The Stanford women’s soccer team’s two games against Washington schools last weekend could hardly have been more different, but they had one important thing in common–Stanford left both of them with a victory. After blowing out the Cougars of Washington State, 5-0, under a scorching sun on Friday, the No. 1 Cardinal (12-0-2, 3-0-0 Pac-10) battled against the Huskies in a rain-soaked affair yesterday. The match would eventually go Stanford’s way, 2-1, but not without over 80 minutes of chances being turned away.

Barely a minute had passed before Stanford got its second goal of the half. Junior Camille Levin served a ball across the box, and in an interesting instance of unspoken teamwork, Noyola ducked as the ball soared over her head right into senior Christen Press’s instep. Press volleyed the ball into the back of the net, scoring her 17th goal of the season in the ninth minute of play.

Twelve minutes later, sophomore defender Courtney Verloo sent a cross into the box where Press got enough of a foot on it to hit the ball toward back post. Senior midfielder Allison McCann was parked at back post and took the header to score the third goal of the game.

While the Cardinal offense continued to pressure the Cougar net, freshman goalkeeper Emily Oliver held down the fort with well-timed saves. In the 11th minute, Oliver pushed a powerful shot from Washington State’s Eileen Maes over the crossbar, saving the Cardinal from any threat to its shutout.

Stanford’s scoring picked back up as the 50th minute rolled around. Junior forward Lindsay Taylor collected a pass from defender Annie Case and slipped a left-footed shot past the keeper to give the Cardinal a 4-0 lead.

The last goal came from freshman forward Natalie Griffen, who aggressively followed a back-pass to Washington State goalkeeper Ariana Byrd. Byrd attempted to clear the ball, but it deflected off Griffen into the back of the net, giving Stanford its final score of 5-0.

While the Cardinal would have easily won Friday’s match without the fifth goal, for Griffen it had a bit of added significance. It was the first goal of the Pleasanton, Calif. native’s collegiate career, coming on just her third shot in a total of five appearances.

“It was kind of an effort play, I just ran as hard as I could and it ended up coming out in my favor,” Griffen said. “But it felt awesome. It’s like now, let the floodgates open.”

Stanford head coach Paul Racliffe was equally pleased, both with Griffen’s breakthrough goal and the result as a whole.

“I think the team started fast. We scored some good goals early, and it really opened things up for us,” he said. “Overall, the team played very well.”

Stanford’s early lead allowed Ratcliffe to make liberal substitutions, with a total of 22 players making appearances on the field.

“I think the team’s improving through the season. We’re starting to get more convincing results now, and I can make more changes,” he said. “Some of the younger players are really developing and getting better and better.”

Stanford’s 12-game winning streak continued when it defeated Washington (9-5-1, 2-2-0) in a rainy game on Sunday afternoon. The Huskies entered the weekend tied with the Cardinal at 2-0 in the Pac-10 standings, but lost to Cal on Friday after taking a 2-0 lead early in the game. While Washington’s defense held tough in a game that could have allowed it to tie the Cardinal for first place, an early Stanford goal and consistent pressure on offense allowed the home team to prevail.

Stanford opened things up early, with Taylor finding the net in just the fourth minute. Noyola controlled the ball outside the box and sent it in on the left side to Press, who crossed it over to Taylor just outside the right post. The forward controlled the ball and finished it off, placing it inside the near post for her second goal of the weekend and sixth of the season.

Press’s assist was the 39th of her career, putting her just one away from tying the school record set by Marcie Ward.

By the end of the first half, the Cardinal had 16 shots, while the Huskies went off the field with no shots to their name.

Stanford’s starting 11 continued to pressure heavily in the second, with Husky goalkeeper Jorde Lafontaine-Kussmann turning away chance after chance. She ended the day with 10 saves on Stanford’s 35 shots.

While the Cardinal would eventually find the net for an insurance goal, Ratcliffe was disappointed with his team’s inability to capitalize on chances, and he praised the effort of Lafontaine-Kussmann.

“It was a frustrating game because I thought we had a strong performance, but I give credit to their goalkeeper–she made some really great saves,” he said. “We just couldn’t break the ice again. We got the early goal and I thought we created great chances, but we couldn’t put them away.”

In the 88th minute, Stanford’s breakthrough effort came from a familiar source: the nation’s top scorer, Christen Press.

After collecting the ball in the midfield, Press pushed the ball in front of her and bolted down the field, beating the Husky defense and taking on the keeper one-on-one. Her first attempt was deflected by Lafontaine-Kussman, but Press one-timed her own rebound and put the ball away, marking her 18th goal of the season. It also marked the ninth consecutive match in which Press scored a goal.

The Cardinal goal was answered in the last minute of the game when Husky midfielder Lindsay Elston sent a cross to teammate Kelli Stewart, who got her head on the ball and put it away along the near post.

The ending result was a 2-1 victory for Stanford, but not without numerous close chances, foiled by outstanding saves by Lafontaine-Kussman. Press had several close-range shots inside the six, such as one in the 72nd minute of play, blocked by Lafontaine-Kussman, who would dive for any shot, using every inch of herself to block the open net.

With the pair of victories, Stanford improved to a perfect 4-0 in the Pac-10 this season. Oregon State is also undefeated in the conference, but has only played three games.

“The team’s doing well and we’re happy to be at the top of the Pac-10,” Ratcliffe said. “That’s our goal, to win the Pac-10 title, so we’ve got to keep working hard and prepare for the next two games.”

Stanford will head to the desert next weekend for a pair of games against Arizona schools, taking on the Sun Devils this Friday at 6 p.m. and the Wildcats on Sunday at 11 a.m.