A total of six soccer players are representing Stanford at the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup in Germany, with four current and former Cardinal seeing action in the first game of group play this week.

Already making an impact is American defenseman Rachel Buehler ’07, whose goal on a loose ball off a corner kick late in the opener sealed a 2-0 victory for the United States. The 76th-minute tally gave the U.S. squad the only multi-goal victory thus far in the tournament.

Joining Buehler on the American team is goalkeeper Nicole Barnhart ’04 and forward Kelley O’Hara ’10, though neither saw action in the opening match.

The two current Stanford players in the tournament, junior defender Alina Garciamendez and senior midfielder Teresa Noyola, are both playing for Mexico. Despite their relative youth, they both saw action in the Mexican squad’s first match. While Noyola came in as a late-game substitution, Garciamendez–at 20, the squad’s fourth youngest player–started and played the full 90 minutes.

Another fairly recent Stanford grad in the tournament is Ali Riley ’10, who started for the New Zealand team in its first match and played the entire game.

Mexico and New Zealand will both have their second match of group play today, while the United States won’t play again until Friday.