Publication Date: Wednesday Oct 15, 1997

STANFORD ROUNUP: A title at stake in soccer

As one of only two undefeated teams in the nation, the season just seems to be getting better for the Stanford men's soccer team.

And, it can get even better with a victory over rival California on Sunday at New Maloney Field.

Should the Cardinal beat the Bears at 2 p.m., in what could be call the Big Boot, the victory will give Stanford its first-ever Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (Mountain Division) title.

The winner of the Mountain Division then will face the Pacific Division champion on Nov. 16 for the MPSF championship and an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

The way things are going right now, that matchup looks to be between Stanford and UCLA, if both teams continue to build upon their most recent successes.

Stanford did just that last weekend as then-No. 10-ranked Cardinal upended No. 8 Washington, 1-0, in Seattle. Stanford junior midfielder Eric Vandevelde provided the winning goal on assists by Gerard Davis and Simon Elliott. Redshirt freshman keeper Adam Zapala made the first-half goal stand up by stopping a penalty kick in the 44th minute.

While Stanford did not add to its victory total on Sunday, a 0-0 deadlock with host Oregon State in the rain still left the Cardinal with an unbeaten record at 10-0-2. More importantly, the Cardinal arrived home with a 2-0-1 conference mark and the No. 6 national ranking in the NSCAA/Umbro Top 25 poll.

Head coach Bobby Clark said he was happy with the road trip, which extended his team's unbeaten streak to 17 matches dating to last season. The team has recorded shutouts in its past seven matches as Zapala has lowered his national-leading goals-against average to a miniscule 0.16.

Stanford junior defender Jamie Clark also earned a share of the spotlight from the weekend, being named the MPSF Player of the Week. Clark and his teammates forced Washington's group of top forwards to fire half their shots from 15 yards or more. Nor were the speedy Huskies able to get behind Clark and his mates. Clark also was instrumental in holding Oregon State to just two shots in 120 minutes of Sunday's overtime deadlock.

Through 12 matches this season, Stanford has allowed just two goals while posting 10 shutouts.

Women's soccer

Stanford (0-2, 4-7) dropped back-to-back matches during the weekend, 3-2 to No. 20 USC and 2-1 to No. 18 UCLA at New Maloney Field.

"We played well enough to win those matches," Stanford coach Steve Swanson said.

Stanford actually led against UCLA, taking a 1-0 advantage on a goal by senior Emily Burt early in the first half.

Men's water polo

A successful weekend trip to Southern California has put Stanford in solid position among the MPSF leaders heading into Friday's 3 p.m. conference match against UC Irvine in deGuerre Pool.

The Cardinal opened its trip with a 15-5 thrashing of Long Beach State as Brian Heifferon, Crosby Grant, Layne Beaubien, David Hay and Nathan Osborn all tallied two points. The lopsided win allowed Stanford coach Dante Dettamanti to use his bench, which included time by Palo Alto High grad Paolo Resmini in the cage.

Against UCLA, Stanford used its new driving strategy to its advantage in a 7-3 victory.

The key to the weekend, however, was the Cardinal defense. Junior goalie Chris Aguilera had nine saves against Long Beach and six more against UCLA. The Cardinal held the Bruins scoreless in the first half while taking a 3-0 lead.

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