On Sunday, No. 2 Stanford women’s soccer defeated Washington State at home by a final score of 2-0. Stanford sophomore midfielder Mia Bhuta and junior forward Andrea Kitahata both scored for the Cardinal while senior Haley Craig was the winning goalkeeper. Stanford improves to 5-0-0 while Washington State falls to 2-2-0.
BOX SCORE: Stanford vs. Washington State-Sunday, September 1st
“Yeah, good result,” Stanford head coach Paul Ratcliffe said after the match. “Very positive first half scoring two great goals in the first half and yeah overall just a good performance in the first half. Second half, not as good of a performance but we still were strong enough to get the result.”
Stanford scored quickly in this match as Mia Bhuta found the bottom left of the goal off an assist from Allie Montoya and Charlotte Kohler at the 6:48 mark. Stanford was now up 1-0, feeling good about the start they were having to the match. Bhuta also got a little redemption having attempted a penalty kick and failing to score off that just a couple minutes earlier.
“Yeah, I mean obviously coming off of the first chance that I had, that PK missing, it’s not a great feeling, but I think after that, it was just about my reaction,” Bhuta said. “So I knew I was going to do whatever I could just to get the ball in the back of the net. We had a great team build up. Allie played a great serve in and at that point it was just I don’t know what part of the body I’m going to hit it with, but I’m going to get it in the back of the net. So yeah, that was just the mentality going into that.”
Washington State would get their first of 13 corner kicks at the 17:31 mark. About a minute later at 18:49, Megan Cruz fired a shot for the Cougars to the bottom of the net, forcing Stanford goalkeeper Haley Craig to get the save.
Stanford would soon put more pressure on Washington State goalkeeper Nadia Cooper as Joelle Jung fired a shot for Stanford at 26:40 to the bottom of the net, forcing Cooper to get the save. Not long after, Stanford would score their second goal of the match as Andrea Kitahata found the bottom right of the goal off her left foot on a pretty shot. Charlotte Kohler got credited with the assist, her second of the match. It was now a 2-0 lead for Stanford at the 31:45 mark.
“Yeah, Dre scored an amazing goal,” Ratcliffe said of Kitahata. “She’s been clutch for us all season. She’s just so deadly when she gets the ball going at people and her finishing ability is tremendous.”
“Hey, that’s just classic Dre,” Bhuta said with a smile. “You know she’s going to hit you with the scissor and get it in the net somehow. So, I was glad to see her come in and make an immediate impact and I’m sure we’ll be seeing a lot more goals from her throughout the season.”
Washington State would tack on two corner kicks at 44:35 and 44:54, unable to find the back of the net before halftime. The Cougars were being aggressive, but Stanford’s defense was doing just enough to keep the match at 2-0.
“At the break, was stay together, be smart, managing the game, but can we get a third and win the game,” Ratcliffe said of what his message to the team was at halftime. “But I wanted to stay obviously together and not concede anything and they did a good job of doing that, but we needed to get the third and I don’t think we did a great job of going forward.”
“I think a lot of it is mentality,” Craig said of keeping Washington State out of the net. “We’ve talked a lot about that this season coming off of last season. Coming in with just the grit and determination that if there is a corner we still don’t concede. We only had one corner in the second half, which is really tough for us as well. So I think going into the next game, we want to have more corners for us and way less against us, but we’ll get back to work this week and hopefully come back with a much better result coming next week.”
Within the first three minutes of the second half, Washington State had three corner kicks, continuing to put pressure on Stanford. Amazingly, Stanford’s defense kept finding ways to prevent Washington State to score as Haley Craig was doing an amazing job of staying on her toes.
“Haley was outstanding, she was a rock in goal,” Ratcliffe said of Craig. “I think she got tested in the game and showed she’s an outstanding goalkeeper. So really proud of her.”
“I think in the first half we had them pretty locked down for sure,” Craig said. “A lot less shots in the first half than the second. When the second came around, I think for us and our team identity is just try to keep them out. Obviously shut out mentality every single game. Trying to go into ACC undefeated as few goals against as possible. So I think for me specifically and for my defense it was just keep everything out. Our team culture is no goals against ever. No matter how many shots are on goal. So that was kind of what was playing through me in this game the whole time and I’m glad we got that result in the end.
