STANFORD, Calif. -- Stanford plays its only home match during a 23-day stretch when the No. 4 Cardinal plays host to Pac-12 upstart Colorado on Thursday (6 p.m.) in a match televised by the Pac-12 Networks. Despite its loss to UCLA last week, Stanford (11-1-2, 3-1-1) still has a shot at a top four NCAA seed if it can have strong performances through the rest of the Pac-12 schedule. Of course, Colorado (10-4, 3-2), which is in a three-way tie for third, could prove formidable.
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The following is a closer look at Thursday’s match:
Who: No. 4 Stanford (11-1-2, 3-1-1) vs. Colorado (10-4, 3-2)
When: Thursday, 6 p.m.
Where: Laird Q. Cagan Stadium, Stanford, Calif.
All-Time Series Record: Stanford leads, 5-0.
TV: Pac-12 Networks with JB Long and Krista Blunk.
Live Stats: Look for links on GoStanford.com
Twitter: @StanfordWSoccer
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Rankings: Stanford dropped one spot, to No. 4, in the NSCAA/Continental Tire coaches’ poll after its 2-1 loss at UCLA on Friday, but remained at No. 3 in the Soccer America rankings. In the RPI, Stanford dropped from No. 1 to No. 2, switching places with UCLA.
Halfway Point: After five matches in the Pac-12 season, Stanford is at the virtual midway point and is even with UCLA in points, with 10, though the Bruins have a match in hand. Stanford still must face Colorado and Arizona, who are tied for third, as well as No. 23 California.
• Of Stanford’s remaining Pac-12 schedule, opponents are a combined 43-28-10 overall and 11-14-4 in conference.
• UCLA’s remaining opponents are 40-29-11 and 11-16-3.
• Colorado’s are: 53-15-13 and 12-11-7.
Stanford’s Defense: Despite allowing two goals against UCLA last week, Stanford leads the nation in three defensive categories:
• Stanford is tied for first in fewest goals allowed with Northeastern, Rutgers, and UCLA, with four apiece. However, Northeastern (0.253) holds a narrow lead over the Cardinal (0.274), UCLA (0.277), and Rutgers (0.327).
• Stanford leads the nation in shutout percentage, with 11 shutouts in 14 matches for a shutout percentage of (.786).
• Stanford is tied for the national lead in shutouts (11). Wisconsin and Northeastern also each have 11, in 15 matches rather than Stanford’s 14.
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Thursday’s Opponent, Colorado: Australian midfielder Kahlia Hogg scored twice in the final 15 minutes -- doubling her season scoring output -- to lift Colorado to a 2-1 victory at Oregon on Sunday, completing a weekend sweep of the Oregon schools and raising the Buffaloes’ record to 10-4 overall and 3-2 in Pac-12 play. Colorado is unranked, but sits tied for third in the conference alongside Arizona and Washington. Colorado is completing a five-match road stretch. By the time the Buffaloes take the field Oct. 27 against Washington State, they will have gone 26 days without a home match.
The Stanford-Colorado Series: Stanford leads the all-time series, 5-0 and has outscored the Buffaloes, 13-2. But in the past two seasons, the victories were not easy. Last year, Stanford opened Pac-12 play in Boulder and didn’t score until the 57th minute when Courtney Verloo and Taylor Uhl scored within 10 minutes of each other. For Uhl, it gave her eight goals in a six-match span. In 2012, Stanford was fortunate to escape with a 2-1 victory. With Colorado holding a 1-0 second-half lead, Stanford scored two goals within 37 seconds, both in the 79th minute, to emerge with the victory. Mariah Nogueira and Alina Garciamendez provided the scores. This will be Colorado’s first visit to Stanford since 2011, when Stanford won 4-1 in Colorado’s first year in the Pac-12.
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Stanford Season Highlights:
• Opened season with a double-overtime winner from Chioma Ubogagu to beat North Carolina for the first time in 13 tries.
• Unscored upon during the nonconference season, during a nine-match schedule that included five ranked teams.
