Aug. 31, 2012
STANFORD, Calif. - Fourth-ranked Stanford women's soccer made a bright start to Friday afternoon's top-10 battle with No. 7 Boston College but couldn't capitalize, drawing 1-1 with the Eagles at Laird Q. Cagan Stadium.
Natalie Griffen scored her third goal of the campaign in the 11th minute but the Cardinal (2-0-1) mustered little else over the remaining 99 minutes while the Eagles netted a 57th-minute equalizer.
The draw snapped Stanford's 51-game winning streak on its home pitch, however it did extend the Cardinal's unbeaten run at Cagan Stadium to 56 games. The last time the Cardinal had failed to walk off its home pitch victorious before Friday was in a 1-1 draw with North Carolina on Sept. 12, 2008.
The streak will be on the line again next weekend as the Cardinal plays host to the Stanford Nike Invitational. Stanford opens the tournament against Boston University 7 p.m. next Friday night then closes with a 12 p.m. meeting Sunday with Georgetown.
Friday, Griffen finished an aggressive defensive play from Courtney Verloo by chipping over Boston College goalie Alexa Gaul in the 11th minute. Verloo dispossessed an Eagle defender in the BC end, got the ball to Alex Doll who fed Griffen, who finished by catching Gaul too far off her line and bouncing her chip into the net.
BC would enjoy a strong amount of possession for the rest of the half, out-shooting the Cardinal 6-5 over the opening 45 minutes. The Eagles would take 17 shots to 11 for the Cardinal over the entire contest, but Cardinal goalie Aly Gleason was rarely tested too heavily and made four saves.
The Eagles, though, would get to Gleason in the 57th minute. Kristen Mewis played a fine ball through to Stephanie McCaffrey, who marched into the box to Gleason's right and sent a blast into the net off of Gleason's outstretched hand.
Stanford's defense did well to disrupt passing lanes for much of the contest, spoiling potential odd-woman rushes by the Eagles.
Neither team could gain a strong advantage through the end of regulation or through much of the overtime sessions. Boston College's Victoria DiMartino latched onto a cross and blazed over the bar from short range in the second overtime, and with less than a minute to play Mariah Nogueira's point-blank header was stopped by Gaul, denying the Cardinal the golden goal.