September 15, 2004

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Palo Alto Online

Cardinal men's soccer rebounds in big way

by Rick Eymer

If there were any lingering doubts about the Stanford men's soccer team, they have all but disappeared as the Cardinal won twice over the weekend in the Cal Legacy Classic to match their win total of last season.

Darren Fernandez and Todd Leber each scored as Stanford beat San Diego, 2-0, on Sunday in Berkeley. Sophomore Galen Thompson scored his first career goal with 10 minutes left to help the Cardinal beat San Jose State, 1-0, at Maloney Field on Friday.

Stanford (3-0-1) hopes to continue its success when it travels to the Cal State Fullerton tournament on Friday to play UC Irvine at 5 p.m. Stanford meets the host Titans on Sunday night.

At this time last year, Stanford was struggling to its worst start in nine years, winning once in its first four matches. The Cardinal scored just three goals in their first six matches last year.

While an improved offense has been helpful, the Stanford defense has been spectacular. Sophomore goalkeeper Andrew Kartunen recorded his fourth straight shutout, the first time since 2000 that Stanford began the season with four shutouts.

Four Stanford players were named to the all-tournament team, with Kartunen sharing tournament MVP honors with Cal defender Noah Merl. Fernandez, Leber, and senior James Twellman were also honored.

Against the Spartans, junior Bronson McDonald brought the ball into the right side of the San Jose State box and crossed the ball to Fernandez, who in turn found Thompson, who got off a shot that beat Spartan goalkeeper Daniel Benton to his right and put the Cardinal ahead with 10:47 remaining.

"I thought we were a little sluggish in the first half and were not playing with the intensity that San Jose State was," said head coach Bret Simon. "We didn't win balls and we weren't quite as sharp in the back as we had been in the first couple of games. We knew we had to improve in the second period if we wanted a good result."
Women's soccer

A pair of 1-0 victories against host Missouri on Friday and host Nebraska on Sunday helped Stanford end its four-match road trip on a good note heading into Friday's Stanford Invitational.

Seventh-ranked Santa Clara kicks off the Invitational with a 5 p.m. match against Yale, while Stanford hosts Cal State Fullerton at 7:30 p.m.

Stanford (3-2) and the Broncos switch opponents on Sunday.

Freshman Lizzy George scored her first career goal in the win over Nebraska. Junior Leah Tapscott sent a cross across the box that George fired into the net for the goal in the 36th minute.

"We were obviously disappointed to not do well in the Notre Dame Tournament," Stanford coach Paul Ratcliffe said. "But we're proud of how we finished up. This was a long road trip and we feel lucky to have won the last two because they were hard fought games against two good teams. We're hoping to build on these wins for our tournament next weekend."

Senior Nicole Barnhart recorded her second shutout of the season, with five saves. She has 31 career shutouts. Tapscott scored the game-winning goal in the 39th minute in the victory over Missouri.
Women's volleyball

Stanford won two of three at its own Invitational over the weekend at Burnham Pavilion, hitting a season-high .406 in Saturday's 30-27, 30-13, 30-11 victory over USF.

Stanford (4-2) beat Eastern Washington in Thursday's opener, 30-24, 30-13, 34-32, but lost to seventh-ranked Penn State on Saturday, 29-31, 30-23, 25-30, 30-26, 12-15.

The Cardinal travel to the Northwestern Tournament on Friday, and will play Western Kentucky and Villanova on the first day.

Freshman setter Bryn Kehoe has started all five games as junior Katie Goldhahn continues to recover from a sore Achilles heel.

Against USF, sophomore outside hitter Kristin Richards had a match-high 16 kills while senior outside hitter Ogonna Nnamani' added 14 and Jennifer Hucke had 10.

Nnamani had 15 kills and hit at a .483 clip to lead Stanford past Eastern Washington. Senior Jennifer Hucke added 11 kills and four blocks.

Nnamani had 29 kills in the five-game loss to the undefeated Nittany Lions.

Stanford led most of game one, reaching game point at 29-23 on a kill by Kristin Richards. But Penn State scored eight consecutive points for the come from behind win.

Stanford held a 5-1 lead in game five, and was still leading at 12-11 before Penn State scored the final four points to win the match.

Hucke had a career-high 20 kills for the Cardinal, while Richards also contributed 20 kills and a career-high 28 digs. Franci Girard and Lizzie Suiter matched their career highs in blocks with eight and nine respectively. Courtney Schultz had a career-high 19 digs and Kehoe had a career-high 70 assists.
Men's water polo

Thomas Hopkins scored a career-high eight goals as top-ranked Stanford beat host Brigham Young-Hawaii, 17-7, in a non-conference game on Friday. Peter Varellas added a career-high five goals.

Stanford (2-0) travels to the Southern California Tournament at USC beginning Saturday.
Field hockey

Stanford (4-4) had its three-game win streak stopped when the Cardinal fell to Central Michigan, 5-0, on Saturday.

The Cardinal open NorPac play at Pacific on Saturday at 3 p.m.

Stanford won its third straight, 5-1, over Iowa on Friday as Liz Robinson recorded the first two-goal game of her career. Eleanor Morgan had a goal and two assists. Missy Halliday and Katherine Brooks each added a goal.

"Winning three games in a row and beating a team like Iowa, especially on the road, is huge for our program," said Stanford coach Lesley Irvine, a former Hawkeye player. "Our team has a lot of potential and is starting to believe in itself."

Ana Kralovec had a pair of saves while recording her third straight win.

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