Quote:OUT
OLB #2 Dylan Stephenson
CB #18 Jason Hill Jr.
DB #22 Zaiden McDonald
CB #26 Chris Garland
CB #27 Breylan Thompson
CB #28 Sam Neely III
CB #30 Jack Duckworth
OL #52 Aidan Kilstrom
OL #53 Nathan Mejia
DL #58 Brendan Delaney
OL #72 Dara Adeyemi
TE #83 Reiman Zebert
QUESTIONABLE
DL #42 Jacobi Murray
OLB #49 Gabe Kaminski
OL #60 Nick Fattig
OL #66 Niki Prongos
https://theacc.com/sports/2025/8/28/avai...tball.aspx
On September 13, on a pitch in Durham, North Carolina, Stanford women’s soccer played then #3-ranked Duke. The Blue Devils decimated the Cardinal, winning 5-0. One week later, at home, Stanford played #3 ranked and undefeated Wake Forest (a team that Stanford had never defeated). Stanford controlled the ball for most of the match and scored twice in the last 15 minutes to win 2-0.
Why the different outcomes? Home field advantage – sure, that could have been a factor. Revenge motivation, after losing two consecutive matches to Wake Forest, one in the semi finals of the college cup? Yah, that could have provided extra motivation.
The most obvious difference, however, was four different players in the starting lineup. Three of them had just returned from playing for the U.S. in the U-20 world cup in Poland: Lizzie Boamah (center back); Y-Lan Nguyen (midfielder); and Caroline Birkel (GK). The fourth was midfielder Mia Bhuta, who is now back in fine fettle after recovering from an injury (Bhuta did play 43 minutes as a sub against Duke).
These players are mates on a talented team-oriented squad – they played unselfishly, scored no goals but were major difference makers. Their importance is reflected in Coach Ratcliffe’s decision to play all four the full 90 minutes. At center back, Boamah was a force, making numerous defensive plays including a sliding tackle that prevented a Wake Forest breakaway goal in the closing minutes. In the midfield, Bhuta and Nguyen were vital in keeping the ball out of the Stanford end; they were attacking midfielders who unleashed 5 of the team’s 14 total shots. Goalkeeper Birkel (credited with one save) has yet to allow a goal this season.
Putting together a winning soccer team requires putting the right players (each with a unique set of skills) in the right positions. A coach is playing a game of chess that requires putting the queen in a different place than the bishops and rooks. That’s true of other team sports, but I’ve always thought especially challenging in soccer. You want your best players on the pitch, but where and how to use them is the question.
Against Wake Forest, Ratcliffe played 8 of the 11 starters for the full 90 minutes. The three subs were all listed as forwards (Peyton Marinos had two shots, both on goal, and one of them the winning goal). When Eleanor Klinger returns from England’s U-20, she, along with Milly Bray and Sadie leaf-Schuman, will give the team midfielder depth.
I like the team that Paul Ratcliffe had on the pitch against Wake Forest. More like that and they will be another college cup contender.
Will Leitch at The Athletic expresses in pretty clear terms the financial calculus of college athletic departments - extract more money from the fans to be competitive. If your football team can't keep up, it's the fans' fault. This is a gift article that should be accessible to everyone.
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7618372...l-share-ta
Can we turn it around this weekend at home?
The 2026 Overnight MPSF Invitational Water Polo tournament is ongoing at Stanford this weekend.
Sunday will be a beautiful day. Come see #3 Stanford take on #1 UCLA at 2PM at Avery pool. ($20; $15 student/senior). There is a women's soccer game at 1, so the parking by the stadium will be full.
Today, I first saw #3 Stanford get a too-tight win over #6 Long Beach State by a score of 17-13. It was the first time I had seen them play this year and I wasn't that impressed in this game. The half time score was 8-4, which was good, but LB State played Stanford even in the 2nd half. When I look at the team stats, Stanford had a clear edge.
