The No. 1-ranked Stanford women’s soccer team (15-0-2, Pac-12 8-0-1) traveled to Washington State (11-5-1, 4-5-1) yesterday to face the Cougars in a match that ended in a 1-1 double overtime draw. The Cardinal’s unbeaten streak marches on, now standing at 39 games since their last defeat. This tie, however, marks the end of their 26-game Pac-12 win streak, which dates back to October 2016.
Washington State came into the game hot off a 4-2 win against Berkeley on Thursday that snapped a five-game losing slump.
Stanford opened up the game with a quick offensive break, leading to a scoring opportunity for sophomore forward Jojo Harber, who received a pass from sophomore forward Catarina Macario before firing at the goal from the six-yard-line. A fantastic save from Washington State’s goalkeeper Rachel Thompson denied her the opener.
Seventeen minutes into the game, Macario found Harber again for another opportunity to score. Thompson was forced to step out and contest, but Harber’s shot missed just wide. At this point, the Cardinal had an advantage of eight shots on goal to the Cougars’ one.
Macario put in an unreal goal in the 41st minute to give Stanford the 1-0 lead. After receiving the ball just outside the box, she controlled it with a pair of quick touches as two defenders closed in on her. She bent it high into the air, and it found its mark on the way down, perfectly placed in the corner of the goal.
Before heading into the halftime break, senior midfielder Michelle Xiao and sophomore forward Madison Haley both had dangerous looks for another Cardinal goal as their shots bounced off the goal post. The Cardinal headed into halftime up 1-0.
The Cardinal came out of the half with another early opportunity to score. At the 48th-minute mark, junior midfielder Betty Goad rushed toward the goal, having beaten two Cougar defenders who were trailing behind her. She fired off a shot but was met by Thompson. With the goalkeeper out of position, the rebound came to senior midfielder Jordan DiBiasi, who launched her shot low and center. The two Cougar defenders, whose momentum carried them in front of the goal, were able to make the save, deflecting the ball high over the post and out of bounds. With these two consecutive saves from Washington State, the score remained 1-0.
At the 72nd-minute mark, senior goalkeeper Alison Jahansouz stepped up to challenge a dangerous attack from the Cougars, making a fantastic save as she met the attacker at the six-yard-line, stopping the shot at point blank range.
Washington State found its equalizer in the 77th minute, when the Cougars’ Morgan Weaver intercepted a short pass from Jahansouz. Out of position, Jahansouz rushed back to contend the impending shot, but Weaver had too much of a head start and was able to send it into the net, tying the game at 1-1.
The goal by Weaver was the first goal the Cardinal allowed in the past 628 minutes of play, dating back to Sept. 27 against UCLA, where the Cardinal outlasted the Bruins 3-2.
In overtime, the teams went back and forth with fantastic saves from both sides. The Cardinal had a great opportunity to notch the victory in the last minutes of the game, where junior midfielder Jaye Boissiere’s pass was just short of connecting with DiBiasi, who was at the six-yard-line.
Stanford will travel to Berkeley to face the Golden Bears next Friday at 3 p.m. PST before finishing off its regular season against Arizona State Sunday at 2 p.m. PST.
Contact Stephen Ren at rensteph ‘at’ stanford.edu.