On Halloween at 7:00 PM PT on ACCNX, No. 14 Stanford women’s soccer will wrap up their regular season with a home match against Cal. Stanford comes in at 13-3-1 overall and 5-3-1 in the ACC while Cal comes in at 11-5-2 overall and 4-4-1 in the ACC.
Last time out: Stanford suffered a 3-0 loss at No. 12 Notre Dame on Sunday. The Irish scored all three goals in the second half.
On Cal: The Golden Bears are coming off a 3-2 home victory against SMU on Sunday. When No. 1 Duke and No. 2 North Carolina came to Berkeley, the Bears fell to Duke 2-1 and fell to North Carolina 1-0, so they’ve shown they can play elite teams tough.
The top offensive player for the Bears is senior forward Karlie Lema who has 38 points (16 goals and 6 assists) on the season. She’s been sensational all season long and a major reason why Cal is the threat that they are. Senior forward Velize King and graduate student midfielder Julia Leontini each have 10 points with three goals and four assists, making them the other two Bears with who have double digits points on the season. Graduate student goalkeeper Kelly McManus is doing a good job in the net allowing only 1.71 goals per match.
Overall, Cal is a solid team that you have to take seriously. They’ve held their own in the ACC and will be coming to Stanford with a lot of hunger to pull off the upset.
Keys to the match: For Stanford, the first thing they need to do is simply make sure they are taking good shots. If they are moving the ball well and getting good looks, the law of averages says they’ll get at least a couple to drop. But if they rush or start forcing things, that’s when things can get dicey for them.
The second thing Stanford needs to do is contain Karlie Lema. She’s by far and away the best offensive player on this Cal team. If Stanford keeps her from scoring, good odds they win. If she scores, Stanford could be in some trouble.
Finally, Stanford needs to win the corner kick battle. At times that’s been an issue for them, so they need to make sure they’re the ones getting more corner kicks. If they win the corner kick battle, I like their odds of winning. If not, perhaps Cal escapes with a win or a draw.
Prediction: It’s senior night, Stanford is at home, and it’s against Cal. I have to roll with the Cardinal to pull this one out. I’ll say they win 2-1. I think Cal will play them tough and give them all they got. If Stanford doesn’t play sharp, this could easily go the other way.
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