Women's soccer falls to Duke in penalty kicks in NCAA quarterfinals
Stanford's quarterfinal match against Duke ended in a 1-1 tie, but the Blue Devils came out on top in the ensuing round of penalty kicks, ending the Cardinal's season and national title hopes. Follow the team's season and NCAA run below:
- Not much seems to go wrong for the Stanford women’s soccer team these days.
Last week, All-Pac-12 selections were released, and the Cardinal were incredibly well-represented. Head coach Paul Ratcliffe won Coach of the Year for the sixth time in the past eight years, junior Jane Campbell was selected as Goalkeeper of the Year and defender Alana Cook was named Freshman/Newcomer of the Year. 
Eleven Cardinal combine for 15 @pac12 all-conference honors. #GoStanford Details » http://stanford.io/1ljtl7u pic.twitter.com/nZoAK7ijpZ- In addition, Stanford had three players on each of the All-Pac-12 First and Second teams, as well as nine players who received All-Academic honors, a testament to the team’s success on and off the field.
Beyond these conference honors, however, was a promising future for the Cardinal in the NCAA tournament. The team, ranked No. 3 in the country, was a serious contender for the national championship and had not lost since Sept. 20. - Things didn’t always look so promising for the Cardinal. After a 2-0 loss to No. 7 Penn State in early September, Stanford, then ranked second in the country, barely scraped out back-to-back overtime wins against unranked opponents Oklahoma and UC Davis.
The team was then upset by unranked Santa Clara, snapping a winning streak of nearly 10 years against the Broncos. 
Strong effort falls short at Santa Clara. #GoStanford Recap » http://stanford.io/1WcQHcb Photos » http://stanford.io/1gFihyK- The game was Stanford’s last before opening conference play, and the result did not particularly bode well for the team going forward, as the Pac-12 featured a number of elite teams of equal or better caliber.
But the Cardinal proceeded to shatter all doubts about their season. - Its offense, which had had trouble scoring earlier in the season, finally came together, while the team's youth (eight of the 15 players who regularly see the field are underclassmen and six are freshmen or redshirt freshmen) finally seemed to get the swing of things on the collegiate field and would come to make a huge impact in conference play.
- Through conference play, the Cardinal rattled off 10 straight wins before tying Cal in the last game of the regular season.
- The team’s undefeated conference record earned it the Pac-12 title for the fifth time in the past seven years.
Women's soccer clinches conference title in shutout of UCLALorenzo Rosas Staff Writer On the first day of November, the fourth-ranked Stanford women's soccer team (16-2, 10-0 Pac-12) claimed its 10th Pac-12 championship - its first since 2012 - at home with a dominating 2-0 victory against the UCLA Bruins (8-9-1, 4-5-1).- The Cardinal also secured a No. 1 seed in its 17th consecutive NCAA tournament appearance and home-field advantage through the quarterfinals.
Our thoughts on earning a No. 1 seed. #GoStanford 🌲⚽️ pic.twitter.com/uKaYEHy4xj- Last season, Stanford also garnered a No. 1 seed, making it all the way to the semifinals of the tournament before falling to eventual champion Florida State.
The team got off to a solid start in the tournament, as it won its first-round match against San Jose State last Friday. An own goal and a strike by freshman Averie Collins gave Stanford a comfortable 2-0 victory. 
Averie Collins scores and Stanford earns a clinical 2-0 win to advance to the second round. #GoStanford pic.twitter.com/EQ9dg75yIa- Stanford’s opponent in the Round of 32 was No. 13 BYU, a team that the Cardinal defeated 1-0 early in the season. However, the Cougars had been strong since then, losing only one out of their last 15 games.
NCAA Tournament continues tomorrow. #GoStanford Info » http://stanford.io/1SrkAm8 Tickets » http://bit.ly/1QLjGTd pic.twitter.com/GHDkpQx9au- Jordan DiBiasi scored the first goal of the game in the 28th minute, and though the Cougars would equalize the score off a penalty kick right after halftime, DiBiasi stuck again as the game came to a close to win the game for the Cardinal.
- The goal that completed her brace marked her fourth game-winning goal of the season.
- With the win, Stanford advanced to the Sweet 16, where it faced the Arizona Wildcats for the second time this season. The two teams' first meeting ended in a 3-2 double-overtime win for the Cardinal, one of the closest games they faced in conference play.
Game time is approaching. Here's how the teams match up. #GoStanford 🌲⚽️ pic.twitter.com/vQM1WIXlm8- While Arizona's attack came out strong to start the game, it was Stanford that was the first to score, with a goal in the 18th minute from junior Megan Turner, her second of the season.
