STANFORD, Calif. – Stanford rallied from an early deficit to earn a 1-1 double-overtime draw against Portland in a home women's soccer opener on Saturday, but the result provided little contentment among the Cardinal.
Haley Rosen scored during a scramble in front of the net in the 67th minute for No. 2 Stanford against No. 16 Portland before 1,813 at Laird Q. Cagan Stadium on Saturday night. The Cardinal improved to 2-0-1 and extended its home unbeaten streak to 68, the third-longest in NCAA Division I women’s soccer history.
Afterward, the evaluation was mixed. Stanford played a sluggish first half, with only one shot in the first 30 minutes. But in the second half, Stanford had 16 shots and had several outstanding scoring chances, ultimately converting only one. The Cardinal would end up with a 23-13 shooting advantage, and the edge on exciting, hard-nosed soccer. But those early minutes could not be erased.
No. 16 Portland (2-0-1) took the lead in the 11th minute, on a 10-yard shot from Emily Sippel on a cross from Ellen Parker on the right. The shot came in the run of play, with Portland playing excelling in a Stanford-style possession game.
Though Rosen scored her first goal of the season on a sequence that began with Courtney Verloo's corner kick, the result and postgame mood were decidedly dreary.
"We are not happy with how we started," said Hannah Farr, who gave the Cardinal a spark off the bench in the midfield. "We can't give teams hope."
Throughout the match, Stanford coach Paul Ratcliffe tinkered with the lineup, moving players in and out, and into different positions. He used 19 players, including six freshmen. Eighteen of those played at least 15 minutes.
The Cardinal needed energy and the match began to turn when freshman Ryan Walker-Hartshorn, who started at outside back in the season opener, was placed into the forward line. The dynamics began to change, and continued to evolve with the no-nonsense play of Farr, and later with senior Natalie Griffen at outside back.
With nine newcomers and after losing eight seniors, Stanford should continue to evolve as Ratcliffe probes for the right chemistry and combinations.
"It's early in the season," said Haley, who came off the bench and played 63 minutes. "We're still finding a rhythym and we're going to keep on working and improving. As those relationships develop, we'll start to come together."
Senior goalkeeper Emily Oliver prevented Stanford from falling even deeper into a hole when she dived to her left to punch away a first-half shot. In the second half, freshman Jane Campbell, making her first collegiate performance, made an instinctual save on a hard shot to the near post.
Griffen sent Portland goalkeeper Erin Dees to the ground with a long-distance shot and Alex Doll and Sydney Payne were among those with chances later in the match.
"We eventually played pretty well and dominated," Farr said. "But we have to start faster and finish our chances."
Stanford hopes to maintain that newfound intensity when it continues nonconference play with home matches on Friday at 6 p.m. against Loyola Marymount and Sunday, Sept. 8 at noon, against Maryland.