This Week in Sports: Men’s water polo, women’s volleyball and soccer extend win streaks

Oct. 25, 2023, 11:57 p.m.

Men’s water polo 

No. 3 Stanford (13-5, 2-2 MPSF) scored a 13-11 victory over No. 8 Long Beach State (14-9, 1-2 SCC) on Thursday at Avery Aquatic Center. Stanford established a two-goal lead early in the first period that carried over the remainder of the game. Senior Riley Pittman was the leading scorer for the Cardinal with four goals on six shots. On Sunday, as the team celebrated Senior Day, Stanford beat No. 7 U.C. Davis (15-7, 3-0 Big West) at home. The senior class scored 10 of the team’s 17 goals — Ethan Parrish scored a career-high six goals, Pittman tallied two and Andrew Churukian and Soren Jensen added one each.

Women’s soccer

On Saturday, No. 5 women’s soccer (14-0-2, 7-0-1 Pac-12) defeated Oregon State (3-8-5, 0-6-2 Pac-12) 3-1 at Cagan Stadium. Fifth-year midfielder Maya Doms opened the Cardinal scoring in the ninth minute, assisted by redshirt sophomore Andrea Kitahata who was involved in all three Stanford goals. Kitahata assisted freshman midfielder Joelle Jung who put the ball into the back of the net for the second Cardinal goal. The Beavers managed to narrow the deficit before halftime, but Kitahata restored the two-goal margin in the 75th minute and the team maintained its 3-1 lead until the final whistle.

On Sunday, in Stanford’s annual Pink Match for breast cancer awareness, the Cardinal hosted Oregon (0-14-2, 0-8 Pac-12) and blanked the Ducks 2-0, keeping their undefeated record. In the ninth minute, sophomore midfielder Jasmine Aikey scored the opening goal after stealing the ball on an Oregon misplay. Graduate student defender Kennedy Wesley cemented Stanford’s victory in the 77th minute when Aikey bent a corner kick to the back post where Wesley ran the ball into the goal.

Men’s soccer

No. 17 Stanford (7-2-4, 1-1-4 Pac-12) cruised to a 4-0 home victory over Oregon State (6-5-3, 3-1-3 Pac-12). The Cardinal took the lead just 70 seconds after the kickoff when redshirt sophomore midfielder Shane de Flores headed the ball into the back of the net, his first of two goals in the half. In the second half, sophomore forward Liam Doyle and sophomore midfielder Will Cleary added two more goals for the Cardinal.

On Sunday, Stanford tied Washington (5-5-5, 2-3-2 Pac-12) 1-1 in Seattle thanks to a goal one minute before the final whistle. The battle between the two teams was close. However, the Cardinal launched 13 shots, including five on target while the Huskies had six with only one on goal. Stanford missed many chances in the first half, including when redshirt senior midfielder Mark Fisher’s shot hit the crossbar early in the game. Shortly after, a Stanford goal was called back.

Women’s lightweight rowing

At the prestigious Head of the Charles Regatta on Saturday, Stanford dominated the Lightweight Fours. The team, which was comprised of graduate student Emily Molins at stroke, sophomores Brooke Ruszkiewicz in the No. 3 seat, Juliette Lermusiaux at No. 2, Hannah Justicz in the bow and coxed by senior Lydia Garnett, took the lead from the gun and held it until the end, crossing the finish line in 18:42.795 — 16 seconds in front of runner-up Wisconsin. The Cardinal lifted the City of Cambridge Trophy for the first time since its inception in 1978.

Women’s rowing

On Sunday, also at the Head of the Charles regatta, defending national champion Stanford women’s rowing had a strong showing in the Women’s Championship Eights. The Cardinal entered the competition with two boats. Stanford’s A boat competed in the College-Championship division and earned seventh place in the 34 boat field with a time of 16:28.069. The B boat rowed in the Junior Varsity division and finished 14th overall with a time of 16:48.979, ahead of the A boats from Princeton, Duke and other strong rowing programs. 

Football

Stanford (2-5, 1-4 Pac-12) lost to No. 25 UCLA (5-2, 2-2 Pac-12) 42-7 on Saturday. The Cardinal trailed 0-21 at halftime and had no answers to the Bruins’ offense and defense. Freshman wide receiver Tiger Bachmeier scored the only Cardinal touchdown after a third-quarter 20-yard pass from sophomore quarterback Ashton Daniels. Bachmeier recorded a season-high eight catches.

Women’s golf

Friday through Sunday, Stanford hosted 19 teams at the 2023 Stanford Intercollegiate, presented by Condoleezza Rice, an event which raised over $260,000 for breast cancer research. In the team competition, the Cardinal were poised to take the lead entering the final day at -5, pulling to within two strokes of the lead. A Sunday charge, however, was not to be, as the team finished third at +2, 11 strokes behind winner USC. Two Stanford players shined in the individual competition. On Sunday, sophomore Kelly Xu matched her second round two-under par 69, including an eagle, to tie for third in the 100 player field, just two strokes behind winner Catherine Park from USC. It was Xu’s best finish of the year. Freshman Paula Martin Sampedro closed with an even-par 71, good for a tie for sixth place, her third top-10 finish in her initial three collegiate tournaments.

Women’s tennis

Stanford was well represented at the ITA Northwest Regionals held at Taube Family Tennis Stadium, with nine players that competed in singles and four doubles pairs. Junior Connie Ma, who won the event two years ago, was a runner up. Her battle against Cal’s Hannah Viller Moeller came down to the wire. Ma, who lost the first set 4-6, dominated the second set 6-1. The third and final set was tied 6-6 before Ma fell in a hard-fought tiebreaker 6-8. However, Moeller was the only non-Stanford athlete in the semis. Junior Alexandra Yepifanova lost a close battle with Moeller 6-1, 4-6, 3-6. Junior Valencia Xu picked up some impressive wins before falling in the semifinal to her teammate, Ma, in three sets. Ma and Yepifanova also reached the semifinals in doubles but lost 6-7 (6), 6-2, 0-1 (7) against Cal’s Mao Mushika and Moeller, respectively.

Charis is a senior staff writer and recent alum (Ph.D.’23). If CS is his hobby, sports is his passion. Firm believer that the coach is the most important position in every team sport. A member of the sports section but not a journalist by any stretch of the imagination.

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