Welcome to This Week In Sports. We are The Daily’s sports editors, Zach Zafran and Ells Boone, and we’ll be walking you through the major games, events and stories from the past week, as well as providing a brief preview of what’s coming up this week.
No. 1 women’s golf started the week off in a big way, picking up right where it left off last season. Just three months after winning the NCAA Championship, the team opened fall play in the Carmel Cup at Pebble Beach Golf Links and won the event by 13 strokes. Sophomore Rose Zhang set the course record with a nine-under-par as she cruised to another individual title, the fifth of her young career.
No. 4 men’s water polo also kicked off its season in convincing fashion, winning all four of its games in the Bruno Classic last weekend. Three came against Top-20 opponents, In their first contests under new head coach Brian Flacks, Stanford outscored opponents 94-30 and 15 different players scored for the Cardinal. The group then turned its attention to Pepperdine for their first home game of the year. Behind consistent offensive pressure and five goals from junior driver Jackson Painter, Stanford won 15-8, extending their win streak to five to begin the year.
Football welcomed USC to The Farm on Saturday, losing 41-28. The Trojan offense started the game off strong, scoring touchdowns on its first five drives of the game. Stanford’s defense was able to hold them in check in the second half, allowing just six points, but it was too little too late. Junior running back E.J. Smith led the way on offense for the Cardinal, rushing for 88 yards and a touchdown.
No. 2 men’s soccer has jumped in the rankings, and they showed why after another week of strong play. The team got things started with a dominant 4-0 victory over San Jose State last Sunday, with four different Cardinal players contributing a score. They then hit the road for the first time this season to face Creighton. Redshirt junior forward Carlo Agostinelli scored just 41 seconds into the game, but Creighton answered back to walk away with a 1-1 tie, despite an array of phenomenal saves from redshirt senior goalkeeper Matt Frank.
Field hockey bounced back from a pair of close losses last week by taking a shootout win over Michigan State last Sunday. Junior midfielder Caroline Guden scored the decisive goal to move the Cardinal to 2-2. They return to action again on Sunday and face one of the nation’s top teams in No. 2 North Carolina at 1 p.m. PT.
No. 11 women’s volleyball had a busy week with three matches, all against Top-20 teams. In front of over 4000 fans in Maples Pavilion, the Cardinal couldn’t keep up with No. 1 Texas, losing in straight sets. They then traveled to face off against No. 20 Penn State on Friday and forced a fifth set after trailing two sets to none, but ultimately lost the last set 15-11. However, the squad turned things around the next night, upsetting No. 3 Minnesota in just four sets. Senior opposite Kendall Kipp paced the team with 37 kills over the weekend.
No. 6 women’s soccer led off a Sunday doubleheader with a 4-1 victory over Cal Poly as four different players scored. Senior midfielder Maya Doms was able to get off an astounding nine shots in the afternoon win. However, the team’s hot start to the season came back down to Earth on Thursday as the Cardinal lost their first match all year in a 1-0 loss at Northwestern. They’ll look to get back on track this Sunday with another Midwest matchup, as they head to Chicago to play DePaul.