The Stanford women’s soccer team has enjoyed a meteoric start to its 2014 campaign, taking 6 wins in 7 matches. Four of those victories have come against ranked opponents. More impressively, the Cardinal women have yet to concede a goal, and are the only squad left in the nation with a zero in the “goals against” column.
Paul Ratcliffe’s players will put their perfect defensive record on trial this Friday against Bay Area rivals Santa Clara at Cagan Stadium. The Cardinal enter the match fresh off of an 8-0 thrashing of Dayton, but should expect a much tougher test against the Broncos.
Santa Clara head coach Jerry Smith will lead his squad into Friday’s contest boasting a No. 24 national ranking. The Broncos have begun the season 4-3, with all 3 losses coming against ranked opponents; most recently, the West Coast Conference squad fell 1-0 to No. 11 Cal away.
The early season has seen senior Sofia Huerta emerge as the Broncos most prolific scoring, netting 6 goals in the opening 7 matches. If Santa Clara is going to have a shot at overcoming the Card, Huerta will have to be at her best. If she scores, however, it will not be her first time unlocking Ratcliffe’s defense.
Last year’s fixture saw Santa Clara host Stanford in a nationally televised match. The Broncos looked the part for much of the match, and entered the last 10 minutes of the game tied 1-1. That was until the 83rd minute, when Huerta found herself with the ball and crafted a goal off of a brilliant individual effort. The home crowd was buzzing, but time could not expire quickly enough for the south Bay Area squad. Less than one minute from full time, Courtney Verloo equalized to send the match to overtime. Huerta was unable to replicate her heroics from earlier in the game, and Stanford was able to hold off the Santa Clara attack. Instead, lightning struck twice as Verloo struck the winning blow in the 107th minute.
This performance showed massive improvement for Smith’s team, who opened its 2012 season with a deflating 6-1 loss at the hands of the Cardinal. The Broncos will be keen to better the past two years’ results: A win, or at least a tie, would be a fair goal.
Getting any sort of result out of the Card, though, will be extremely tough. Laird Q. Cagan Stadium has historically been a fortress for Coach Ratcliffe’s side — goals are difficult to come by for visiting teams, and this year looks to be no exception.
The Stanford women are currently four games through a six game homestand, with a combined score of 11-0 in those matches. Two of those games have been against ranked opponents. No. 25 Notre Dame gave the Cardinal their most difficult test of the season thus far, going the distance in a double overtime thriller that ended in a 0-0 stalemate. 5 days later, the Card played host to the No. 6 Florida Gators, and were again unable to break the deadlock in 90 minutes. Quick work was made of extra time, however, as an aggressive Stephanie Amack was brought down on the edge of the penalty area in the 93rd minute. The referee was left no choice but to point to the spot, and gave Lo’eau LaBonta the chance to put the game to bed. Cool as you like, she slotted the ball to the keeper’s right, securing victory for her squad.
The Cardinal will be eager to keep this run of form up as PAC-12 play is just around the corner.
“[I want] the team to keep getting better, keep improving,” Ratcliffe told GoStanford.com. “We’ve got to hit our stride before we hit conference.”
After a rather soft contest against Dayton, the Santa Clara County derby is exactly the type of match the Cardinal women need. The No. 4 vs. No. 24 match-up means that the quality of play figures to be good, and the geographical battle will make the stakes just that little bit higher. Santa Clara, who for the past years has played underdog in this fixture, will be looking intently for a result. However, if the Stanford defense plays as well as it has all year, the Broncos will be fortunate to find the net.
Contact Will Drinkwater at willydri ‘at’ stanford.edu.