Stanford’s No. 1 ranked women’s soccer team (8-0-1), hosts No. 16 UCLA (5-2-1), tonight and No. 2 USC (8-0-1) on Sunday at Cagan Stadium. The Cardinal currently hold a program-record 31-game unbeaten streak and recently broke a program-record 29-game winning streak after a double overtime 1-1 tie to Santa Clara on Sept. 16.
Coming into tonight’s game, the Cardinal have a 14-12-3 record against UCLA. Tonight’s matchup will be the first time these two teams have faced off since Dec. 3, 2017 when the Cardinal outscored the Bruins 3-2 to win the College Cup Final, bringing home Stanford’s second national championship. Entering tonight’s game, the Bruins are coming off a loss in their Pac-12 opener to No. 14 Washington State on Sept. 21.
On Sunday, the Cardinal will face No. 2 USC, against whom they have a 17-5-3 all-time record. Last season, the Cardinal won their third consecutive Pac-12 Title after defeating the Trojans 3-1 in Los Angeles on Oct. 29. This season, the Trojans are undefeated, including a decisive 3-0 victory over No. 22 Florida on Sept. 2. The Trojans are on a five-game winning streak and will play the Cal Golden Bears tonight before traveling to Cagan Stadium on Sunday.
The Cardinal women opened their Pac-12 conference play last week with a 2-0 win over Arizona, marking the team’s 19th consecutive Pac-12 match victory. Sophomore Catarina Macario scored her fourth goal of the season and earned her fourth assist after her pass to Jordan DiBiasi led to a score in the 80th minute. Macario leads the team with three game-leading goals in the season. Senior Alison Jahansouz also made two saves for the shutout.
“We created a lot of chances, and Arizona is always a tough team to break down,” said head coach Paul Ratcliffe. “I thought our possession and build-up play was overall very strong, I would have liked to have seen us capitalize on it a little more, but overall it was a strong performance for us.”
With a win against Arizona, Stanford has extended its winning streak of Pac-12 openers to 11 games. Additionally, the senior class now has a 32-1-1 record in conference play.
The Cardinal and Trojans are joined by No. 3 North Carolina, No. 4 Santa Clara and No. 5 Texas A&M to round out the top 5 teams in the most recent United Soccer Coaches top-25 poll. The Cardinal have held the top spot since Oct. 9, 2017. Stanford is also ranked first in the NCAA’s ratings power index.
The Cardinal is set to kickoff tonight following the men’s soccer team match against San Diego State. On Sunday, the women’s match against USC will begin at 1 p.m. ahead of the men’s match against UCLA.
Contact Alejandro Salinas at asalinas “at” stanford.edu