• Compiled a school-record shutout streak of 893 minutes, 58 seconds, dating back to the end of the 2013 season.
• Beat current No. 5 Florida, 1-0, on a penalty kick by Lo’eau LaBonta in overtime.
• Paul Ratcliffe earned his 200th coaching victory at Stanford, during an 8-0 rout of Dayton on Sept. 14.
• Ryan Walker-Hartshorn became the first Stanford player since Kelley O’Hara in 2009 to register two hat tricks in a single season, and fourth overall.
• Moved to No. 1 in the RPI rankings on Sept. 29.
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National Statistical Rankings: Stanford is among the NCAA Division I leaders in several defensive categories. Here they are:
Team,
1. Shutout Percentage (0.786)
2. Goals Against Average (0.274)
3. Save Percentage (0.905)
Individual,
3. Goals Against Average, Jane Campbell (0.299)
9. Save Pct., Jane Campbell (.889)
Some notes on Stanford’s defense:
• Jane Campbell’s shutout streak of 803:18, which ended Sept. 26, is the 18th-longest by a goalkeeper in NCAA Division I history.
• Stanford has trailed only once this season, for a total of 5:11.
• Nine consecutive shutouts set school records for consecutive shutouts and consecutive shutouts to open a season.
• Sophomore Jane Campbell has 15 shutouts in her career, placing her No. 8 on Stanford’s all-time list. At No. 7 is Erica Holland (2004-07) with 16.
Another Defensive Streak: Stanford has not allowed more than two goals in a match over its past 224 contests, not since a 4-0 loss to North Carolina on Sept. 11, 2005, in San Francisco. During that stretch, Stanford allowed two goals 20 times, which comes out to once every 11.2 matches.
Two other streaks of note: Stanford hasn’t allowed more than two goals in a match at home since Oct. 5, 1998, in a 3-2 overtime loss to BYU. Stanford hasn’t allowed more than two at home in regulation since Oct. 10, 1997, in a 3-2 loss to USC.
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Possible Defensive Records: Stanford still has a ways to go to achieve school records in shutouts and goals allowed. With 11 shutouts, the 2014 team stands in a tie for 12th for most shutouts in a season. Here are the top defenses in school history:
Total shutouts:
19 -- 2002
17 -- 1993, 2008, 2011
15 -- 2006, 2010
14 -- 1991, 2009
12 -- 1988, 2004, 2012
11 -- 1994, 2005, 2014
Best Team Goals-Against Average for a Season:
0.17, 2002 (Starting GK: Nicole Barnhart)
0.32, 2008 (Kira Maker)
0.34, 2011 (Emily Oliver)
0.43, 2004 (Nicole Barnhart)
0.45, 2010 (Emily Oliver)
Note: Stanford has a 0.27 GAA in 2014 (Jane Campbell)
2014 Pac-12 Women’s Soccer Coaches Poll:
1. UCLA (11), 121; 2. Stanford (1), 110; 3. California, 91; 4. USC, 83; 5. Colorado, 78; 6. Washington State, 69; 7. Utah, 67; 8. Arizona State, 51; 8. Washington, 51; 10. Arizona, 33; 11. Oregon, 22; 12. Oregon State, 16.
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Team Captains: Stanford’s team captains this season are seniors Alex Doll, Lo’eau LaBonta, and Chioma Ubogagu.
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Toughest Schedules: Given the records of past opposition, Stanford’s schedule is rated as the second-toughest in the country. Here are the top five:
1. North Carolina (99-40-18, .688)
2. Stanford (115-48-16, .687)
3. La Salle (105-46-15, .678)
4. Texas A&M (113-52-16, .669)
5. UCLA (106-46-25, .669).
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More Tough Schedule: Some facts about Stanford’s 2014 schedule:
• This season, Stanford plays every past NCAA Division I women’s socer champion except George Mason. That’s seven in all.
• Stanford’s opponents have combined for 30 of 31 non-Stanford NCAA titles.
• Of teams in the preseason NSCAA Top 25 rankings, Stanford plays seven of the Top 25, five of the top 11, and two of the top four, including No. 1.
