Stanford @ UCLA UCLA 0-1 Stanford Seems like Stanford escaped with a win. As I posted several weeks ago, Stanford faced a difficult road trip to L.A. UCLA always play well against Stanford. Now I have to remember to set the VCR for Thursday.
Stanford - Oregon State Stanford 2-0 Oregon State The Marcie-and-Marcia show didn't waste much time introducing themselves to OSU with a goal by Marcia in the 2nd minute, assisted by Marcie and Katherine Harrington. Stanford displayed a variety of creative attacks throughout the match. Had the goal dimensions been a foot higher and a foot wider, the score would have been Stanford 6-0. LOL. As it has been for much of the season, Stanford create excellent attacking opportunities, but cannot seem to find the back of the net. For all of Stanford's attacks, if OSU managed to score one, Stanford's domination of the run of play would have been rendered useless. Fortunately, Callie scored an insurance goal. Will Saturday practice include more emphasis on finishing scoring chances? Oregon State put up a good fight. They showed a lot of hustle, fought for 50/50 balls, and tackled well. When they had possession, they played the ball on the ground, and played patiently to put the ball on their attackers' feet. While Stanford & Callie Withers dominated the vertical game, Oregon State fought for every, and seemingly managed to win about half of, 50/50 ground balls. A lot of possession and holding ability is lost when Ally's played on central defense, instead of in midfield. Spilger's taken her share of licks from that UNC game & from the LA road trip, as has Pabon. I still see both defenders being rested against Oregon. Hayley's play has matured a lot into the season, and it showed when she was the only starting defender left playing in the 2nd half. Lindsey's no slouch either & filled in well for Pabon. Aldrete started for Harrington in the 2nd half, & made a few mad dashes on the flanks to her daddy's roaring approval. LOL. As OSU demonstrated, the Pac-10 matches will be no cakewalk. Everybody will be bringing their best game against # 1 Stanford. That includes Oregon on Sunday.
Stanford - Oregon Stanford 3-0 Oregon Stanford seemed to go through the motions in the first 20 minutes. Had some good chances, but something was lacking --- intensity??? mentality??? We'll get our chances since Oregon's the doormat of the Pac-10 anyway, right? The key was to score early and often so the starters get some rest in the 2nd half. I see signs of fatigue, both physical and mental, from the starters. Not to mention a lot of banged-up players. The Marcie-and-Marcia show connected for the first goal. Marcie stole the ball from the last defender, passed off to Marcia, who launched it past the keeper. Nice finish. The 2nd goal was a very pretty header from the freshman Leah Tapscott, her first career goal. She really went vertical on that one & looped it over the GK. The 3rd goal was a nice technical finish by Amy Grady when she curled a kick from an acute angle, hitting just below the far post upper 90, over the GK's outstretched arms. Oregon's GK kept them competitive throughout. The score should have been at least Stanford 7-0 were it not for several incredible saves by the GK. No cheap goals in this contest. Stanford earned every goal they got past this GK today. The Oregon GK's the best one yet I've seen this season. Marcie will get her scoring touch back. Natalie Sanderson needs to learn how to pass to an open teammate. Kelsey Carlson possessed & held well today. Glad to see she's up & running after recovering from her injury. Lindsey Hunt got another start & continues to impress with her savvy and physical play on both flanks. The biggest reason she's not starting is because of the quality of the starters on defense. I see Lindsey starting next season, as Hayley's done this season. Some mad Stanford grad student is going to clone those twins. LOL. Next weekend Stanford pay a visit to the Washington schools.
Stanford @ WSU Washington State 0-1 Stanford Marcie scores. WOOHOO!!! Feed from Marcia & Lindsey. Stanford take their show to UW on Sunday. Cal lost to UW on Friday.
Re: Stanford @ Washington Overheard postgame, a relieved-sounding Stanford player to a couple of friends: "Now we're going to win the Pac-10." Congrats on the win, you deserved it. But you'll excuse me for being Cal's #1 fan next Saturday, as well as a fan of any other team you face. Ever.
Re: Re: Stanford @ Washington That's OK. I feel the same way about UCLA. LOL. Cal's in a bit of a slump, but they're tough at home. Should be exciting.