As I looked over the roster, I found out Stanford's hole player, Alex Gheorge, is listed at 6'3", 335 pounds! Immense, and impossible to move. That isn't fat. While he may not be the fastest swimmer out there, he does have good speed. His hands seem good. He didn't play overly aggressive either.
In previous years, Stanford was mostly a USA-style fast team that got a lot of goals from their speed. Now, it seems they play a European style based on having a big guy in the hole.
Ryan Ohl (Conn.) and Botond Balogh (Hungary) scored 4 goals, James Rozolis-Hill (Calif.) scored 3. Ben Forer (Calif.) and Dimitris Chatzis (Greece) scored 2 each
I guess I didn't really recognize the skill of Stanford's goalie in that first game. He saved 43.5% of the shots on goal (compared to 22.7% for the opposing goalie).
Stanford's shots were often on the goal. 17 of 30 shots scored. 7 of those 13 non-scoring shots were saves, leaving 6 misses.
LB State had 13 of 38 shots that scored. 10 of those 25 non-scoring shots were saves, leaving 15 misses.
Next up was #8 UCSD vs #12 UCI which turned out to be a good game. Early on, I thought UCSD clearly had the better players, but UCI played well. Down 2 at the half, UCI got the lead in the 3rd, but the 3rd wound up tied. UCSD won 11-9.
The first semi-final today was #1 UCLA vs #4 Cal. UCLA got started early with a spread-out offense. UCLA is a very strong team, up 8-3 at the half. But Cal (which brought 22 players) fought back, only down 7-9 at the end of the third, and got close in the 4th, losing 10-11 as a last second shot skipped over the cage. UCLA's offense also uses a strong hole player.
Shooting %: Cal 41.7% (10/24), UCLA 37.9% (11/29)
Save %: Cal 41.2% (7/17) UCLA 50% (10/20)
The second semi-final was #3 Stanford vs #2 USC.
I found out that I underrated Stanford earlier. Stanford was clearly the better team today. BUT, I must say that I felt USC shot extremely poorly for a #2 team. If their shots hadn't missed so often, it would have been a different game.
Stanford's goalie, Bernardo Herzer (Calif.), did a fantastic job of blocking shots. (A number of blocks ricochetted out into the field and so USC got more chances.)
Botond Balogh scored 3 goals, Alex Gheorge (Romania) and Dimitris Chatzis scored 2 each.
USC scored the first goal, but it was mostly Stanford after that.
Stanford was ahead 6-2 after 2 periods, and ahead 10-5 going into the final period.
USC jabbed Stanford with 2 quick counterattack goals consecutively in the 4th, but Stanford still had a 3-goal cushion. Stanford was able to blunt the counterattacks, and gave up a meaningless goal with 9 seconds left.
Shooting %: Stanford 41.7% (10/24) USC 18.6% (8/43) !!
Save %: Stanford 73.3% (22/30) !! USC 37.5% (6/16).
Stanford is playing college football in a professional league.
Player payrolls of top teams...
1. Texas Longhorns – $45–$55 million
2. Ohio State Buckeyes – $49–$54 million
3. Oregon Ducks – $48–$54 million
4. LSU Tigers – $47–$50 million
5. Texas A&M Aggies – $45–$50 million
6. Miami Hurricanes – $44–$50 million
7. Notre Dame Fighting Irish – $41–$48 million
8. Tennessee Volunteers – $41–$43 million
9. Ole Miss Rebels – $39–$45 million
10. Alabama Crimson Tide – $38–$42 million
https://x.com/bleacherreport/status/2101...79144?s=61
That is unbelievable. Run out the back of the end zone. Take a knee. Do anything, honestly, even throw a long interception, except the one thing that the QB did, which was fumble the ball in the end zone and allow Vandy to recover it. I don’t think in the long story of WSU Cougars has anyone Coughed it up as badly as NC State Coughed it today. He literally did the only thing he couldn’t do.
BC
Let's &*% Go!!
Ran across the Texas - Stanford match highlights from 2019. Click here