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Stanford won each of the first five races to open a commanding lead over visiting San Jose State and never looked back in a nonconference women's dual dual meet to open the 2012-13 swim campaign Friday at the Avery Aquatic Center.

Overall, Stanford earned first-place points in 11 events as Maya Dirado won a pair of individual races.

"It was great to see our team race, and now we're better able to identify some areas in which we need to get better," said first-year head coach Greg Meehan, who made his Stanford debut. "There are a number of things you can miss when you're in a training environment, and we learned in today's competitive environment that we need to make better decisions in our races."

The Cardinal now looks ahead to hosting an Oct. 6 alumni meet before returning to competitive action with the George Haines Invitational (Oct. 12-13).

The 200 free relay tandem of Megan Fischer-Colbrie, Katie Olsen, Haley Sims and Maddy Schaefer pulled out the win in 1:43.80 to open the meet.

Allison Brown posted a 10:20.50 to take first in the 1,000 free with Fiona Majeau (10:33.47) adding fourth-place points.

A third straight Cardinal win came in the form of Dirado's 1:50.67 in the 200 free. Andi Murez (1:50.81) and Andie Taylor (1:50.95) followed Dirado to give Stanford the top three spots.

Stanford went on to claim first and second in the 100 back behind the efforts of Fischer-Colbrie (56.20) and Schaefer (57.89) and kept the winning streak alive as Olsen went 1:02.75 to win her collegiate debut in the 100 breast. KC Moss was third in the race with a 1:04.93.

San Jose State posted its first win as Julia Craddock (2:04.08) touched first in the 200 fly. Kristen Chen (2:05.85) was second while Mackenzie Stein (2:11.79) took fifth.

Murez placed first in the 50 free with a 23.82. Gunn High grad Julia Ama (24.02) was fourth for the Cardinal.

Sloane Brazina (220.95) was third in the 1-meter event with Alexandra Clay (202.95) taking fourth. The high board featured a first-place showing by Lillian Hinrichs (259.58), followed by Stephanie Phipps (238.50) in fourth and Kelly Markle (229.95) in fifth.

Annemarie Thayer (2:00.97) was followed by Jessie Hammes (2:06.74) in the 200 back, giving the Cardinal the top two spots.

Sarah Haase (2:18.43) led all Cardinal swimmers in the 200 breast with a silver-worthy effort.

Julia Anderson (5:01.01) notched a win in the 500 free with a resounding come-from-behind swim, marking the first of three straight victories for the Cardinal to close the meet.

Dirado (56.25) was first in the 100 fly and Taylor (2:05.56) led all racers in the 200 individual medley.

Each of Stanford's 400 free relay units were of the exhibition variety, finishing with respective times of 3:28.87, 3:35.89 and 3:36.66.

Men's soccer
After falling behind early, Stanford roared back in the second half, but eventually fell 3-1 to No. 9 UCLA on Friday afternoon at Cagan Stadium. The Bruins (6-1-2) scored a late goal to finish off the Cardinal (3-5-0) after it appeared the equalizer was forthcoming.

"This was the toughest game we have played this year," said head coach Jeremy Gunn. "UCLA is a tremendous opponent. They not only will come at you, but they are also tough to break down. That being said, in the second we came out with a little more abandon and put UCLA under pressure."

The Bruins had the early chances, including one in the 20th minute, but Drew Hutchins made a fantastic save.

Moments later, UCLA took the 1-0 lead on a Fernando Monge header off a corner kick. Leo Stolz drove the ball to the near post and Monge finished with a clean header.

The Cardinal fought back and had a chance for a tie before the half when Bobby Edwards fired on goal, but the save was made by Earl Edwards.

Instead of the equalizer for Stanford, UCLA added to the lead just 27 seconds before the half. Max Estrada scored after Reed Williams won a ball in the midfield and played to his teammate who was alone in the box.

Despite allowing the goal just before half, the Cardinal came out in the second half and immediately looked like the aggressor. Hunter Gorskie put a header on goal, but the save was made.

Later, Adam Jahn and JJ Koval both had chances, but their shots were off target. Koval looked to bend a free kick around the wall and although the shot was bending, he pulled back just enough for it to sail high.