Women ready for Berkeley showdown The Stanford Daily YAY!!! for Marcie!!! Snoop likes to talk trash. LOL. She'll get her chance on the field Saturday.
Stanford @ Cal Cal 1-2 Stanford Cal was all fired up from the opening whistle. Cal pinned down Stanford in their own half in the first five minutes, resulting in a goal by Cal's Laura Schott. Pabon miscleared a ball right into a surging Cal player, who redirected it to Schott. Schott didn't break her stride, & split the defense right down the middle. Barnie had to come out but Schott kneed the ball over her. Just like that, Cal 1-0 Stanford. Stanford got one back off a short corner. Marcia scored one right in front of the GK. Poor organization by Cal. Marcia's 2nd goal was a thing of beauty. Marcia sprung herself free after a series of passes from Marcie & Kelsey Carlson. All of a sudden, Marcia found herself all alone 30 yards away from the GK. Marcia's first 2 shots were blocked by the GK, but the 3rd shot finally went in. What a great goal by Marcia, all her hard work paid off. The score should have been Cal 1-4 Stanford at the half were it not for a magnificent save by the Cal GK off another scorcher from Marcia, & a fast grounder by Kelsey Carlson that missed the goal by inches. The CR almost lost control late in the 2nd half with his inconsistent calls. The attempt to control the match culminated in two yellows for Stanford. But all day long Cal were riding the backs of Stanford players to win balls in the air. I think the Pac-10 can do a better job of finding competent officials, instead of these U-11 poseurs. Stanford's attacks were more dangerous, and Marcia put them in when possible. Stanford's possession game was not very good because Pabon, Marquand, Harrington, & Carlson didn't see much playing time. These upperclassmen who saw limited time are banged up to some extent. Callie Withers played well but the other mids need to step up. Stanford's inability to destroy most of Cal's attacks exposed the defensive frailties of Dre and Biggie. Marquand & Carlson have done a very good job of holding possession & distribution in the past, I'm surprised the three-headed coaching staff decided to change things. And when you don't play Pabon & Harrington, possession suffers. Those two have been very good at stretching opposing defenses. Again I'm baffled at the decisions made regarding Pabon & Harrington by this three-headed coaching staff. Because the four starters didn't see much playing time, possession & distribution was compromised. The twins had to resort to playing boot-ball most of the time. Good thing Marcia had plenty of gas in her tank to chase those balls launched forward. Marcie had a very quiet game. She didn't see much of the ball because it was whacked upfield most of the time. The coaches could have subbed her out, or played her deeper so that she could hold possession & distribute forward. The last 15 minutes were frantic with Cal playing all out, and Stanford trying to hold on. The coaches should have made substitutions then as most of the attackers had nothing left. The coaches could have done a better job. And they should. Cal will get an invite, and they will probably be bracketed with Stanford. If and when they do meet in the playoffs, throw out the records and standings - it's going to be another battle.
Stanford 2-0 Arizona State ASU had that look of wanting a win in this one. Were scrappy in the first 10 minutes, trying to win every loose ball. Stanford, Ally Marquand in particular, had a difficult time early holding possession with the wet conditions. ASU supporters had those annoying noise stix. Thank goodness they didn't have much to cheer about. Other ASU supporters didn't even want to sit in front of the noise-makers. And besides, ASU fans were sitting in the Stanford section. LOL. Uhh ..... paging Ted Leland, please instruct the stadium folks to reserve six rows on the 3rd section, across the visitors' bench, for their fans. Good for at least 150 people. With the NCAA playoffs next week, this might be an idea worth implementing. The ASU GK played well in the 1st half, saving well-placed shots from Marcie & Marcia. Marcie's CKs were always dangerous, but Stanford just couldn't put one in. Until . . . . . . . . . . the freshman Hayley Hunt headed one in off a beautiful CK from Marcie. What a pretty goal, and Hayley's first of her college career. YAY!!! The 2nd goal was scored by Marcie off a feed from Callie. Callie took a loose ball, changed direction, and delivered a beautiful pass to Marcie who timed her run well when she saw Callie with the ball. Marcie got behind the defense 20 yards away from the GK, and buried the ball where the GK had no chance. YAY!!! It's very nice to get a win in the wet. With the victory, Stanford get the automatic NCAA berth, and in all likelihood, will host the first two rounds next weekend. Stanford will play Arizona on Sunday to finish the regular season.
