October 06, 2004

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Palo Alto Online

They're paying big dividends

by Rick Eymer

Two players who weren't available last year are helping the Stanford women's soccer team in a big way this time around.

Redshirt senior Marcie Ward, who led the Cardinal in scoring in two of her first three years, and led the team in assists in all three years, was forced to sit out last season with a foot injury.

Freshman Lizzy George was finishing a brilliant career while attending Carondelet High in Concord, where she was named a high school All-American last year.

Both are paying dividends for the 12th-ranked Cardinal as they prepare to open Pac-10 Conference play at No. 13 California on Sunday at 1 p.m.

Ward leads the team in scoring with 13 points (six goals, one assist) and George scored her fourth goal of the season in Stanford's 2-1 victory over visiting St. Mary's last Sunday. She's second on the team in scoring with nine points.

Senior goalkeeper Nicole Barnhart also has something to say about the season, with 25 saves and a 0.37 GAA. Junior Leah Tapscott, who also scored against the Gaels, has three goals and junior Jenny Farenbaugh leads the team with three assists.

It will take a team effort as the road back to the NCAA tournament is paved with quality opponents. Stanford's toughest tests will come away from home. After visiting Cal, the Cardinal (8-2-1) also travels to No. 8 UCLA and No. 4 Washington during the conference season.

Stanford is already on a better pace, thanks in part to Ward's return and the addition of quality freshmen like George, than last year. The Cardinal went into the Pac-10 with a mediocre 5-5-1 mark last year, but rebounded with a solid 5-2-1 season to reach the NCAA tournament for the sixth straight year, and 13 of the past 14 years.

The Cardinal were picked to finish second in the conference as the Pac-10 has developed into one of the nation's top conferences.

Against St. Mary's, Tapscott scored the game-winner in the final 10 minutes of regulation after taking a pass from senior Emilee Shim, and shooting the ball over the keeper.

Sophomore Gina Farias-Eisner drove up the field and beat her defender one-on-one to set up George, who headed the ball into the net in the first seven minutes of the match.

Ward and senior Martha West combined for six shots on goal.
Men's water polo

Stanford's return to the nation's top spot was short-lived as former No. 3 UCLA stunned the former No. 1 Cardinal, 10-9 in sudden death overtime, in Sunday's championship game of the NorCal Tournament at Pacific.

Stanford (11-2) takes a break - hosting an alumni game on Saturday at 11 a.m. - before hosting UC Irvine on Oct. 16 at noon

The Bruins also beat USC en route to the title, throwing a new twist into the race for one of two coveted berths in the NCAA Tournament, which will be held at Stanford in early December.

Junior Thomas Hopkins scored three goals for the Cardinal, while junior Peter Varellas added two.

Menlo School grad Grant Zider scored a goal for the Bruins.

Stanford reached the championship game with a 12-7 victory over fourth-ranked California. Senior Tony Azevedo scored four goals while senior Greg Crum added three and senior Matt Moser added a pair.

The Cardinal opened the tournament with a 16-6 victory over Pacific, and a 14-8 victory over UC San Diego.

Palo Alto grad Ryan Fortune scored a goal in each of the first three games.
Men's soccer

Stanford opened Pac-10 play by scoring twice in the second half to earn a 2-2 tie with visiting California on Friday.

Senior Matt Janusz cut Cal's lead in half in the 72nd minute when he converted a penalty kick. Senior Darren Fernandez picked up a rebound and tied the game with 1:23 left to play in regulation.

Senior Robby Fulton collected six saves.

Stanford (5-1-2) travels to Oregon State on Friday and Washington on Sunday.
Women's volleyball

The 11th-ranked Cardinal presented coach John Dunning with his 100th win at Stanford, beating visiting California, 30-28, 28-30, 30-27, 28-30, 15-13, on Friday.

Senior outside hitter Ogonna Nnamani recorded 28 kills in the victory as Stanford won for the eighth time in nine matches.

The Cardinal (3-0, 10-3) face their biggest road test of the season when they travel to USC on Friday at 7 p.m. and at UCLA on Saturday at 7 p.m.

The Trojans are the defending NCAA champions. Stanford has lost seven of its last nine meetings with USC.

Stanford overcame a 5-2 deficit, and a 12-11 deficit. The Cardinal won on a block solo by Lizzie Suiter.

Jennifer Hucke and Kristin Richards each had 15 kills, while freshman Franci Girard recorded a career-high 13 kills. Freshman Bryn Kehoe had 60 assists, seven blocks, and 15 digs.
Cross country

The top-ranked Stanford women's team and the second-ranked men's team each raced to victory at the Notre Dame Invitational on Friday at the Burke Memorial Golf Course.

Senior Sara Bei won her second race in as many weeks as she went 16:22 over the 5,000 meter course. Three other Cardinal runners finished in the top 10: Alicia Craig in third (16:34), Katy Trotter in seventh (16:52), and Anita Siraki in tenth (17:02).

The Cardinal men, the two-time defending NCAA champions, were led by redshirt freshman Neftalem Araia, who finished third over the 8,000 meter course in a time of 23:44, and Jacob Gomez, who placed 10th in 23:54.
Field hockey

Stanford dropped a pair of one-goal contests to host Southwest Missouri State over the weekend in NorPac play.

The Cardinal (0-4, 5-8) have lost six games by one goal.

The Bears scored with less than a minute remaining to post a 3-2 victory on Saturday.

Jamie Hais picked up her first career points, scoring on an assist from Katherine Brooks to give Stanford a 1-0 lead. Missy Halliday aslco scored.

Stanford lost, 2-1 in overtime, on Friday. Julia Drewes scored for the Cardinal.

"It was a very disappointing and frustrating outcome," Stanford coach Lesley Irvine said. "We played well enough to win, and it was an unfortunate and unusual sequence of events that led to the final result."
Sailing

In their first major home events of the year, Stanford took top honors in last weekend's regattas. The women's team competed at home both Saturday and Sunday, while three of the men's team sailed at Cal for the Men's Singlehanded Pacific Coast Championship.

At the Bryson Women's Intersectional, Stanford took charge from the first race on Saturday, with returning All-American skipper Liz Rountree and crew Julie Pitts taking charge in A-Division. The duo finished 2, 4, 1, 2 in the first four races, and never looked back in the 10-race regatta. Earning top honors in B-Division were skipper Caroline Young with crews Becca Levin and Ali Salatti.

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