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. 9 women’s volleyball only needed four sets to take down No. 2 Nebraska on the road, giving the Cardinal their second straight top-3 win. Returning to the Farm for a Saturday night match-up with No. 3 Louisville did not yield the same result, however. Stanford lost 3-1 to the visiting Cardinals. The team will now turn its attention to conference play, as its first Pac-12 foe is arch-rival Cal. First serve in Berkeley is set for 8 p.m. PT.
Men’s golf made their fall debut in the Fighting Illini Tournament this weekend. The Cardinal shot a tournament-record 10-under-270 on the first day, giving them a lead over the 15-team field. Stanford remained hot, eventually winning the tournament thanks to junior Michael Thorbjornsen’s first-ever collegiate victory. He shot a 4-under-68 overall.
Even against a strong opponent like No. 8 UC Santa Barbara, No. 4 men’s water polo prevailed once again to continue their unbeaten start to the season. The game remained tight through three periods with the Cardinal holding on to just a 6-5 lead, but goals from junior driver Ethan Parrish and graduate student driver Quinn Woodhead helped to conclude the match. The team’s next two games proved easy for the Cardinal, as they beat Whittier and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps by scores of 22-3 and 25-3, respectively. Sunday’s game against No. 15 Loyola Marymount proved a tad more difficult, but Stanford still won 11-7. Junior drivers Jackson Painter and Soren Jensen scored three goals apiece.
No. 9 women’s soccer followed up last week’s loss with a statement. Last weekend, the team took a 3-1 victory over DePaul, giving head coach Paul Ratcliffe his 400th career win. Sophomore Haley Craig made her first career start and recorded four saves. The Cardinal then returned home and took care of business against San Diego, winning 5-0 behind a hat trick from freshman forward Lumi Kostmayer.
No. 2 men’s soccer outshot No. 25 UCLA 15-2, but couldn’t quite find the back of the net as they tied 0-0 to open up Pac-12 play. On Sunday, the Cardinal finished with the same scoreline against San Diego State to make for a 0-0-2 start to the conference slate.
Facing the No. 2 team in the country, Stanford field hockey couldn’t hold off a fierce North Carolina attack. After a scoreless first quarter, the team ultimately lost 6-0. They then headed to the East Coast to open up conference play. An early goal from UMass Lowell would decide the game, as the Cardinal fell 1-0. Sunday’s game also did not go Stanford’s way, as the ladies lost to Vermont 1-0 in overtime.