Stanford - Arizona Stanford 6-0 Arizona The Marcie-and-Marcia show didn't waste much time introducing themselves to the visitors. Marcie launched a beautiful CK that Marcia volleyed into the net in the 2nd minute. Stanford 1-0. Marcie scored the 2nd goal by burying a beautiful feed from Becky Myers. Another one of those patented goal-side runs from Marcie. Just like that, in less than 10 minutes, Arizona were already out of it. The halftime score was Stanford 5-0. The 2nd half saw only one starter left in the field. Her teammates were setting up the senior Katherine Harrington for her 1st goal. But today was not to be the day. The team had a nice introduction/sendoff to the seniors before the start of this one. I'm very happy for the contributions on the field of these student-athletes. Wow, Snoop's an Academic All-American in biology! In a way, I'm also a bit sad to see them go. The seniors have been a very big reason for the program's success so far this season. But all good things must come to an end. Still, for many, a new beginning. Grad school. Med school. Callie & Marcia to the WUSA. Marcia again to another season of golf, & the LPGA? And a very talented pool of underclassman ready to stake their claims to a starting role. Dang, if not for the strong senior class, starting roles for many underclassman. LOL. Stanford finish the season winning the Pac10. In addition to being the # 1 team in the country. To a player, the goal was to win the Pac10. But being ranked # 1 in the country is nice too. Winning the Pac10 was the biggest goal of the regular season. As in years past, the Pac10 is one of the stronger, if not the strongest, conference. Winning the Pac10 the last few years meant a rank no lower than 4th in the country. By being a 4th seed or higher means hosting the playoffs the next 3 weeks. That is, of course, if you run the table. Compared to last year, Stanford this year will be ranked ahead of Santa Clara. That means strong local programs such as Cal and probably St. Mary's will be in Santa Clara's bracket. Stanford next week will probably host Cal Poly SLO, & maybe Utah, among others. We'll learn Monday afternoon who will visit the farm next weekend.
Another shutout was a good way to close out the regular season. The Pac-10 is a very good conference and for Stanford to get eight shutouts out of nine conference games is impressive to say the least. Good luck in the postseason, and hopefully the Pac-10 will be well represented in Austin, TX. I'm sure Stanford and UCLA will both get favorable draws when the NCAA selections are announced tomorrow.
Thanks BS. As to the expected favorable brackets, UCLA have Pepperdine to thank for drawing the tougher opponents in Southern California. In northern California, the strong Santa Clara program will draw the other strong local programs, including Cal.
Women clinch Pac-10 title with Arizona sweep The Stanford Daily Junior striker Marcie Ward's 34th career assist ties the all-time Stanford record. YAY!!! All hail Marcie!!!
No. 1 Stanford Earns Top Seed In NCAA Tournament Stanford vs. Cal Poly SLO - Friday @ 7pm Cal vs. Denver - Friday @ 4:30 pm Why are Cal in Stanford's bracket, and not in Santa Clara's? Santa Clara's bracket has ASU-WSU. I'd rather face the road-trippers than Cal.
Cal in Stanford's bracket isn't what I was expecting either. I think Arizona State or Washington State would have been more fair to Stanford's No. 1 ranking. I still expect to see the Cardinal in the Final Four though.
Thanks to Beth for providing this link: No easy path for No. 1 Stanford in NCAA Tournament Soccer America I see I'm not the only one raising a stink about Stanford's bracket. Ummmm . . . . . Pabon plays on the right. Portland's Sinclair is good, but has yet to play the likes of Stanford's defenders and the ultimate destroyer Callie Withers, who will be a unanimous First-Team All-American in all the polls. And if everything else fails, Barnie's there to stop everything else with her ridiculous .917 save percentage & surrendering just 4 goals all season. Again, Barnie will be another unanimous First-Team All-American GK in all the polls.