When sophomore midfielder Shae Harvey saw the cross coming in from freshman midfielder Eleanor Klinger in the dying moments of the game on Sunday, she had what she could only describe as an “out of body experience.”
With a slight flick of her foot, Harvey poked the ball just past the opponent’s goalkeeper and into the back of the net, sealing No. 7 Stanford women’s soccer’s (12-2-1, 4-2-1 ACC) victory against No. 2 UNC (13-2, 6-1 ACC) in front of a sold-out crowd at Cagan Stadium. Coming just days after their collapse against No. 1 Duke (11-1, 6-0 ACC), the Cardinal’s victory against the Tar Heels gives them much-needed confidence ahead of the final weeks of the regular season.
Although the game was a return-to-form for Stanford, it took some time for the Cardinal to find their footing. UNC was in control for much of the first half, outshooting Stanford seven to two and putting constant pressure on the Cardinal’s back line. However, Stanford’s center-back pairing always seemed to do just enough, keeping senior goalkeeper Haley Craig to just three saves the whole game.
“We had a game plan and we literally said the words ‘bend don’t break’,” junior midfielder Jasmine Aikey said.
Following halftime, Stanford wrestled back control of the game. The Cardinal had twelve shots in the second half to UNC’s four, regained control of the midfield and became the aggressor for the rest of the match.
“After the last result, you question yourselves a bit because it was a tough result,” said head coach Paul Ratcliffe. “But then they built their confidence through the first half and then they pushed forward and made it happen.”
In particular, the Cardinal saw much more success building attacks down the wide areas, with redshirt junior forward Andrea Kitahata and Klinger beating their defenders on the flanks and sending crosses into the penalty box. In the 54th minute, a cross from Kitahata somehow snaked through the box untouched but was mishit over the crossbar by senior defender Nya Harrison. Just minutes later, junior defender Logan Smith beat her man down the right side and found Kitahata, but her header sailed just wide of the goal.
Finally, in the 82nd minute, Klinger’s cross connects with Harvey, whose acrobatic flick puts the Cardinal ahead with just minutes left to play.
“Honestly it was a mentality goal for me, getting in front of my defender and getting any part of my foot on it,” Harvey said.
Aikey noted that Harvey “does that everyday in practice, so I’m not surprised she did it in the game.”
After switching to a back-five to see the game out, the referee’s final whistle was met with a roar from the home crowd and a jubilant rush onto the field from the Cardinal bench.
“I’m proud of the team’s performance,” Ratcliffe said. “Especially the reaction from the setback in the last game. I thought they showed tremendous character and I couldn’t be more proud of the team.”
Facing the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the country within four days, though challenging, gave the Cardinal a taste of what’s waiting for them in the ACC tournament. Given the dominance of the ACC in collegiate soccer, Stanford will definitely have to face multiple ranked opponents to get the conference championship. As such, it’s very possible that they will see either Duke or UNC, or both, again in a few weeks’ time.
“Every game is going to be like this, so we have to be ready to fight,” Harvey said. “We have to be ready to get ugly goals and make good saves.”
The Cardinal are traveling this week to play against Louisville (6-5-3, 1-4-1 ACC) and No. 13 Notre Dame (8-1-3, 2-0-3 ACC). Their next home game will be on Oct. 31, where Stanford will match up with cross-town rival No. 17 Cal Berkeley (10-3-2, 3-2-1 ACC) in their final regular season game.