September 29, 2004

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Palo Alto Online

Women's soccer is streaking

by Rick Eymer

The Stanford women's soccer team heads into Thursday's showdown at Santa Clara riding a six-game winning streak following a productive weekend at the Santa Clara adidas Classic.

The 16th-ranked Cardinal (7-2) beat Denver, 3-0 on Friday, and Marquette, 5-0, on Sunday to win the title by goal differential.

The last time Stanford beat Santa Clara, it set the stage for the Cardinal's best season ever, when they reached the NCAA quarterfinals in 2002 and won 21 of their 23 games.

Otherwise the series, dating to 1984, has belonged to the Broncos. Stanford is 1-10-1 against the 2001 national champions Santa Clara in their past 12 meetings, and 6-16-3 overall.

The Broncos (6-2-1) have recorded five consecutive shutouts.

More often than not, both teams have been nationally ranked when they played and this year is no different. Soccer America has Stanford at No.16, and has Santa Clara at No. 9.

Thursday's game at Buck Shaw Stadium begins at 7 p.m.

Cardinal defender Jenny Farenbaugh was named MVP of the tournament after recording a pair of assists in the win over Denver.

Forwards Marcie Ward and Gina Farias-Eisner and midfielder Martha West joined Farenbaugh on the all-tournament team.

Ward, freshman Lizzy George and sophomore Shari Summers all scored for Stanford against the Pioneers, who managed just one shot on goal as freshman goalkeeper Erica Holland earned her first collegiate save while helping the Cardinal to its sixth straight shutout of the season.

Ward gave Stanford a 1-0 lead against Marquette early in the first half, with assists from Farias-Eisner and April Wall.

Farias-Eisner, George, Amy Grady and senior Katie Wayland scored in the second half.
Cross country

Seniors Sara Bei and Anita Siraki each raced to victory as the No. 1-ranked Cardinal women's team swept the top three places and the titles at the annual Stanford Invitational on Saturday at the Stanford Golf Course. The Cardinal scored 21 points to easily beat runnerup SMU (63) in the 4,000 event and 34 points to down Cal Poly (84) in the longer race.

Bei led from start to finish in the 4,000-meter race, as she sped home in 13:16 to beat freshman teammate Shannon Bergstedt (13:55) and Cardinal sophomore Katy Trotter (13:56). Bei defended her individual title with a sizzling season best. She won last season in 13:42.

In the 6,000-meter race, Siraki shared the lead with teammates Amanda Trotter and Teresa McWalters before Siraki and McWalters separated themselves from the pack. Siraki won in 21:14 with McWalters second (21:15) and Trotter third (21:37).

With most of the top Stanford men sitting it out, the Cardinal shared the 4,000 title with Oregon (both with 45 points) and finished second to Cal Poly in the 8,000-meter race despite a one-two finish by Stanford's Peter Meindl (23:52) and Neil Davis (23:56). Women's volleyball

Stanford kicked off its Pac-10 season with a pair of wins over the weekend, and then headed to Moraga for a measure of revenge on Tuesday against host St. Mary's, which handed the Cardinal their first loss of the season on Sept. 4.

An even bigger match looms Friday when California visits Burnham Pavilion for a Pac-10 contest at 7 p.m.

The Bears, coached by Palo Alto High grad Rich Feller, are ranked 16th in the nation and beat Stanford in Berkeley last year.

Stanford (2-0, 9-2) beat No. 14 Arizona, 30-23, 30-26, 30-22, on Thursday night and defeated Arizona State, 30-21, 30-21, 30-12, on Friday night.

Sophomore middle blocker Lizzie Suiter matched her career-high with nine blocks in both matches.

Senior outside hitter Ogonna Nnamani moved into third place on Stanford's all-time list in career kills with 1,843, surpassing All-American Kristin Folkl (1,833).

Nnamani recorded 17 kills against Arizona State while Kristin Richards added 14 kills. Jennifer Hucke had 10 kills and four blocks.

Nnamani also recorded 17 kills in the win over the Wildcats.
Men's soccer

Stanford opens the Pac-10 season on Friday night, hosting California (7-0-1) at 7 p.m.

The Cardinal (5-1-2) looks to rebound from its first loss of the season, 2-0, to Santa Clara on Friday night in the opening round of the Stanford Nike Invitational.

Gunn High grad Mehdi Ballouchy scored one of the goals for the Broncos (7-1).

Ballouchy picked up an errant pass from the Stanford back line and drilled home a shot from 20 yards out in the sixth minute.

The Cardinal were forced to play most of the second half with 10 players, as senior Jason Griffiths was given a red card for a tackle in the 52nd minute.

California beat Santa Clara, 1-0, on Sunday.

Stanford and Brown played to a 0-0 tie.

"We play a lot of great teams like Brown this season," Stanford coach Bret Simon said. "So, many of these types of games will be decided by one great play or one mistake."

Senior Robby Fulton had five saves in net for the Cardinal.
Field hockey

Stanford lost, 2-1 in overtime, to No. 15 California in a NorPac Conference match on Saturday.

"We were really proud of the way we played today against a very strong California team," Stanford coach Lesley Irvine said.

Stanford scored first when Aska Sturdevan completed a penalty corner at 21:36 for her team-high fourth goal of the season, with Lyndsay Erickson and Eleanor Morgan picking up assists.

Goalkeeper Ana Kralovec had a career-high 11 saves.

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