• Stanford has played five teams in the current Top 25 and has a 3-1-1 record in those matches.
• Eleven opponents are coming off NCAA tournament appearances, and eight of those advanced past the first round.
• Sixteen opponents were .500 or better last season, including all nine nonconference foes.
• Six opponents won regular-season conference championships in 2013.
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U-20 World Cup: Three Stanford players -- sophomore goalkeeper Jane Campbell, sophomore defender Stephanie Amack, and freshman midfielder Andi Sullivan -- were on the U.S. team at the FIFA Under-20 World Cup in Canada. The U.S. reached the quarterfinals before losing to North Korea on penalty kicks. Amack and Sullivan started all four matches for the U.S., Amack at right outside back and Sullivan as a holding midfielder. They missed 12 days of training camp before joining the team the week of its opener and beem regular starters ever since. Senior forward Chioma Ubogagu and Amack were on the winning U.S. team in 2012.
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Most Frequent Starters:
GK: Jane Campbell, so.; Third in nation in GAA (0.30).
D: Stephanie Amack, so.; U.S. U-20 World Cup standout.
D: Maddie Bauer, so.; 2013 NSCAA All-Pacific Region 1st team.
D: Laura Liedle, jr.; Three-year starter at outside back.
D: Kendall Romine, 5th sr.; Starter on 2011 NCAA title team.
M: Alex Doll, sr.; Team captain and three-year starter.
M: Lo’eau LaBonta, sr.; Deadly long-range shooter.
M: Andi Sullivan, fr.; U.S. co-captain at U-20 World Cup.
F: Chioma Ubogagu, sr.; Captain and four-year starter.
F: Megan Turner, so.; Has started past seven games.
F: Ryan Walker-Hartshorn, so.; Two hat tricks this season.
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Multiple Hat Tricks: Sophomore Ryan Walker-Hartshorn became the fourth Stanford player and the first since 2009 to earn two hat tricks in a single season. Here is the list:
1990: Sarah Rafanelli (Two-time first-team All-America)
1993: Erin Martin (No. 6 Stanford all-time goal scorer)
2009: Kelley O’Hara (2009 Hermann Trophy winner)
2014: Ryan Walker-Hartshorn
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Majors: The following are declared majors for Stanford players. A note: Stanford students declare their majors as juniors, so this list includes only upperclassmen:
• Kate Bettinger: Science, technology, and society.
• Alex Doll: Economics.
• Katie Donahue: Engineering
• Hannah Farr: Science, technology, and society.
• Lo’eau LaBonta: Product design
• Laura Liedle: Human biology
• Kendall Romine: Master’s in international relations.
• Haley Rosen: Science, technology, and society.
• Lauren Schmidt: Human biology.
• Chioma Ubogagu: Film and media studies.
• Taylor Uhl: Biomechanical engineering.
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All-Academic Honors: The Stanford women’s soccer team completed the spring quarter with a team mean cumulative GPA of 3.31. Eight Cardinal received Pac-12 All-Academic team honors in 2013, including four current players:
Alex Doll, 3.51 current cumulative GPA
Hannah Farr, 3.64
Laura Liedle, 3.04
Kendall Romine, 3.48 (graduated in spring with degree in international relations, and now is working toward her master’s in the same field).
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Stanford’s Situational Records:
• When scoring first: 11-1-1
• When opponents score first: 0-0
• When leading at halftime: 7-0
• When tied at halftime: 5-1-1
• When trailing at halftime: 0-0
• When trailing at any time: 0-1
• At Home: 7-0-1
• At Opponent: 3-1-1
• At Neutral Field: 1-0
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Two-sport star: Stanford senior Hannah Farr has scored 87 goals on the lacrosse field for the Cardinal. On Sunday, she scored her first on the soccer field, nailing the game winner on a first-half rebound in a 1-0 victory over USC. Farr was the Player of the Year in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation this spring and earned IWLCA second-team All-America honors, becoming just the fifth Stanford lacrosse player to be named All-America.
