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The Stanford men's soccer team survived a grueling affair with visiting San Diego State on a boiling afternoon to earn a 2-0 victory and its first Pac-12 Conference victory under coach Jeremy Gunn and ended a three-match losing streak.

The Cardinal (1-1, 4-5) hosts California in a critical conference affair Thursday night at 7 p.m. in a game to be televised by the Pac-12 Networks.

"There were so many impressive things," Stanford coach Jeremy Gunn said. "Our attitude from the kickoff was perfect. We were energetic, creating chances and putting San Diego State under immense pressure."

Stanford had six shots in the first 11 minutes, all excellent chances. Ty Thompson had one shot blocked and another sail wide, while Adam Jahn and Tyler Conklin also had chances. Bobby Edwards nearly scored just 1:39 into play.

"It was hot out there and it was our second game of the weekend, so it would be easy to make excuses. Our guys just showed how fit and strong they are with the way they played with so much energy."

Stanford outshot the Aztecs 14-2 in the half, scoring in the 41st minute to take the lead. The goal came on a short corner when Eric Verso played the ball to Austin Meyer.

Meyer held the ball, while Verso circled around him and into shooting position. His shot was low to the far post. Verso scored his first career goal while Meyer picked up his team-leading third assist of the season.

Stanford put the game out of reach when Zach Batteer scored in the 88th minute. Batteer won a ball in the box, made a half turn and shot low and in the corner. It was a clinical finish for the sophomore that put the game out of reach.

"There were lots of good performances," Gunn said. "I was just really pleased with the performance of the team."

Women's soccer
Any goal scored in soccer is not just the result of the player who scored it, and far more than a single touch of individual brilliance.

That concept was illustrated perfectly by Stanford in scoring the winning goal in its 2-1 Pac-12 victory over visiting Oregon on Sunday.

The sequence began, as it often does, with a 50-50 ball. Lo'eau LaBonta scrambled to get a toe on a loose ball back in the Stanford end while an Oregon player attempted to do the same. Her touch sent the ball wide to outside back Laura Liedle, who was able to reach it a split-second before a sliding opponent.

Now, given room up the sideline, Liedle pushed it forward to Chioma Ubogagu, who carried it deep into the Oregon end for a cross from the left.

Alex Doll got to the ball first, but her shot was blocked by a defender.

We pause in the story telling to recall a similar play; in the NCAA College Cup final in December. It was on the field in Kennesaw, Ga., when then-senior Camille Levin had a cross blocked, but hustled to the loose ball before the defender could recover, to send in the pass that resulted in the only goal in a 1-0 victory over Duke, giving Stanford its' first national championship.

The memory is important because of the way second-effort ingrained itself into the lore of a championship season, and in the hopes of a program that strives to live up to the standards of its past.

In this case, Doll took a page from Levin and beat the defense to the ball, just enough to poke it with her toe through the goalkeeper's legs from close range for the 58th-minute winner that kept the No. 2 Cardinal (9-1-1 overall, 3-0 Pac-12) atop the conference standings.

In Doll's mind, the goal made up for the Oregon goal that had tied the match, 1-1, only 30 seconds before halftime, on a 25-yard free kick to the upper corner by Scout Libke.

Stanford had not allowed a first-half goal since Aug. 24, ending a streak of first-half shutouts at eight and an opening-half scoreless streak of 430 minutes, 57 seconds.

"That was definitely hard, especially since I gave up the foul," Doll said. "It was kind of annoying on my part, but it just made me a little bit more mad.

"I thought we had a lot of really good chances in the first half so I knew we could do it, I knew we could put it away. But I think that gave us a little bit of energy." It was the third goal of the season for Doll and her second game-winner.

Haley Rosen scored Stanford's first goal in similar fashion, knocking in a rebound during a scramble following a corner kick in the 38th minute for her third goal of the season.

Later, Mariah Nogueira had a second-half header that hit the underside of the crossbar, but did not cross the goal-line. The Cardinal, which outshot Oregon, 34-9, increased its conference winning streak to 34 and its home unbeaten streak to 61.

"We should definitely be happy, even though we didn't score as many as we thought we should have and didn't put them away," Doll said. "But we got the win and that's definitely the most important thing."

Men's water polo
No. 3 Stanford recorded victories of 13-8 and 9-5 over Pepperdine and Pacific, respectively, to claim fifth place at the SoCal Tournament Sunday in Santa Barbara.

Stanford (6-2) returns home to begin Mountain Pacific Sports Federation play Saturday with a scheduled 9 a.m. first sprint against top-ranked USC. The contest is set to be televised on the Pac-12 Networks.

