On Sunday, No. 3 women’s soccer (4-0, 0-0 Pac-12) will take on the University of San Francisco (4-1, 0-0 WCC) in hopes of continuing its undefeated streak.
The Dons’ last game was a 5-0 win against University of California, Riverside at their home opener on Thursday. Senior forward Miciah Madison scored two goals in that game, in addition to two assists, and will be a challenge for Stanford. Madison scored in the first 37 seconds of the game, while her next goal, USF’s third, came just 12 seconds after the Dons’ second goal.
Stanford enters the game coming off of a statement 7-0 victory against San Jose State. In front of a sold-out crowd at Cagan, the team won its 300th match under head coach Paul Ratcliffe.
“In all my years at Stanford, all the credit goes to the amazing student-athletes I’ve had the opportunity to coach,” Ratcliffe said, reflecting on the momentous victory.
He has won Pac-12 Coach of the Year nine times in his 17 seasons with the team, being the only coach to earn the recognition more than twice.
Senior forward Carly Malatskey and junior forward Catarina Macario scored a total of four goals, two of which were scored within four minutes of one another. Malatskey and Macario are the top two scorers thus far, accounting for ten of the 17 total goals in the four games of the season. In a legendary header against San Jose State, Malatskey scored the third goal of the game with an assist from junior forward Sam Tran.
“I think you saw them on display tonight,” Ratcliffe told The Daily after the match. “All of our freshmen played, and I think our future looks bright over the next four years with them in charge.”
Through the first four games, Ratcliffe certainly appears to be correct about the bright future of the team’s newest members. Already, freshman midfielder Maya Doms has three assists, freshman defender Kattalin Stahls has an assist and a goal, and freshman midfielder Paige Rubinstein has also contributed an assist. Look for all three players to get time in the upcoming game as their roles continue to expand as they grow more comfortable on the field.
This game against USF marks the beginning of a string of five away games, as the Cardinal goes on the road to play Pepperdine, UC Santa Barbara and UC Santa Clara. After their final road matchup on September 28 against undefeated No. 4 USC (4-0, 0-0 Pac-12), the team will be back home on Oct. 1 for Washington State.
Sunday’s match against USF is set to start at 5 p.m. PT at Negoesco Stadium in San Francisco.
Contact Leily Rezvani at lrezvani ‘at’ stanford.edu.
