Press leads Cardinal to conference title

It’s been a season of successes for the Stanford women’s soccer team, but last weekend’s final series certainly helped to end the year on a particularly high note. With a pair of shutout victories over the Oregon schools at home, the No. 1 Cardinal (18-0-2, 9-0-0 Pac-10) clinched sole possession of the Pac-10 Conference title and its second consecutive undefeated regular season.

In a tight match on Friday night at Laird Q. Cagan Stadium, Stanford was able to capitalize on an early goal and survive an extended Oregon State assault to ultimately hand the Beavers their first loss of the conference season. The 2-0 win was Stanford’s 16th victory in as many chances and secured a share of the conference title, which the Cardinal went on to clinch on Sunday.

Despite Oregon State’s vaunted defense-the Beavers (15-3-1, 7-2-0) had only allowed seven goals all season going into Friday night’s match-it didn’t take long for Stanford to open the scoring. On a third-minute barrage from the Cardinal offense, senior forward Christen Press took a pass from sophomore Rachel Quon on the right side of the box and powered a low shot into the far left corner of the Beaver net, past the diving Oregon State keeper, Colleen Boyd. For Press, the national scoring leader, the goal marked her 22nd score of the season.

The Beavers responded with increased pressure on the defensive side, and in the 15th minute they were nearly able to level the score. Freshman forward Jenna Richardson, second on the Beavers in scoring, fired a nearly point-blank shot toward the Cardinal net, but freshman Stanford keeper Emily Oliver took the full force of the blast with her upper body, knocking the ball away. At the end of the half, the Beavers were outshooting the Cardinal, 6-5.

Oregon State continued to pressure heavily in the second frame, with Oliver coming up huge on a few key saves. On a free kick in the 51st minute, Courtney Wetzel sent a laser of a shot past the Stanford wall that would have blasted into the back of the net if not for a diving Oliver, who leaped to her right to make a two-handed save with her body fully off the ground. Another missed chance for the Beavers came in the 65th minute, when OSU scoring leader Chelsea Buckland fired a shot from inside the box that Oliver gobbled up.

For the Cardinal, a team that has allowed just 10 goals all season, the endurance of the OSU pressure at times posed a serious threat.

“I think they’re a really hard-working, physical team,” Press said of the Ducks. “They put some pressure on us and I respect it a lot that they didn’t shut down. There was definitely a while there where it was 1-0 and it looked like it was going to be 1-1 pretty soon.”

No player felt that pressure more than Oliver. In order to counter the Beaver offense and stay in focus, the freshman keeper said she relied on taking a leadership role on defense.

“It’s a lot about organizing for me,” Oliver said. “Just to keep staying in the game mentally and just keeping everybody where they’re supposed to be helps me stay in my position. Kind of just through organizing them, that kind of helps me stay in tune mentally.”

Stanford responded by opening up its passing game, and in the 71st minute Press was finally able to give her team some insurance. Taking a pass from sophomore midfielder Mariah Nogueira while streaking in on the left side, Press charged through a trio of Beaver defenders and fired a shot from the top of the box, beating Boyd in the bottom right corner. The goal made it 2-0 in favor of the Card, and equalized the shooting for both teams at 11. Stanford would hold on for the shutout, the team’s 10th of the season.

It feels fantastic,” head coach Paul Ratcliffe said of the win. “It was a hard-fought victory, and we really earned the Pac-10 title tonight.”

After securing a share of the conference title against the Beavers, the Cardinal went on the clinch the Pac-10 championship outright with a 3-0 victory over Oregon (7-10-3, 3-5-1) on Sunday, the team’s annual Senior Day. The victory sealed Stanford’s second consecutive conference title and undefeated season.

Prior to the game, Stanford honored its graduating class-goalkeeper Kira Maker, forward Morgan Redman, midfielder Allison McCann and Press-with an on-field ceremony. Despite the wind and rain on Sunday afternoon, a sizeable crowd was present to congratulate the seniors and their families. All four of the seniors started the game, with Maker playing all 90 minutes in goal.

The Cardinal opened the scoring early, with junior forward Camille Levin taking a pass from Redman outside the top of the box before controlling for a moment and blasting a shot inside the left post for her first goal of the season. About 90 seconds later, Quon rebounded a shot from Teresa Noyola that had knocked off the crossbar by heading it directly into the right corner. It was the sophomore’s second goal of the year.

The Ducks increased their pressure in the second half, firing off five shots after getting just one in the first, but the Cardinal was still able to extend its lead. Just over 16 minutes into the frame, Noyola launched a free kick from 22 yards out that sailed directly into the left corner. The goal, her ninth this year, tied her with Lindsay Taylor for second place on the team to Press’s 23.

With its second consecutive conference title secure, Stanford is now set to make its 13th straight appearance in the NCAA Tournament. The selection show is scheduled for this afternoon, and will determine the Cardinal’s seeding and first-round opponent.