In the 60th minute, Stanford got its goal when Edwards fought his way into the box and had a 1v1 with the goalkeeper. He was pulled down from behind for a penalty kick. It was an obvious penalty, which Jahn easily deposited in the back of the net.

The goal was the fifth of the season already for Jahn, a new career best for the senior.

Following the goal, Stanford played some of its best soccer of the afternoon. The Cardinal created chance after chance and had the Bruins on the defensive.

Stanford had a couple of dangerous corner kicks, followed by chances for Edwards and Zach Batteer. Edwards was just off balance enough to not hit his chance solid, while Batteer nearly snuck one in the near post from a tough angle.

"When we got it back to 2-1 we really looked like the more likely team to score," said Gunn. "That was very exciting. Our attacking play was excellent in the second half."

In the 81st minute, UCLA put the game away with the late goal. Stanford continued to push forward and began to get counterattacked. Ryan Hollingshead lofted a nifty chip over Hutchins and as the ball was heading for the goal, Williams got his head to the ball for an easy score.

"We had expended so much energy playing catch-up that I am not as concerned about that late goal," said Gunn. "We had given it an honest go and put them under pressure. For awhile, we were on the front foot against one of the best teams in the country."

For the game, Stanford outshot UCLA 15-14 and took six of the nine corner kicks.

Stanford now has less than 48 hours to prepare for San Diego State in the second game of the Pac-12 season. The Aztecs (4-3-1) lost a tough one in overtime at California on Friday afternoon and will be looking to avoid a 0-2 road trip to the Bay Area.

Field hockey
Courtney Haldeman's tip-in of a loose ball with 11 seconds remaining propelled No. 13 Stanford to a hard-fought 2-1 victory over California on Friday afternoon in the conference opener for both teams.

Stanford (7-4, 1-0 NorPac) also extended its dominance in the all-time series, having now won 10 of the past 14 meetings overall and three in a row in Berkeley. The programs will meet again on Tuesday, Oct. 23, at the Varsity Turf.

"We are continuing to gain experience from some of our earlier matches and today's last possession was a great example," said head coach Tara Danielson. "I was pleased with the maturity we showed up until the last second and how we realized that the last possession had value. It was a great ball in from Maddie (Secco) and Courtney did a good job of fighting for position. We put ourselves in a great spot to make something happen."

The contest had been tied at 1-1 since the 11th minute before Stanford struck for the game-winner. Pressuring offensively in what figured to be the final sequence of regulation, Haldeman was positioned behind a Cal defender at the center of the goal. Maddie Secco's shot ricocheted off Cal goalie Courtney Hendrickson and landed near the stick of Haldeman, who tapped home her team-leading fifth goal of the year.

The Cardinal, which has won six of its past seven overall, held a 9-5 advantage in shots. Stanford attempted two of the game's three penalty corners.

Women's volleyball
Seventh-ranked Stanford defeated Arizona, 25-20, 22-25, 25-22, 25-18, Friday, at the McKale Center in Tucson, Ariz. The Cardinal moves to 11-2 overall and 3-0 in the Pac-12 Conference, while the Wildcats drop to 9-5 overall and 1-2 in the Pac-12.

The Cardinal was led by junior middle blocker Carly Wopat, who had 15 kills and five blocks with a .625 hitting percentage. Freshman outside hitter Jordan Burgess registered her sixth double-double of the season with 10 kills and 17 digs to go with three service aces. Freshman middle blocker Inky Ajanaku added 10 kills and tied her career high with seven blocks. Junior Rachel Williams, sophomore Lydia Bai and freshman Brittany Howard each finished with six kills.

Playing for the first time in almost a month, senior Karissa Cook split time at setter with freshman Madi Bugg. Cook totaled 17 assists and four digs, while Bugg had 34 assists and 12 digs for her team-best seventh double-double of the year. Stanford posted a .255 hitting percentage, while Arizona hit .158.

Stanford closes out the road trip on Sunday at Arizona State. The Cardinal and Sun Devils will square off at 6 p.m. in Tempe on the Pac-12 Network.

— Stanford Sports Information

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