“Yeah, I think the coaches have given me so much confidence in my entire career here. Even when I wasn’t getting as many minutes. I knew coming into this season that if I worked really really hard and the coaches continued their confidence in me that I could step into this role with the utmost confidence in myself. So obviously my team is ten toes behind me and I think that support means the world. It’s really fun. I love playing. It’s great.”
At 65:35, Washington State was up to 10 corner kicks while Stanford had zero. It truly was incredible that it was a 2-0 lead for the Cardinal amid all the Cougars’ efforts. Stanford would finally get a corner kick of their own at 83:80 as it was still a 2-0 lead for Stanford. Stanford would not capitalize on that opportunity, but fortunately for them Washington State never was able to find the back of the net and make it really interesting. Stanford would walk out with a 2-0 victory after one final corner kick from Washington State at 89:37.
“Yeah, I think we didn’t do a good job of adjusting to what was going on,” Ratcliffe said when asked about the corner kick disparity. “So, we need to do a better job of adapting to how the other team is playing and what they’re trying to do. So, that was a little disappointing that we gave away so many corners and some of them we were giving a corners like four in a row off the same play. So, it was a little disappointing for me. I was shocked how many corners we gave away.”
“Yeah, they were a great team,” Bhuta said of Washington State. “I think first, their mentality. They’re great competitors. Super physical and challenging us for every ball. I think they have a lot of speed up front and that’s definitely a big threat for them. But yeah, I mean we’ve seen them before in the Pac-12 and it’s always a great game. So props to them. I think they did a great job in the attack, in the defense, and I think it was a great match all 90 minutes.”
On top of Haley Craig’s amazing play in the net, Jasmine Aikey was playing fantastic as a defender. Stanford has needed her to make the switch from forward to defender and she’s stepped up big time. A major reason why Washington State wasn’t able to score was due to Aikey being on the backline.
“Yeah, Elise [Evans] is gone with the U-20s, so we need more leadership in the back and Jazzy is one of our great leaders and competitors,” Ratcliffe said of moving Aikey to defender. “So I think she’s done a great job filling in there and been outstanding. Another shutout. So, she’s done really well for us.”
“Incredible,” Bhuta said of Craig. “Haley is a great keeper. You saw her come up big and you’re going to be seeing that from her the rest of the season. Something about her is just she is always ready for anything that’s coming at her. I mean, Washington State did a great job getting a ton of corners and Haley’s a big reason why those didn’t go in. So all props to her. I love seeing her in goal and super grateful to have her as my keeper.”
For Stanford, this was a really nice win. Washington State is a quality team and a former Pac-12 foe. To get a shutout against a program that they have so much respect for feels good and is a good indicator of the kind of momentum they are building this season.
“Yeah, they’re always, Todd does a great job at Washington State,” Ratcliffe said. “Always a great team to play. Always a competitive game and yeah, they test us, they make us better, they help us grow, so a lot of respect for the Washington State team.”
“It’s actually, it’s so fun!” Craig said with enthusiasm about seeing a former Pac-12 foe. “We love playing Wazzu. They’re really a good team. They hit hard, they run fast, they’re very athletic. We knew it would be a good game going into it, but for us it was so powerful coming in and beating an old Pac-12 foe. I think going in the ACC we know that if we can go through old Pac-12 teams that have always done very well in the Pac-12, Wazzu always gets good results. That if we can do that here that we can definitely do it in the ACC. So we’re really excited going into ACC games in a week or two.”
Up next for Stanford is a road match at Saint Mary’s on Thursday. That will begin at 5:00 PM PT on ESPN+.
“I think applying all the lessons we learned from each game that we’ve played,” Ratcliffe said of what he most wants to see from his team as non-conference season nears its conclusion. “We have to continue growing and learning from each and every game and there’s something to learn from every game. So we need to start applying those things as we move forward so we have a chance to compete as the games get even harder.”
Note: Stanford is ranked #1 in the nation following Sunday's win.
CardinalSportsReport.com on Facebook & X (Twitter): @StanfordRivals
Ben Parker on Facebook, Instagram, Threads, & X (Twitter): @slamdunk406
Email: slamdunk406@yahoo.com