The Cardinal was led offensively by eight goals from sophomore utility Alex Bowen, who scored four times in each contest. Redshirt junior two-meter Forrest Watkins scored six times while freshman driver Bret Bonanni netted three goals.

Stanford's defense, anchored by Menlo School grad goalie Scott Platshon, allowed just five goals in the fifth-place game against Pacific. The Cardinal held the Tigers scoreless in the opening frame while scoring twice to go up 2-0. Three more goals in the second period made it 5-1 and the Cardinal was able to continue on to the win. Platshon would end up with 11 saves in the contest.

In addition to Bowen's four goals, Bonanni scored twice while Watkins, Conner Cleary and Andrew LaForge each added a goal. Stanford's offense fired nearly at will on the Pacific goal, forcing Tiger goalie Alex Malkis to make 19 saves.

The morning contest featured the Cardinal rolling to an 8-3 halftime lead over Pepperdine behind four goals in each of the first two periods. Although the Waves scored three times in the opening period, Platshon and the Cardinal defense dig in and held Pepperdine scoreless in the pivotal second period.

Stanford's offensive surge continued in the second half, as the Cardinal went for five goals to maintain its advantage. Watkins led the Cardinal with five goals in the win along with Bowen's four. Bonanni, Cleary, Menlo grad Alex Avery and Nick Hoversten added goals.

Women's volleyball
A bevy of freshmen helped No. 7 Stanford remain undefeated in the Pac-12 following a 29-27, 25-17, 26-28, 25-23 victory over host Arizona State at the Wells Fargo Arena in Tempe on Sunday.

Freshman Brittany Howard recorded 13 kills for the Cardinal (4-0, 12-2), which won its 10th straight. Freshman Inky Ajanaku added 11 kills and had a hitting percentage of .400. Freshman Jordan Burgess added 10 kills and 15 digs while freshman Madi Bugg recorded 26 assists.

Junior middle blocker Carly Wopat added eight kills and a season high 12 blocks, one off her career high. Senior setter Karissa Cook had 23 assists and 14 digs while sophomore libero Kyle Gilbert made 14 digs. Stanford hit .262 in the match, while ASU hit .132.

Trailing most of the first set, Stanford came from behind to edge ASU, 29-27. After 12 tie scores and three lead changes down the stretch, the Sun Devils committed a service error and an attack error to give the Cardinal the victory. Stanford outhit ASU .310 to .167.

Stanford hosts Oregon at 5:30 p.m. Friday in a conference contest to be televised by the Pac-12 Networks.

Men's golf
No. 10 Stanford recorded an opening round 297 at the Olympia Fields/Fighting Illini Invitational at Olympia Field County Club's South Course. The defending champion Cardinal trails leader Arkansas by 14 strokes.

Sophomore Patrick Rodgers is tied for ninth after an opening round 72. Rodgers, last year's individual champion, carded three bogies on the day.

Track and field
Stanford head coach Chris Miltenberg announced the hiring of Michelle Eisenreich as the new associate head coach. Eisenreich will coach the throwers at Stanford.

"I am thrilled that we were able to bring Michelle on our throws coach and Associate Head Coach of our entire program," said Miltenberg. She has clearly proven herself to be one of the very best throws coaches in the country and her experience as a head coach will make her an invaluable asset to our entire program. Our student-athletes and I just can't wait to get Michelle out here and get started."

Eisenreich comes from Brown University where she was the Director of Track and Field/Cross Country for the Bears. Overall, she was at Brown for 12 seasons, including two as the director.

"I am very excited to come to Stanford and work with such a great coach in Chris Miltenberg," said Eisenreich. "He has a great plan for the program and will bring a lot of energy and excitement to the team."

"It is such a great opportunity to work at a school that performs in the classroom as much as it does on the track, but still competes at the highest level in one of the best conferences in the country."

Eisenreich built the Brown throwers into one of the top squads in the nation as her throwers earned 51 All-Ivy honors, 30 Ivy titles, and eight school records. She had 15 NCAA individual regional championships, six NCAA qualifiers, three All-Americans and an NCAA Champion.

Eisenreich began her coaching career at Purdue as a graduate assistant, coaching multi-event athletes, vaulters and throwers for the women's team. While there, she also directed the Purdue Area Track Club for athletes ages 5 to 17. After finishing her graduate degree, Eisenreich moved on to Colgate for two years. She coached athletes to school records in five throwing events, while also coaching the jumpers and serving as the recruiting coordinator.

— Stanford Sports Information

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