This weekend, No. 1 Stanford women’s soccer (15-0-2, 8-0-1 Pac-12) wraps up conference play with two away games. On Friday afternoon, the Cardinal will face off against the University of California (5-11-2, 1-8-1) in Berkeley. Then, Stanford will travel south to play Arizona State (10-5-1, 5-3-1) on Sunday.
The Cardinal enter the game coming off of a disappointing 1-1 tie with unranked Washington State. The Sunday game went into double overtime, and Stanford was unable to pull ahead despite having 13 shots on target.
This weekend, however, the Cardinal look to bounce back and extend their program-record 39-game unbeaten streak, which dates to Aug. 25 of last year. During the streak, Stanford has outscored opponents 125-14.
Stanford currently sits atop the Pac-12 rankings and is tied with USC (15-1-2, 8-1-1), each with 25 points. The conference is certainly still up for grabs, and rivalry week may be the determining factor in which university rises to the top. USC’s rival UCLA (13-3-1, 8-2-0) is still a contender for the championship as well, with 24 points.
Historically, the Cardinal have dominated their rivalry game, winning 11 of the last 12 meetings between the Bay Area schools. In 2017, Stanford defeated Berkeley 1-0 at Cagan Stadium to wrap up the regular season. The game’s only goal came from forward Catarina Macario, who is now a sophomore. Macario has been on a scoring streak again this season, leading the team in goals with 12. Her most recent goal came during the Sunday tie against Washington State, when she put one in the back of the net from an almost impossible angle just outside the box.
The Golden Bears enter the match up on a four-game losing streak, most recently losing 1-4 to Washington on Sunday. California’s home record is a lackluster 3-6-1, and the Cardinal’s all-time record against Cal is 21-11-5.
To defeat Stanford, the Golden Bears must capitalize on forward Abi Kim, who leads the team in goals with six. The Washington native also leads the team in points with 13. This season, Cal has a 0.618 save percentage in net.
Looking to the weekend, Stanford enters the match up with a 14-4-1 all-time record against Arizona State. The Cardinal have won the last four games against the Sun Devils in a streak that dates back to the 2013 season. In their most recent meeting, Stanford demolished Arizona State, outscoring the Sun Devils 6-0 at Laird Q. Cagan Stadium. During that game, midfielder Michelle Xiao – who is now a senior – scored two.
Although history favors the Cardinal, Arizona State is certainly still a threat and enter the match up on a four-game winning streak. Last week in Oregon, the Sun Devils defeated both Oregon and Oregon State, 2-1 and 4-0 respectively.
Arizona State players with potential to disrupt the Cardinal’s season include forward Nicole Douglas and forward/midfielder Marleen Schimmer. Both are international students – from Staines, Middlesex, England and Mainz, Germany respectively. Douglas has recorded nine goals this season, and Schimmer has five. Goalkeeper Nikki Panas out of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada also has a 0.817 shout out percentage this season, which may place a damper on Stanford’s offense.
Kick off against the Golden Bears is set for 3 p.m. PST tonight in Berkeley, and Stanford will play against the Sun Devils at 2 p.m. PST on Sunday in Tempe.
Contact Cybele Zhang at cybelez ‘at’ stanford.edu.