On Sunday, No. 1 Stanford women’s soccer defeated USC by a final score of 2-1. Stanford sophomore midfielder Mia Bhuta and freshman midfielder Eleanor Klinger scored for the Cardinal while USC senior forward Simone Jackson scored the lone goal for the Trojans. Stanford senior Haley Craig was the winning goalkeeper while USC grad transfer Laurence Gladu was the losing goalkeeper. Stanford improves to 7-0-0 on the season while USC falls to 4-1-1.
BOX SCORE: Stanford vs. USC-Sunday, September 8th
“Yeah, we had a fantastic first half, scored two incredible goals,” Stanford head coach Paul Ratcliffe said after the match. “And then the second half a little bit slower of a performance but had the character necessary to get the result in the end.”
Stanford got their first corner kick of the match at 2:57 and after their third consecutive throw in at 5:34, the Cardinal were able to find the back of the net as Mia Bhuta found the bottom left of the goal at 5:53 off an assist from Andrea Kitahata and Kellie Pagador. Stanford now had an early 1-0 lead.
“Yeah Mia, so much energy in the midfield. Did a great job of winning 50-50 battles,” Ratcliffe said. “Keeping possession of the ball for us and then she’s now also scoring goals. So, really pleased with Mia’s performance.”
Stanford would have a corner kick at 6:57 but wasn’t able to capitalize. Stanford would get another good opportunity to score at 22:42 as Nya Harrison fired a shot to the bottom of the net that was saved by Gladu. USC would get corner kicks at 27:49 and 35:04 while Stanford had corner kicks at 31:50 and 32:46. None of those led to goals, keeping it a 1-0 match.
At 41:00, Haley Craig had a goal kick for Stanford which led to a goal by Eleanor Klinger at 41:42 as she found the bottom left of the goal off her right foot thanks to an assist from Samantha Williams and Nya Harrison. The first goal of Klinger’s career. It was now a 2-0 lead for Stanford, a lead they would hold into halftime.
“All I remember was it was last five minutes of the first half and I see Sammy just going down the line and I make a run in the box,” Klinger recalled. “She plays me a beautiful ball, perfectly waited, just like every time in practice and I hit it and it goes in…It’s incredible. There’s nothing like Cagan. Nothing like the fans here and it was one of the best moments of my soccer career so far. So, really pleased.”
USC came out aggressive in the second half as they had corner kicks at 46:49 and 47:34. Following a throw in at 48:01, Simone Jackson found the back center of the net off her right foot, making it a 2-1 score. The Trojans were now on the board and had some momentum.
The Trojans continued to apply the pressure on the Cardinal as they had a corner kick at 49:36, leading to a shot at 50:17 by Hannah Griffin, which was off target. USC would also have corner kicks at 53:25 and 57:22. Neither led to scores, but it was clear that Stanford would need to reverse momentum and be the ones applying pressure instead of being on their heels.
At 62:22 Allie Montoya fired a shot for Stanford that was blocked immediately after which Charlotte Kohler had a shot to the bottom center of the net which was saved by Gladu. It remained a 2-1 match.
At 69:07 Helena Sampaio had a shot for USC to the bottom of the net that was saved by Craig. At 71:04 USC had a corner kick and at 72:02 Brooklyn Courtnall fired a shot to the top center of the net that was saved by Craig who reached up and poked the ball above the cross bar. It remained a 2-1 lead for Stanford, but USC was continuing to apply the pressure.
Stanford started to apply some pressure of their own with corner kicks at 75:45, 77:03, and 80:27. At 76:58 and 77:07, Eleanor Klinger had a couple of shots blocked as she was doing her part to put some pressure on the Trojans.
USC would then get back on the offensive with a corner kick at 83:23, which led to a shot by Aaliyah Farmer to the bottom right of the net which was saved by Haley Craig. At 86:58, USC found the back of the net, appearing to tie the game up 2-2. However, they were called for an offsides. The officials then went to review the call and upon review confirmed that the call on the field was correct. It remained a 2-1 lead for Stanford.
“We were pretty relieved,” Klinger said of finding out it was an offsides. “Yeah.”
From there, Stanford was able to hang on for a 2-1 victory. The Trojans put up an amazing fight and gave the Cardinal all they could handle. Fortunately for Stanford, the Trojans committed offsides at the very end there. This could have easily been a draw.
“I think they just put more pressure on us and we didn’t solve it unfortunately,” Ratcliffe said of the Trojans’ second half adjustment. “We need to clear our lines or keep possession out of it and get a chance. We had a couple chances we should have scored and then it would have countered their press a little bit. We didn’t. They did a nice job. I thought they did a good job of pressing and closing spaces and a lot of high energy.”
“I mean, they’re a pretty physical team,” Klinger added. “So they didn’t give up. They didn’t relent to our style of play. So credit to them for keeping it coming ‘til the last five minutes…Yeah, there’s definitely a rivalry. You can feel it. Coming off of halftime they didn’t give up and it was really fun to play in this match.”
On top of the Cardinal getting a bit of luck on their side, they also benefited from the amazing play from goalkeeper Haley Craig. She was phenomenal all match long. Without her clutch play in the net, Stanford would not have won this match.
“Yeah, Haley made a couple incredible saves,” Ratcliffe said. “The save off the corner kick was fantastic.”
“Credit to Haley,” Klinger added. “Credit to the defense. I think they were really leading us from the back. They were always intense. Always switched on. Didn’t let anything by them. USC kept coming and we kept stopping them. That’s what needed to happen.”
On offense, Eleanor Klinger was clearly the top player for the Cardinal. On top of giving the Cardinal the all-important second goal, Klinger also had a couple of good shots late that that applied some much-needed pressure on the Trojans.
“Yeah, Eleanor has been amazing all year,” Ratcliffe said. “So happy that was her first goal at Stanford and what an unbelievable volley she scored for that goal. So really proud of Eleanor and she continues to get better and better with each and every practice and game.”
With this win, Stanford remains a perfect 7-0-0 on the season, which ensures they’ll remain ranked #1 in the nation through their next match. However, their next match will not be easy as it is a road match at Santa Clara on Sunday, September 15th at 1:00 PM PT on ESPN+.
“Yeah, it feels really good and yeah it’s important. We need to have really good results in the early season to get momentum and we want to be a high seed for the NCAA,” Ratcliffe said of being perfect to start the season. “I want to be number one at the end of the season, not at the beginning of the season. But it’s a nice boost for them. But it doesn’t matter in the end. Every game you’re battling, trying to win. So you can’t think about rankings. It doesn’t matter, really.
“Always a competitive game. Santa Clara knows us very well. They always have a good program. So it’s always challenging and then playing at Santa Clara adds another hurdle. So it’ll be a really good test for us.”
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