On Halloween, No. 14 Stanford women’s soccer fell to the California Golden Bears by a final score of 3-2. Cal midfielder Campbell Carroll, defender Courtney Boone, and forward Alexis Wright scored for the Golden Bears while Stanford senior forward Andrea Kitahata and senior defender Nya Harrison scored for the Cardinal. Cal goalkeeper Teagan Wy picked up the win in the net for the Golden Bears with five saves and two goals allowed while Stanford goalkeeper Haley Craig was awarded the loss with two saves and three goals allowed. Cal improves to 12-5-2 overall and 5-4-1 in the ACC while Stanford falls to 13-4-1 overall and 5-4-1 in the ACC.
BOX SCORE: California at Stanford-Thursday, October 31st
“Yeah, we had a decent game, it was a very transitional game and excited the team came back and made it 2-2,” Stanford head coach Paul Ratcliffe said after the match. “But then obviously giving away or getting a penalty kick called against you in the last ten seconds is a brutal way to kind of determine the game.”
Cal got off to a hot start in his match with three straight corner kicks at 1:50, 2:29, and 3:05. None of those led to goals, but the Bears did a good job of putting pressure on Stanford out of the gates. Cal would pick up a fourth corner kick at 10:57 before Stanford finally got their first corner kick at 20:56.
While none of Cal’s corner kicks led to goals, their overall pressure did as they were rewarded with the first goal of the match at 33:10 as Campbell Carroll found the top right of the goal off her left foot off an assist from Alex Kios. It was now a 1-0 lead for the Bears. The Bears would keep that 1-0 lead into halftime as a corner kick by Stanford at 44:40 did not lead to a goal. The Bears had the momentum and had clearly played the better half of soccer.
Cal would get the first corner kick of the second half at 50:22, but Stanford would respond with corner kicks at 54:44, 57:10, and 61:55. However, Cal would be the first to score in the second half at 63:22 as Alexis Wright found the top right of the goal off her right foot off an assist from Velize King and Julia Leontini. It was now a 2-0 lead for the Bears.
Shortly thereafter, Stanford would get on the board as Cal was called for a handball at 65:04. That led to a penalty kick for Andrea Kitahata, who found the bottom right of the net to make it 2-1. That gave Stanford some juice as they had a corner kick at 67:52 before then scoring at 70:40 as Nya Harrison found the bottom right of the goal off her right foot thanks to an assist from Kitahata. It was now a 2-2 match all evened up.
At this point, Stanford had all the momentum and it looked like they might actually pull off the victory or at least end in a draw. However, at 89:50, Stanford was called for a penalty that gave Cal a penalty kick and a chance to win the match. Karlie Lema would fire a shot to the bottom right of the goal and have it saved by Haley Craig only for Courtney Boone to get the rebound and kick the ball into the bottom left of the goal to give the Bears a 3-2 win. The Cardinal were in shock and disbelief while the Bears were elated and in a state of jubilation.
For Stanford, this is a painful loss. It was a senior night against their rival and they fought so hard to at least force a draw. To have the match end the way it did really hurts. On top of that, they now actually fall behind Cal in the ACC standings via head-to-head tiebreaker. After getting crushed by Notre Dame in their previous matchup, Stanford would have loved to have ended the regular season on a win, but it wasn’t to be.
At this point, all that Stanford can do is rest up and get ready for the NCAA tournament as they didn’t qualify for the ACC tournament. The big question is whether or not they’ll get a top sixteen seed or not. The loss to Cal might have knocked them out of that, but we’ll just have to see.
“Yeah, I mean, it’s what I expected,” Ratcliffe said of their first season in the ACC. “Really good teams, every game is a battle, you have to endure the travel, you have to be resilient, you have to be tough, and you have to earn every win you get, every tie you get, you have to earn it. So, it’s a great lesson for the student athletes. It’s not easy. It’s not easy.”
Regarding Stanford’s health, they will have to solider on with their star midfielder Jasmine Aikey, who did not play in the match having gotten injured at Notre Dame in the previous match. She was seen in a boot on the sidelines and Ratcliffe confirmed that her season is done. Senior defender Kellie Pagador got injured in the second half and did not return. It appeared to be a non-contact injury as she had to be carried off the field. No word on what her status is but suffice to say her status going forward is up-in-the-air at best.
“Central defense, I thought Avani did a good job and then we’ll get Sophie Murdock back. She was suspended, so she couldn’t play today, but she’ll be back and she’s a good center back, so we’re excited to have her back.”
As for Cal, this is a huge win. Moving ahead of Stanford in the ACC standings is a nice plus, but since neither team is going to the ACC tournament, it’s all academic at this point. The bigger part of this for Cal is that with this win, they now have a chance to make the NCAA tournament. Had they lost this match, their odds would have been slim. But now, they have some life and might get in the tournament.
On that note, the NCAA tournament field of 64 will be announced on Monday, November 11th. Stanford will await their tournament seed while Cal will wait to see if they make the tournament or not.
“Just keeping everyone going,” Ratcliffe said of how he’ll manage the team during this break. “We need to keep getting better with our possession, keeping the ball, and then better with our finishing as well in the final third. So we just need to keep training hard and keep growing as a group. But, I’m proud of what they’ve done this season. They’ve had an extraordinary regular season. Sad for the seniors today that they all end on a loss, is brutal for the seniors, but they’ve had a great year and now hopefully we have a run in the NCAA playoffs here.”
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