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Program History: Some facts about Stanford’s success.
• Including this season, Stanford has a combined record of 142-13-8 since 2008.
• Stanford has reached the NCAA tournament in each of the past 16 seasons.
• Stanford won four consecutive Pac-12 titles, from 2009-12, without a loss or a draw in conference play.
• The Cardinal reached five consecutive NCAA College Cups, advancing to the final each year from 2009-11.
• Stanford had a 73-match home unbeaten streak (70-0-3) from 2008-13 for the second-longest such streak in history.
• The Cardinal won 44 consecutive conference matches during the same span for the third-longest streak ever.
• Stanford had a 162-match unbeaten streak when scoring a goal, a stretch that lasted from 2006-13.
• Stanford had a 64-match regular-season unbeaten streak from 2008-12.
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Hall of Famer: Stanford volunteer assistant coach Nicole Barnhart ‘04, a standout goalkeeper for the Cardinal, was inducted into the Stanford Hall of Fame on Oct. 11. Barnhart, a two-time Olympic gold medalist with the U.S. national team, holds the NCAA record for shutouts in a season (18), and is No. 4 in NCAA history in career goals-against average (0.45). Barnhart was a two-time first-team All-America.
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Stanford Hall of Famers: Nicole Barnhart became the fourth women’s soccer player to be inducted into the Stanford Hall of Fame. The complete list:
• Nicole Barnhart ‘04: Two-time first-team All-America; NCAA record-holder for shutouts in a season (18); U.S. national team 2004-14.
• Jessica Fischer ‘96: Two-time first-team All-America; U.S. national team 1993.
• Julie Foudy ‘93: Four-team first-team All-America; 1991 Soccer America Player of the Year; 272 appearances for the U.S. national team 1988-2004.
• Sarah Rafanelli ‘94: Two-time first-team All-America; U.S. national team 1992-95.
Note: Players must be out of school 10 years to be eligible.
Week in Review: Stanford took its No. 3 ranking to No. 1 UCLA on Thursday in a showdown between Pac-12 co-leaders and the nation’s top two defensive teams. Stanford took a 1-0 lead in the 53rd minute on a half-volley from Lo’eau LaBonta, but UCLA scored twice in the final 14 minutes to win.
Stanford rebounded with a 1-0 victory at USC, thanks to a 24th minute goal by Hannah Farr, the first in the senior’s career.
Ahead for Stanford: Stanford’s match against Colorado is its only one at home over a stretch of 23 days. After Thursday, Stanford heads to Arizona for a tough weekend against Arizona (9-3-1, 3-2) and Arizona State (8-2-4, 1-1-3). After that, Stanford will be done with any of the teams currently occupying the top five places in the Pac-12.
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Career Scoring List: Stanford senior Taylor Uhl still is searching for her first goal of the season, but she remains the fourth-leading active scorer in NCAA Division I, with 48 goals. She trails only Illinois State’s Rachel Tejada (64 career goals), Winthrop’s Krystyna Freda (60), and La Salle’s Kelsey Haycook (51). Uhl arrived last season as a junior transfer from Minnesota, where she led the nation in goals (21) and points (51) in 2012 and earned NSCAA third-team All-America honors. Uhl’s 12 goals last year led the Pac-12. Uhl carries a 3.79 GPA at Stanford and is majoring in biomechanical engineering.
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National Players of the Year: Five players in Stanford history have earned national player of the year honors, including four during a three-year span from 2009-11.
Stanford’s Hermann Trophy Winners:
2009: Kelley O’Hara, 26 goals, 13 assists, 65 pts. in ‘09.
2010: Christen Press, 26 goals, 8 assts, 60 pts. in ‘10.
2011: Teresa Noyola, 9 goals, 15 assists, 33 pts. in ‘11.
Stanford’s Soccer America Players of the Year (not including the three players listed above):
1991: Julie Foudy, 15 goals, 7 assists, 37 pts. in ‘91.
2011: Lindsay Taylor, 20 goals, 7 assists, 47 pts. in ‘11.