On Thursday, No. 6 Stanford women’s soccer defeated Miami 1-0 in a home match at Cagan Stadium. Stanford freshman defender Lizzie Boamah scored the lone goal for the Cardinal while Haley Craig was the winning goalkeeper with zero goals allowed and one save. Miami goalkeeper Gray Willson was the losing goalkeeper with one goal allowed and nine saves. Both goalkeepers played well. Stanford improves to 10-1-0 overall and 2-1-0 in the ACC while Miami falls to 3-4-2 overall and 0-2-1 in the ACC.
BOX SCORE: Miami at Stanford-Thursday, September 26th
“Yeah, good win,” Stanford head coach Paul Ratcliffe said after the match. “Scored a goal in the first half, was happy about that and I thought played some good soccer. Created a lot of really good opportunities. Unfortunately couldn’t get another goal, but one was enough tonight.”
Miami got off to a nice start in this match as they had corner kicks at 2:56, 7:36, and 8:47. They weren’t able to score off any of those chances, but they were forcing early pressure on the Cardinal defense. At 14:18 and 16:40, Stanford responded with a couple of corner kicks of their own. Then at 17:05, shortly after the second corner kick, the Cardinal scored their lone goal of the match as Lizzie Boamah found the bottom left of the goal off her left foot thanks to an assist from Andrea Kitahata. Stanford had a 1-0 lead, a lead that would end up being the final score.
“Okay, so obviously started from a corner,” Boamah recalled of her goal. “The ball came in, I sat on the top of the box or the top of the six and it was just bobbling around a lot and then it finally came to me and just kind of put it away, but I think that’s how it happened.”
Stanford would get corner kicks at 34:56 and 38:04 before halftime. At halftime, the Cardinal were outshooting the Hurricanes 9-3. While she did give up that goal to Boamah, Gray Willson had six saves. She was playing well and doing all she could to keep her team in the match.
“Yeah, he was just fueling us up,” Boamah said of what Ratcliffe’s message was at halftime. “Making sure we were ready to go for the second half because we knew they were gonna come out strong given that we were only up one-zero. So I think that helped us just going into the second half being locked in. Not letting them get any goals. And then saying that we had to score. Unfortunately that didn’t happen in the second half, but the main message was to lock it down and ultimately win.”
In the second half, Stanford outshot Miami 7-1, making it 16-4 for the entire match. They weren’t able to find a second goal, but in the end that wasn’t necessary as one goal was enough. There was a golden opportunity for a second goal in the 86th minute as Maryn Wolf fired a shot towards an empty net, but it went wide right, resulting in a goal kick for Miami.
“I thought we had some clear, Eleanor had an amazing header here that early in the second half that we just missed,” Ratcliffe said. “Joelle had a couple really good looks. Maryn had that open net, unfortunately it went wide, and then Maryn had one earlier where she combined with Erica. So I think we had the chances. We just didn’t put them away and give Miami credit. They were tough and made it hard for us to score so we couldn’t get that second goal.”
“Oh my gosh, that was yeah, Maryn, amazing job at pressing,” Boamah said of Wolf’s near goal. “We were all super excited, but yeah unfortunately that it didn’t. It just missed the post, but yeah we were all just super happy for her because he gives everything when she goes on the field. So yeah, super happy for that.”
All in all, this was a good win for Stanford. Any shutout is a good win. They played good defense, got the goal they needed, and then they did a nice job creating chances all night long. It was just one of those days where they weren’t able to add a second or third goal.
“The key to the shutout was our defensive unit did a good job,” Ratcliffe said. “There was good communication and they locked things down and I thought we kept possession of the ball a lot of the game and were kind of dictating the play. So we limited the amount of opportunities they got. So I felt like they didn’t get too many opportunities on us.”
“Yeah, I think definitely the communication starting all the way from the back from our keeper Haley,” Boamah added. “Then going through the back line, the midfield, and then the forwards. I think this was very much of a team win. We stayed locked in until the end, even though they had a couple corners on us, stayed locked in, defending. And then we had a lot of good chances up top, but just looking to finish those. But I think this is definitely a team win.”
Obviously, the hero of the match for Stanford is Lizzie Boamah as she was the one who scored the goal. She’s scored two goals so far this season and has really had a strong freshman season so far.
“I thought Lizzie was phenomenal,” Ratcliffe said of Boamah. “It was a breakout game for her. She keeps getting better and better, but I thought she was phenomenal all night tonight. I was really impressed with her and happy that she got the reward for all of her hard work and got a goal.”
“It’s been so exciting,” Boamah said of how her freshman season has been going. “My team is just amazing. Everybody is so nice. Very supportive. I think this season is just very special because we have a lot to prove going into the ACC, being in the ACC, but yeah it’s super fun. Been having a great time.”
Three games into ACC play, Stanford has already played two road matches at No. 5 Wake Forest and NC State. While they went 1-1 on that trip, the travel aspect doesn’t appear to be too big of a deal. Obviously they would like to have shorter flights, but they seem to be handling that aspect as well as can be expected.
“The travel was fine,” Ratcliffe said. “We enjoyed the last trip. Obviously it takes a little bit out of your legs to travel that distance and then the time change and things, so there’s a lot of challenges that you have to get used to. But it wasn’t a big issue. I thought the team played well and enjoyed it.”
“Traveling. I honestly think we did a good job traveling,” Boamah added. “There weren’t any excuses on the trip or anything. But yeah, I think once we got those first two games, going to the East Coast, I think we’re ready for the next to come.
“I don’t think it was super challenging. I mean, it’s just a flight for us. So, the time change is obviously one thing, but I think everybody’s done a really good job of not making excuses. Just playing the game. All the outside factors haven’t been really affecting us a whole lot as much as flying and everything.”
Up next for Stanford is a home match against Pittsburgh on Sunday. That will begin at 1:00 PM PT on ACCNX.
“Yeah, Pittsburgh’s a good team,” Ratcliffe said. “I think it’ll be a really challenging game. So we’re looking forward to an exceptional match and it won’t be easy. Yeah, a lot of respect for Pittsburgh and what they’re doing. They’re a good program.”
“Well, I think preparation,” Boamah said of the key to beating Pittsburgh. “We do a lot of preparation, scout, filming, and then practicing what we think Pitt’s gonna give us. So it’s a lot of preparation on our end, but yeah, we’re looking to get another win.”
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