can help.”

Elliott has seen her team grow closer on the field as the players settle into new roles and looked the best in the win over Virginia Tech.

“We’re getting to the point where they’re starting to be able to really focus in every day and focus on what they want for the season,” Elliott said. “Maybe it’s because our backs were against the wall for a little bit after our start. Also, we’re continuing to grow on and off the field and figuring out what we have to do to be successful.”

Colorado ranked third in the country in scoring defense last year, but gave up 16 and 15 goals in their two losses, more than they gave up in any game last year during the regular season. They got 11 saves from Julia Lisella, who has battled with Sophia Gambitsky to replace four-year starter Paige Soenksen in goal, and at the other end, had seven different goal scorers against Virginia Tech, led by Miranda Stinson with five goals and Carly Cox and Samantha Nemirov with four apiece.

“We’ve gotten more consistent in playing together and understanding our roles both offensively and defensively and putting the two together in our transition,” Elliott said. “I’m excited, especially offensively. We’ve had new players step up and start to put pressure on the defense consistently. Defensively, I’m excited about our last performance. I think we’re putting it together and playing the way we played the last couple years – aggressive, physical and finishing plays together, which we struggled with early on for sure.”

Stanford is a team that is also coming together steadily.

Losses to Denver in a game that was postponed a day and then to unbeaten Stony Brook don’t seem too bad to Bokker, but Stanford was written off by some after them.

“That’s because we’re out here,” Bokker said. “That happens to us.”

The only way for the Pac-12 to gain respect is to play and defeat highly ranked teams from the ACC, Big Ten, CAA and Ivy League. Stanford and Colorado did their part last weekend, albeit against teams that were the bottom two teams in the ACC last year.

“If we keep doing what we’re doing, we have to go to the East Coast,” Bokker said. “I think our team plays with a little chip because you feel that way. For us, it’s about showcasing who we are. We tried to focus on what we’re doing when we came into Duke. Duke had had a couple of great wins, so we wanted to make sure we were representing ourselves and our conference to the best of our ability.

"We’ve all tried to step out and play some good teams early, which is good,” she added of the Pac-12. “I think that says a lot. Everybody is hitting the ground running. Oregon played Syracuse tough. USC has gotten out there and played a lot of tough games. I’m really excited about the level of competition in general and what the Pac-12 has been doing. It’s been such a long time. I’ve been waiting for this so long. I’m so excited to see it, and to be called the Pac-12 is just awesome. I feel like saying it over and over again.”

Outside of conference play, the Pac-12 schools are rooting for each other. They need each other to make inroads into the national rankings.

“Our conference, we want to challenge ourselves in our non-conference games,” Elliott said. “Sometimes I think we struggle a little with the distance when we have to go on the road. All the teams across – even Arizona State is 5-1 I think in their first year which is exciting – are doing well. I think it’s an exciting time for the Pac-12 and we’ve been competing and trying to play the best teams.”

Playing one of their former MPSF rivals and a top team in the country only served to test the Cardinal early. It’s just what Bokker wants from every game, and she is thrilled to find her players are hungry to continue to improve.

“Those games were really helpful learning experiences,” she said. “We’re still sorting out our personnel. Having that three-week preseason, all new start dates, a lot of teams across the country were trying to sort things out and not feeling as ready as we normally do. For us, from an offensive perspective, we’re definitely younger. For us to figure that out maybe took a little longer.

“I was just really proud of the way they played together and we really shared the ball [against Duke and Elon]. Our defensive unit found their rhythm and they were playing well together as a unit, and our draw team did the same thing. We played each end of the field well and knowing they were committed to one another was huge going into the weekend. It’s a lot to go across the country and be able to do that. I commend our team for being able to do that.”

They go to Colorado with confidence that they can win on the road, and a better understanding of how they have to play. They have also given Colorado more to worry about now after two solid wins led by all-time leading scorer Kelsey Murray, who didn’t have any goals against Duke but had three assists and then had five goals and five assists against Elon. They are fifth in the country in draw controls per game led by Julia Massaro.

“Offensively, they have a lot of freshmen playing well and stepping up for them,” Elliott said. “Kelsey Murray being back, she’s such a leader. She’s so smart, and she can beat you in so many different ways and anchors that offense. Their young players are stepping up and making plays. They’re smart and are very talented. A lot of their midfielders and other players that were young last year are playing really well and with a lot of confidence. Defensively, they were young last year. They were so much better defensively in that MPSF game than they were earlier. That’s because they were growing and they’re well coached and they play hard.”

The Pac-12 teams will get plenty familiar with themselves this year. Unlike any other major conference, they are playing home-and-away games against each other. Friday is the first look at each other this year.

“We talked about wanting to set a tone,” Bokker said. “We’re on the road again for this first weekend in Pac-12. Now we feel a little bit experienced in that way which is good, and saw some success with that, but I think our main objective is to continue to get better and push each other.”